Monterey Mountaineer fuel tank shield

[crunchie_frog]

I am in the middle of replacing the fuel pump/sender on a 2000 Monterey Mountaineer and I had to remove a fuel tank shield to get to the fuel tank. It protects the entire underside of the fuel tank. Is this shield standard on the Monterey? This is the 5th of these 2nd gens I have owned and none of the other 4 had this. I was wondering if there were any other "off road" options that could be on this vehicle that came with the shield. I am thinking about just leaving it off, no plans for off roading… but simple enough to put back on. Anyone have any experience with this shield and any reason to leave it off or put it back on.

 

[koda2000]

No. Maybe std on 4x4/AWD's (?) but my 2000 AWD Mountaineer Monterrey didn't have one.

 

[crunchie_frog]

Well, maybe, but I have had 4 other 5.0 AWDs, none of them had it.

 

[410Fortune]

the 96-97 trucks all had these (as far as I know, I only worked on the 4x4 and awd, 2wd may not have ever had them)
In 98 they started to go away

Interesting that your Mounty had one
I always thought they were good idea to help keep a stick or road debris from puncturing the tank

 

[crunchie_frog]

Ford probably took them off to reduce costs and lower weight (20 lbs??) to "improve" fuel mileage (negligible). Probably a good idea to leave it on...

 

[J_C]

My '98 4WD has it. As you stated it is just a tank guard for off-roading, serves no purpose on-road unless you're in an area with a lot of road debris or rocks.

 

[Hacra]

I have one, keep it.

Edit: These cars weren't built with best possible fuel economy in mind anyway...

 

[410Fortune]

the t case skid plate got "lighter" over the years also, they used to be twice as thick metal.....
cost engineering they call it