My Official T4R Piss Poor Engineering Post

[morphious]

When I originally did my lift I noticed that my inner wheel well liners were torn and basically falling apart. I know they are not the most important thing so I didn't want to spend close to $100 to replace them but figured I would take my time and get the templates that people have uploaded and look for the right material to use. I finally found some PVC 40mil liner and thought it was a good fit so I printed the templates, traced them, cut them, painted them black (originally grey), and installed them. The reason I am posting this is because what is the point of these things? If I would have remembered how they looked originally before (mine were deteriorated) I would not have wasted any time or money on these things. What are these things suppose to protect? If you want to make these things "protect" the engine compartment from water and debris, don't follow the stock templates, make a full set that cover the entire area that others have done. I have included some pictures for you all...

This is my wife's '06 Matrix (I know it is a strut, but I don't see any engine compartment, good design):

My 4Runner without liners:

My 4Runner with liners (Piss Poor Design):

 

[eXstasy]

It is not piss poor engineering.

You're comparing a body-on-frame vehicle vs one that has unibody construction.

 

[morphious]

It is not piss poor engineering.

You're comparing a body-on-frame vehicle vs one that has unibody construction.

Not arguing the construction, I drive an F150 that has exposure to the engine bay, but they don't use any lame "inner liners". Toyota could have designed a better inner fender well or used some sheet metal to do the job of these deteriorating liners.

 

[Drunner97]

Mine are all fubar'd from when I was installing my Camburgs (and not pulling all the clips). I have a big rig tire tube that I cut up to fix a couple of the pieces but I've been thinking the same thing. What's the point if they don't keep everything out of the engine bay? If I ever get around to it I'm planning on cutting one single piece to cover all holes and *hopefully* keep more out of the engine bay than the OEM ones do. You would think that Toyota would cover important entrances, especially on 4wd vehicles that have the potential to throw objects up.

 

[BlackWorksInc]

Not arguing the construction, I drive an F150 that has exposure to the engine bay, but they don't use any lame "inner liners". Toyota could have designed a better inner fender well or used some sheet metal to do the job of these deteriorating liners.

They're designed to limit splashing of engine components. Unlike your F150, the J120/J150 engine bays are a bit more cramped an the engines are shoe horned in there. A lot of components need that open space to be effectively serviced. Sealing it off like the Matrix would mean that anything that wasn't replacing spark plugs or an oil change would require removal of the engine because you can't get at any of the bolts or components on the side of the engine. Not to mention that trying to remove the UCA bolts or any of the shock bolts would be nearly impossible.

A sheet metal cover is too costly, it'd require a secondary sealing aspect and possibly sound deadening to reduce noise; not to mention additional nuts/RivNuts and a possibility that some strengthening would be needed for those. Not to mention it'd still leave a gap between the frame and body that the rubber sheets cover. Granted I'd like them to be a bit bigger in my opinion as I feel they could cover a lot more... but then again they aren't meant to seal the engine bay completely, that'd be ridiculous. After all there's gaping holes in the front of the vehicle and under the vehicle that expose the engine bay just as much as these wheel well access points do. They just want to keep the majority of wheel well splash out of the way.

Something else to point out is that they are loosely fitted because of body flexing (i.e. they look slightly folded/wavy) so when the body flexes they don't tear out of the clips. Considering that I still have the front ones on both sides after a decade, I'm impressed the rubber held up so long. It's not bad engineering, it's a small price to pay for relatively good engineering in respect to serviceability. Or would you rather pay me to rip the entire engine out of the car everytime you want a serpentine belt done or an alternator replaced? I mean I could use the money... :becky:

 

[morphious]

[MENTION=66389]BlackWorksInc[/MENTION] Though I completely agree with your points and I am not saying it should be sealed, but if they are going to bother designing these pieces, why not use a more rigid material like the actual wheel well material attached to the wheel well sheet metal via clips overlapping the frame with no attachment to the frame thus eliminating flexing issues. I am just saying these pieces could really have been a bit better engineered and implemented.

 

[MrRoo]

When I printed off the templates to redo mine, I made them fit around the control arm almost all the way. Much better than the way they were stock. ONly took me maybe 15 extra minutes. I used the EMPD roofing rubber for mine.

 

[07V8]

Perhaps they did it for an unknown reason.