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We've been down in South Florida for the last week or so with our Metris, and the other day I noticed something odd. I was crouched down to adjust our hitch mounted bike rack and noticed the lower edge of the rear bumper was damaged on the passenger side. After looking closer it appeared the damage was actually the plastic melting!
I've got an aftermarket Draw-Tite hitch receiver on the van, and what looks like is happening is exhaust gasses are being channeled thru the gap between the top of the hitch structure and the bottom of the bumper. The problem is the downturned tailpipe doesn't extend low enough. I assume the rear bumper gets exposed to some of the heat from the exhaust, but did the hitch just make the problem worse? I did notice the exhaust is VERY hot after walking around the back of the van in flip-flops the other day.
I'm going to bring it in to see the dealer when we get back, but in the meantime I built a heat shield out of aluminum sound deadening material to prevent the gasses from flowing over the top of the hitch. It's not pretty, but it should prevent the damage from getting any worse.
Anyway, I'm curious - has anyone seen something similar with their vans?
I've got an aftermarket Draw-Tite hitch receiver on the van, and what looks like is happening is exhaust gasses are being channeled thru the gap between the top of the hitch structure and the bottom of the bumper. The problem is the downturned tailpipe doesn't extend low enough. I assume the rear bumper gets exposed to some of the heat from the exhaust, but did the hitch just make the problem worse? I did notice the exhaust is VERY hot after walking around the back of the van in flip-flops the other day.
I'm going to bring it in to see the dealer when we get back, but in the meantime I built a heat shield out of aluminum sound deadening material to prevent the gasses from flowing over the top of the hitch. It's not pretty, but it should prevent the damage from getting any worse.
Anyway, I'm curious - has anyone seen something similar with their vans?
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