Underbody plastic panels missing on my 2007 TCH. - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

andym1978 · 03-22-2011, 08:33 PM

Some @sshat who worked on my car removed my plastic underbody panels and never put them back on. I can't get any of the 3 places it's been to in the past year to admit they did it, so it looks like I'll need to replace them myself. I can't find these parts mentioned anywhere, so I'm hoping someone here will have some info about he best place to get them and about how much they might cost.

Words cannot describe how ticked off I was when I realized they were missing yesterday. The entire underside of my car is naked. My wife noticed some extra wind noise over the winter, but I assumed it was the pavement she was driving on in her commute. :/

ukrkoz · 03-23-2011, 01:08 PM

andy, I think you may try either being more specific on what's missing, or taking a picture of both sides, for comparison, and posting them here. personally, I am not remembering any underbody panels made out of plastic on mine. there are side moldings on the door areas and bumper cover skirts, and a large panel in the front connecting crossmeber to the bumper skirt. but that's about it.

andym1978 · 03-25-2011, 03:03 PM

I couldn't find pictures of the hybrid, but I can probably explain a bit better. Underneath the car, you normally see metal floor boards, pipes, joints, etc. When I purchased my Camry Hybrid, all of the metal was covered by a long, grooved, plastic cover covering the entire underneath of the car. You could not see any wires, metal, etc. It's like the plastic you have underneath the engine on most other cars, but it continues all the way to the back on the hybrid. If your TCH does not have this large black panel, then someone must have removed yours as well during a service. You'll notice that all modern Lexus vehicles have this large panel standard, and I believe the 2010+ Camrys now have then standard for better aerodynamics.

I hope this better explains everything.

ukrkoz · 03-25-2011, 07:59 PM

it's called under belly pan.

Under belly pan...

joking. yes, sounds like 2010 and above do have those:

With the Toyota Camry Hybrid, the aerodynamic focus was on efficiency. Unique wheel spats and underbelly pans reduce the coefficient of drag (Cd) to a low 0.27. This reduces the amount of energy required to move the Hybrid at a given speed, and in turn helps increasefueleconomy.

actually, found this mentioned for 2007 either. nope, mine does not have it. i SERIOUSLY doubt mechs simply remove them left and rtight. mine was serviced at dealership ONLY.

ukrkoz · 03-25-2011, 08:01 PM

http://www.evworld.com/images/pknox_bellypan.jpg

AML · 03-25-2011, 10:45 PM

I'll have to check to see if mine has it. If not I wonder how much it runs. These actually help quite a bit with road noise.

snookwhaler · 03-26-2011, 08:14 AM

I can say with certainty that my car does not have a panel running the entire length of the car. Just in the front of the car beneath the front bumper. I think the "spats" are attached to this thing...

So, there is actually supposed to be a panel that runs the entire length of the floor pan?

I would like to know where to get this panel too... If it is "supposed to be there".

ukrkoz · 03-26-2011, 09:12 AM

folks, i seriously doubt there's full underbelly pan on those. reason simple - it will be ripped and torn the very moment you either go over the "laying cop" - speed bump, or any major bump in pavement, or a rock. my gut feeling is, "pans" are the ones that cover front bumper skirt to crossmember and one in the rear, for rear bumper. and it's nothing new, my wife's 99 RX300 has them too.
i can not possibly see something like this being made out of plastic (rattles, vibration) and coming off the belly at hwy speed. TOO MUCH LIABILITY.
of course, this is my stipulation, unless proven otherwise. truly - it's a simple phone call away to a dealership.

now, i can see a temporary plastic cover for underbelly, for transportation purposes, that has to be removed at dealership. like they have those white plastic film sheets covering hoods, trunks, etc. that i see.

snookwhaler · 03-26-2011, 09:36 AM

I was just on Toyota Parts Centers website and was going through the drop down menu for parts on the Hybrid. I did not see anything that looked like it might be this panel. Under "Pillars Rocker and Floor", then "Floor and Rails", there is something called a "Plate" and something called a "Silencer". Not sure what these are.

The OP states that these panels were on his car and now they are missing. So, obviously there is some kind of panel under there. I plan to take a trip up to the dealer here in the next couple hours and have a look at a couple of them to see for myself.

