Hey guys,

After looking under the front of my car, I noticed that I actually have never had an untertray...

Now, I know the nornal undertray/splashguard is made of plastic and doesn't really connect to anything else, other than the bumper. The extension is zip-tied to the front subframe but that is more tension on the front bumper brackets...

My thought was to make a tray out of steel or aluminium which can also act as a support, to keep the bumper at a better height but also longer, to cover more under the car.

What do you think? Is it worth doing or would it just be cleverer to buy a plastic tray? My bumper still has all the lower brackets before someone hints...

Cheers

Damien

 

it would be way easier to install the oe part and a set of new bumper mounts, you could of course make an alloy one but to do it nicely an oe part to use as a pattern would get it fitting properly. It's an aero device for the coolers and brake ducts.

 

The tray is of a 3 dimensional shape, happy rolling

 

Easier to stick with plastic probably. You can buy a replacement off rockauto for 50 or 60 bucks. The ziptied part isn't weight bearing, it's just to keep the one long section of the splash shield from flapping around. If weight is a concern, I'd imagine the custom metal cover would be heavier... Besides, the front bumper brackets are pretty beefy, the weight of the plastic splash shield won't affect them. The bumper cover itself shouldn't sag from the weight of the splash shield...

 

The bumper sags from it's own weight I was thinking that the splash guard could be aMother support to push the lower section of the bumper forwards, so it doesn't lean...

 

Have you already tried messing with the height adjusters on the bumper pneumatic mounts?

Jaguar may have avoided bracing the bumper by the subframe since that would need additional movement isolation? The subframe's on bushings while the front bumper is braced more or less directly to the chassis, so maybe additionally bracing the bumper using the subframe could cause NVH problems?

 

Those mounts were USA spec only from what I can tell, the European cars have solid bumper mounts made of plastic which shatters in the event of an accident.

But I too think a tray made of metal would be very heavy and not aid strengthening the bumper. The plastic one is cable tied to the roll bar but this doesn't have any pull on anything, it's just to stop it flapping around. The tray itself is very light and can be carried around between two fingers with one hand.

I think if your bumper is sagging there may be a problem with the way it's been mounted, perhaps the sliders. I've found the bumpers to be solid enough to stand on and use as a step when clambering on stacks of X308's in scrap yards looking for parts.

 

EU cars have the height adjustable bumper brackets too Mine are both brand new. The bumper still hangs. The side brackets are also new.

 

Could be internal hanger tube damage the bolts run through, you'd need to remove/check the bumper internals.

 

Hmm...It is my 4th bumper... Not kidding. All were hanging.

1st meteorite pearl: cracked in the middle, was like that as I got the car (dumped because broken)
2nd blue bumper: not broken. Removed myself (replaced because I got a full bumper with all parts)
3rd black bumper: not broken. Removed myself (replaced because ripped off after someone hit my car)
4th (current) bumper: not broken. Removed by pros in UK

All were fitted correctly. The guides left and right are fine. Bumper doesn't stick out. But they just all hang badly. Even with the bumper adjusters fully extended it just hangs. Below the headlight bezels is about 9 mm space on each side...

 

Yeh, you need to remove the front bumper, then strip off the outer skin. Your left with a composite bar with 2 bolt guides. If the bumper has had an impact or bimetallic reaction, then these tubes could be knackered. Use something like an epoxy or fiber glass filler to reset the tubes. Get a picture or the issue?

 

double post.

 

Are the carriers in some XJs out of steel? Mine is all plastic... Plastic plastic plastic... Super fanplastic

As I need to respray the bugger, I'll strip it right down to the bare frame and have a look there again.

Cheers Sean!

 

Steel would probably kill before it deformed - the plastic is there for safety.