2001 ranger edge bed question

[rjaaaaaa2]

when I pulled my bed off I found 2 strips of what looks to be aluminum tape approx. 8" wide & 18" long. These things are stuck to the bed with some king of thick black gooey stuff. Anyone know the purpose of these strips. They don't appear to line up with anything that might be heat related.
I removed them since I'm going to repaint, do they need to be replaced ???

 

[97RangerXLT]

I cant honestly think of why you would need them or even why they are there... maybe someone with more knowledge than me can give us a clue, but my thoughts are to nuke them and be done with it.

AJ

 

[snoranger]

I think they are for sound deadening, not for heat. I don’t see them making much of a difference. If you want, you can throw some Dynamat or another brand of sound deadener there.

 

[sgtsandman]

Looking at where it is located, it had to be exhaust related. Why it ran up the front of the bed is beyond me. Even then, I think most of the heat shields manufacturers put in are to make the Safety Sallys happy. Outside of the cats, the rest of the exhaust doesn’t get hot enough to worry about sheetmetal or paint getting damaged, let alone catch fire.

 

[Ranger850]

I saw them too, when I removed my bed. I assumed they were vibration or sound dampeners.

 

[Dirtman]

I always thought they were remnants of the assembly process. Either to prevent the bed from hitting the cab when its lowered on or for when the beds are stacked and being moved around on the assembly line.