I'll take the camera and if I see any such panel.... I'll snap a pic of it.

ukrkoz · 03-26-2011, 09:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by andym1978

IWhen I purchased my Camry Hybrid, all of the metal was covered by a long, grooved, plastic cover covering the entire underneath of the car. You could not see any wires, metal, etc. It's like the plastic you have underneath the engine on most other cars, but it continues all the way to the back on the hybrid. If your TCH does not have this large black panel, then someone must have removed yours as well during a service.

so that's what andy here says. of course, andy rolled the ball and vanished out of this thread. nobody else here has or had it, apparently.

snook, you are a good man. let's find out. i say it's transportation cover that someone forgot to remove from his car. there's a lot of stuff that can be stolen or get damaged down there during transportation. but, like i said before, it's just an assumption.

out to tint windows/moonroof in my TCH.

heat is coming.

andym1978 · 03-26-2011, 10:51 AM

I'm still here!

I am absolutely positive I had that panel under there. I showed it to quite a few interested friends when I first got the car. It was attached with several clips and was VERY sturdy - not a typical temporary part. It would take some heavy offroading to tear this part off.When I last saw it last year, it was in perfect condition (after 50,000 miles of driving on New England broken roads).

I talked to a mechanic about this issue, and he told me alot of the lazier/low paid mechanics take these things off and thrown them away because they are a hassle to re-attach, and the clips typically break when they rip them off (instead of using a clip removal tool). He told me dealership mechanics are notorious for this, so I'm betting mine was removed at the dealership when I had the steering rack replaced. I bet the other poster lost theirs at the dealership too. What a shame.. :/

I'm going to check around today to see if any used parts stores have this item in stock.

snookwhaler · 03-26-2011, 12:05 PM

Just got back from the dealer. None on the lot new or used and none in the service dept. The service tech at Toyota of Melbourne was familiar with the panel in question. The parts dept. could not find the part in their system. They are going to do some more looking and give me a call back (Probably Monday at this point).

Just as a Gee Wiz type thing. That stupid plastic cover on top of the engine is $146.00!!!

So, I can imagine that this particular panel under the car could be up to 3 times this price.

AML · 03-26-2011, 12:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ukrkoz

folks, i seriously doubt there's full underbelly pan on those. reason simple - it will be ripped and torn the very moment you either go over the "laying cop" - speed bump, or any major bump in pavement, or a rock. my gut feeling is, "pans" are the ones that cover front bumper skirt to crossmember and one in the rear, for rear bumper. and it's nothing new, my wife's 99 RX300 has them too.
i can not possibly see something like this being made out of plastic (rattles, vibration) and coming off the belly at hwy speed. TOO MUCH LIABILITY.
of course, this is my stipulation, unless proven otherwise. truly - it's a simple phone call away to a dealership.

now, i can see a temporary plastic cover for underbelly, for transportation purposes, that has to be removed at dealership. like they have those white plastic film sheets covering hoods, trunks, etc. that i see.

Too lazy to go out into the garage and take a look, but I'm 90% sure mine has it. I remember making a note to the SA that the plastic underbody cover was loose and hanging a little and they put it back up for me after the oil change. I'm pretty sure this may be the only thing under there, as I recall the regular Camry's not having this.

As for the feasibility of having full underbody pans, this is very common in higher end cars. I checked out the new Audi A8 yesterday and there are sections of plastic (or some other composite) plates covering the entire length of the underbody. The only exposed sections are for the exhaust system.

andym1978 · 03-26-2011, 03:34 PM

I'm partially an idiot... I finally found someone with a TCH (2008, but same parts) and looked underneath. The plastic panel is actually 2 parts (on each side of the exhaust pipe) and is not the full length of the car. It starts somewhere after the front wheels, and ends right before the rear wheels. There is about 2 feet of empty space between the plastic under the engine and these panels, so they don't actually connect.

There is also a panel with air holes in it connecting from the left rear bumper to the suspension.

I hope this means it will be much cheaper for me to get these parts. At least I'll be able to fit them in a car so I can bring them home for an install.

Also, I have a feeling that it WASN'T the dealership that removed these parts. My car was involved in a rear-end accident, and an adjuster fully examined all the rear components of the vehicle to see if there was any hidden damage. I have a feeling the shop removed the parts so pictures could be taken, and forgot (or neglected) to put them back on.

ukrkoz · 03-26-2011, 05:17 PM

ahm...
so has mine. there are two parallel covers that run alongside the doors, front to back, with - yes, about 2 feet space between the skid bars on the undercarriage. exhaust system is exposed, but flat from the bottom.

well, i'm glad it all resolved. of course, we can always make full underbelly pans out of plywood, like the other guy did.

once again, i do not believe it is feasible to make plastic underbelly pans. yes, Audi 8. ok, but it's a damn race car. IT WILL BE RIPPED OFF OR OTHERWISE TORN ON BUMPS/HUMPS IN THE ROAD. ain't no autobahns around here.