I was on my way to the lake while towing my trailer and had items in the bed of the truck. The exhaust pipe that runs over the rear axle and under the truck bed was so hot when we unloaded the truck that it melted the bag that our screen house was in. All this heat went through the bed floor, through my rubber bed mat and melted the bag that was on the bed mat. The bed mat was not damaged at all.I have a 2011 Ram 2500 with the 6.7 Cummins. I never had any dash lights come on and all my temp gauges were not out of the ordinary. Truck has 77,000 miles on it and I just sunk about 2 grand in the weak front end and hate to have to put a lot more now into the engine or exhaust system.On the way home I made sure that nothing was put in that spot on the bed floor but I could smell that the rubber bed mat was warm when we got home.What could be causing all this heat? We are leaving in a week for Washington DC and I need to either get this fixed or find a new truck.Thanks in advance for your help.

Maybe you have an exhaust leak in the pipe that goes over the axle. I would think it would be a minor repair. Or maybe there is some heat shielding that came loose.

On the Ford Diesels they warn you to keep the openings near the tip of the exhaust pipe open to prevent overheating.

I agree, it probably went into regeneration mode while you were driving.

There is exhaust pipe wrap that you can buy at a local auto parts store. You wrap it around the section of exhaust tubing, then place a hose clamp on each end, so it will not un-ravel. You do not want to coat more than required of the exhaust system, as it will dissipate a lot of heat where not insulated.I had to wrap about 12" of the exhaust pipe on a class C that I owned a while back. It was where the exhaust passed close to the doghouse and near the drivers feet. Good luck,Fred.

Extremely hot exhaust pipe | Good Sam Community

18 Replies

mkirsch
Nomad II
Jul 12, 2016
There should be a heat shield between the bed and the exhaust pipe. It would only take you a minute to scootch under there and look to see if it is still in place.

Certainly less effort than having to carefully avoid that area of the bed for the rest of the time you own the truck, and worry you're going to set the bed mat on fire as you go down the road!!!
schlep1967
Nomad
Jul 12, 2016
Agree with regen. I had to take mine to the dealer once for them to run the regen with a laptop attached. They told me they are required to park at least 17 feet from other vehicles to run the regen. Said the parked one next to a Saturn once and melted the whole side off of it. They have a lined off box in the lot now.
N-Trouble
Explorer
Jul 12, 2016
My 2012 GMC has heat shields under the bed above the exhaust. Sounds like RAM didnt bother.
SoCalDesertRid1
Explorer II
Jul 12, 2016
Maybe you need to make a metal heat shield over the part of the exhaust that goes under the bed floor.

One would think the manufacturers would figure this carp out, before they sell the truck...
ACZL
Explorer
Jul 12, 2016
6.7 tow rig wrote:
It was a regen. My 08 Powerstroke started a grass fire at a campground once. Pulled in and parked my truck in the grass. Right under the DPF the grass caught fire. Its not unheard of and the owners manual warns about it.

You may recall too a video showing a '08 era PS in re-gen and the heat exiting the exhaust tip blistering the paint off a bar stool approx 4-5 feet away. On some semis, when they go into re-gen, the rpm's go way up (1200-1500) and fan will come on (sitting still). My semi seems to do it's re-gen while moving, but nothing lites up on dash saying so.
bluie5
Explorer
Jul 12, 2016
Almost 2 grand. It was front wheel bearings, ball joints and oil change. Thanks for all the replies about the heat. I'll watch how it's loaded from now on. My mind sure feels better about it now.
6_7_tow_rig
Explorer
Jul 12, 2016
It was a regen. My 08 Powerstroke started a grass fire at a campground once. Pulled in and parked my truck in the grass. Right under the DPF the grass caught fire. Its not unheard of and the owners manual warns about it.
transamz9
Explorer
Jul 12, 2016
It's a regen. Wow, 2 grand on front end repairs? You need to find a different shop.
Dayle1
Explorer II
Jul 12, 2016
I agree that it is most likely regen. I've heard of at least one case of hot gases during regen of melting plastic trim at the lower corner of a fifth wheel.
bluie5
Explorer
Jul 12, 2016
I don't have an egt gauge. I'll keep an eye on it now that I'm home for a week before we take off again. Would some regen cycles get hotter than others? I don't have my trucks owners manual right now but is there an idiot light that comes on if egt is too hot?