One problem related to underbody shield has been reported for the 1996 Ford Explorer. The most recently reported issues are listed below.
Gas pedal came off from its mounting to floor board driving while vehicle. Mounting plate seems to have only one bolt securing it to the floorboard. Their are three mounting holes for the peddle backing plate and three holes through floor board. Top hole had stressed metal indicative of what ever was used to hold gas peddle backing plate. Lucky us for just getting off the express way. Something bad could happen to me and my wife.