Work continues on getting our Ford Ranger project ready for the FourWheeler.com Forum Mojave Road trip coming up this March. One of the trucks major needs was a new exhaust system since the factory 13-year-old catalytic converters are toast and we couldn't fit a muffler with the old system. So it's out with the old and in with the new but in the middle of that process we decided to install some more heat shielding. 

Since the truck is built for the desert and is often being used in hot climates we want to minimize any undo heat in the cab. The factory cab already has a heat shield of sorts above where the catalytic converters mount so we decided to go a step further and line these factory shields with a very high-quality heat shield material from Design Engineering Inc. (DEI). DEI produces loads of thermal protection products, among other things, and one of the top-of-the-line products that they sell is the Relfect-A-GOLD line. Reflect-A-GOLD is a "metalized polyamide polymer laminated glass cloth with a high temperature pressure sensitive adhesive for use in extreme temperature swing environments." The Reflect-A-GOLD material reflects 80% of heat and can handle up to 850*, which makes it perfect for our use.

The Reflect-A-GOLD material is super easy to apply. We went with the 2"x30ft and 1.5"x15ft rolls. You can also get it in sheets. You simply peal, stick, and trim. It easily conforms to any contour that you may need to go around.

We want to really test this material out so look for a heat-reflection test coming soon!