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Something fell off my Jeep

C

Christian P

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Pittsburgh, PA
I got in my 1999 Cherokee Sport 4.0L and heard a vibration/rattling when I went over 30 MPH. It came from the center/back of the undercarrage. I thought at first my exaust was rattling. I pull over and look under the Jeep but don't see anything hanging or loose so I continue on. I'm at the on ramp going north on route 79 at the Bridgeville exit. The vibration is getting worse and I look back to see a piece of metal (I think it looked like a heat shield myself from what I've experenced before) fly off the undercarrage of the jeep. It seemed to be metalic in color, but honestly, I'm not Mattlock when looking in a rear view mirror at 60 MPH. It seemed square in shape. Thank goodness it didn't hit anyone's car. Last thing anyone needs on a Thursday is to have their car hit by a piece of a Jeep.

Has this happened to anyone else (part of a cover or heaty shilding) fall off their undercarrage?
 
Did you leave it in the middle of the road? I hope you picked it up so it wouldnt fly up and KILL anyone. I cut down a new 31 in tire on a piece of scrap off a car once. Nothing pisses me off more that people that leave parts on the road when they fall off their POS. ( mufflers, heatshields, etc.)
:soapbox:
 
I take it you didnt turn around and pick it up....

Could of been the heat shield on the cat, or the heat shield above the muffler
 
Yeah it sounds like a great idea to run into the road where traffic is going 60 mph, why didn't you pick it up??? It is worth risking your life right? I dont think a heat shield laying in the road is going to kill anybody, its not like a big iron beam laying in the middle of the highway. I almost hit one of those. If traffic was light it might have been worth getting.
 
rocknxj said:
It could have been a kitten, or other wildlife. I once hit a deer and it did not fall off for several hundred miles.
Click to expand...

You must have been going pretty fast, did you have an electric supercharger or something? :spin1:
 
a small piece of metal in the road may not do any damage to a 4 wheeled vehicle, but I rode a motorcycle for a long time and something in the rode can cause a catastophic wreck.

Be a responsible driver and don't leave crap in the road!
 
yea like your dead body from running out there to pick it up.....Leave the small piece of metal on the road, the chunk of tire will take a bike rider down faster.. go ahead an ask, been there done that in the desert
 
Money says that it was the exhaust heat sheild that mounts under the body. That's the only thing that I can think of that fits that description.
 
Show us pictures of whats left and we can pinpoint what fell off.

One time in high school my mom was driving me to school and a ladder fell off a pickup truck in front of us on the beltway.. we missed it but he just kept on going.
 
Picking something up from the freeway is the highway patrol's job. Only they can safely stop traffic and rid of the item.

My guess is the same as everyone elses. The heatsheild to the cat was probably just resting on top the cat when you looked and finally fell off when you hit it just right.
 
RWB214 said:
Show us pictures of whats left and we can pinpoint what fell off.

One time in high school my mom was driving me to school and a ladder fell off a pickup truck in front of us on the beltway.. we missed it but he just kept on going.
Click to expand...

... and one time, at band camp.......:rof::rof:

just kidding, rt695 is bad enough without ladders roaming freely- someone should round them up and fence them in!

--Shorty
 
Bunch of stuff, starting from the rear, gas tank skid plate, gas tank heat shield, cat converter heat shield, transfer case skid plate. I'd get under there and look and if you don't know what you are looking at get someone who does or park next to another XJ and compare. You might get lucky.
 
DAMN Rich! where'd you find that image

I'm going along with the heat shield theory too, lost the muffler one about a month back as I was leaving for work. Luckily I caught it before I hit the highway and took it the rest of the way off my '98 at that stoplight. I thing the replacement was around $20 or so for a brand new factory replacement.
 
I was having the same kind of issues with my old heep. Except I wasent so lucky, my driveshaft fell off at 75 mph, and it was a 2wd. The towing bill really sucked. I diddent even look for it because it was dark, and I wasent about to go wandering down the freeway at night looking for the damn thing. I had a friend drive me out to where it happened the next day so I could look for it, but I had no such luck.
 
Pigpen said:
It maybe the heat sheild off of your catalitic converter, they will rust at the spot welds.
Click to expand...

I went back at the end of the work day Friday and picked it up. I was in fact the heat sheild on the catalitic converter according to my friend who has the same model Jeep that I do. It also looked near exactly the same shape (other than the fact it had some dings from falling off the Jeep at 60 MPH).

Fourxfour79 said:
My question would be about the vibrations you felt? Did they stop after you jeep shed it's unwanted parts or is it still an issue?
Click to expand...

The vibrations did stop after the part fell off.

And to everyone that is so concerned about leaving parts on the road for 5 hours odviously never been on a 6 lane highway. I almost got hit by a civic picking up my heatsheild. I'll leave it on the highway before trying to be a good citizen that becomes another highway satisitic.

Thanks for all your help.
 
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