[Scar0]

Thanks for the Pic. :rep:
I was having a hard time wrapping my head around it, till I went out under my rig and looked. The rear side of the tunnel shield goes over the upside down U the seatbelts are attached to. The new black bracket just adds an extra 1" or so of "lip" to the U. The concern was the tunnel shield/noise barrier would drop down onto the drive line in rigs without a transfercase to hold them up.
I suppose it would be possible, if the shield became damaged (bent), or maybe if it became heavy with mud or something. Then slipped off the original "U".
With the new bracket the shield would have to be more damaged or more bent to have the same thing happen.

 

[DAYLEY/CHALLENGER]

After reading again the fault.....I realized the foil shield is what they were talking about.......I don't think that would be heavy enough to do damage to the drive shaft............but.........Its done anyway..........

 

[Scar0]

The issue is with the hollow aluminum drive shaft. If the shield drops onto it, it can eventually wear it down enough to cause it to fail. If we had a steel shaft this would not be an issue.
I hope this "fix" will prevent any future accidents. :smileup:

 

[vanbuskirk09]

I got this done today. took them about 4 hours.

 

[Scar0]

4 hours for 4 holes, 4 bolts and a bracket. They must be on Government time... LOL

 

[DukesNitro]

My dodge dealer notified me of this recall (N10 - underbody transmission tunnel shield) last weekend when I was there attempting to buy a part there. They told me that I should make an appointment because this recall was going to be a 6-hour repair. The question I have is if I take this to them for the recall work, are they going to try to "ding" me for other stuff as they do the recall? Just curious if anyone else would know this. Thanks.

 

[meder24]

Pretty hard to know that since every dealer is different. I'm sure they will try the usual oil change or stuff like that.

 

[NitroWill]

I just got this recall notice in the mail this month - however it said Dodge does not have the parts available yet and I will receive another letter when they do.

 

[Scar0]

Until you hear back from them, keep a close eye on the shield!

 

[jasonmcgarr]

Drive shaft broke and deployed air bags due to heat shield issue

My drive shaft broke when the heat shield dropped down and rubbed/weakened it. The Nitro drive shaft is aluminum. I was at a stop light and gave it gas to move. The shaft broke, hit the air bag sensor and deployed my side air bags. Practically knocked me out! The recal says verbatim that this can happen and it did!

I called Chrysler and opened a report. They had an engineer come look at it and fixed it all. The repair was over $6K. Not sure why they authorized that on an 07 that probably isn't worth that amount. They had to replace my headliner, drive shaft, heat shield and a bunch of other stuff. Also seat belts and air bags.

it was a mess. Had my car almost 2 months. They did authorize a rental.

If this happened to anyone I suggest you call Chrysler and open a report. make sure you get it fixed or reimbursed.

 

[CountryDoe3006]

My drive shaft broke when the heat shield dropped down and rubbed/weakened it. The Nitro drive shaft is aluminum. I was at a stop light and gave it gas to move. The shaft broke, hit the air bag sensor and deployed my side air bags. Practically knocked me out! The recal says verbatim that this can happen and it did!

I called Chrysler and opened a report. They had an engineer come look at it and fixed it all. The repair was over $6K. Not sure why they authorized that on an 07 that probably isn't worth that amount. They had to replace my headliner, drive shaft, heat shield and a bunch of other stuff. Also seat belts and air bags.

it was a mess. Had my car almost 2 months. They did authorize a rental.

If this happened to anyone I suggest you call Chrysler and open a report. make sure you get it fixed or reimbursed.

Wow, looks like I got lucky. Mine broke, also when taking off at a stop light, but I didn't have any damage except the broken drive shaft. I was able to have it towed and bought a drive shaft for about $300 and replaced it myself in the parking lot at my old job. Took all of maybe an hour for me to swap it out. I did have to invest in this heat resistant tape stuff to hold the shield in place. This was in 2012, come 2013 I got a letter about having it fixed by the dealer.

 

[JolieRouge]

It floors me that this is only for the 2wd Nitro. I heard a strange sound coming from my 4wd Nitro last summer - it got louder the faster you went and stopped entirely when the vehicle stopped. I crawled underneath and found the heat shield laying on the drive shaft. Obvious solution: remove the heatshield. Problem solved.

 

[ixslr8]

Any idea if there is a recall for the same issue but a 2010 nitro?? My gf reported a smell under hers. I climbed under it and the shield had been rubbing on the driveshaft pretty noticeably.

 

[Scar0]

After this recall (Recall N10 2 WD only(underbody transmission tunnel shield) ), all Nitros should have already have the new "bracket" already in place at the rear of the heat shield.
Look at the PDF in the above thread.

 

[ixslr8]

Ok, hers doesn't and it ruined the driveshaft. Think I have a leg to stand on with the dealership? Or since the recall doesn't specifically list 2010 she's out of luck??

 

[Scar0]

Is it a 2 WD or 4x4? 2Wd you may be able to press it with a dealer. It may also be covered by warranty if she still has one.

The 4x4 was not covered by the recall because supposedly the X-fer case would hold the shield up if it dropped off. All us 4x4 owners are SOL if the shield cuts the drive line.

 

[ixslr8]

It's 2wd and she's about 5k out of the extended warranty, go figure. I'm not holding my breath with my local dealer. They told me it'd be a 9 month wait on my 05 dodge ram air bag recall.

 

[Scar0]

Bummer. all you can do it try. Bring a copy of all the recall letters (PDF link above, and 2 in this thread
Post 8) with you, in case they try to play dumb.

 

[Scar0]

One more thing you can check is to go to here and run her VIN for recalls.

 

[ixslr8]

No luck with the dealer. Their words" if there is no recall, there is no issue". Quote was right at $1900 for new heat shield/driveshaft. I lol'd all the way out the door. I did file a safety report with the nhtsa.