Front Air Dam Removal

[cj7]

Does anybody have a pic of where the wiring connector on the truck harness is?

i want to figure out if I even had an active air dam connector, and can’t seem to find it...

 

[mikeru82]

Here's a pic of mine. I've removed the air dam so the connector is taped to the wiring harness above...

 

[cj7]

Here's a pic of mine. I've removed the air dam so the connector is taped to the wiring harness above...

View attachment 68997

THX !

 

[Mstefanik333]

Yep, I’ve also had mine off for around 6mo and no issues. That said, it’s possible the truck has an error code if I were to plug into an OBDII reader, and I simply am unaware of it... not sure.

I have had my truck into the dealer 3x since removing the air dams, and it’s never come up in discussion.

I’ve had mine off a few months and have a Diablo installed, no error code.

 

[EatdirtG5]

Getting ready to take mine off too, thanks for the tips

 

[St Pete Ron]

I am wondering how much MPG I would gain doing this? I am averaging 17 MPG in town with my Laramie diesel now.

 

[brian42]

Theoretically you should lose MPG. The active air dam is supposed to improve economy.

It is a better option than other brands. Have you seen how low to the ground the lower valance is on 2WD F-150s? No thanks.

 

[Eltaco]

My MPG has been pretty rough since making all of my modifications... I swapped to 33” Rebel tires, leveled the truck (+2” up front), and removed the air dam. I expected all of those things to reduce fuel economy, but I’m typically around 15-16mpg on the highway now. I actually don’t have a great sense for where the truck would be without these changes since I made them so early in my ownership. Heard lots of comments about how the Hemi gets better after 5k miles, but mine seemed to steadily decrease.

That said, I put the air dams back on a couple of days ago and I’ll track if there are any improvements over a month or two. I recall when I pulled them off that I couldn’t find a notable decrease in mileage, but I’ll run the experiment again the other way.

On a side note, I lost the two plastic brackets which hold the air dam on. Anyone have those and willing to sell them?

 

[brian42]

My MPG has been pretty rough since making all of my modifications... I swapped to 33” Rebel tires, leveled the truck (+2” up front), and removed the air dam. I expected all of those things to reduce fuel economy, but I’m typically around 15-16mpg on the highway now. I actually don’t have a great sense for where the truck would be without these changes since I made them so early in my ownership.

I'm at 33K miles and the only change I've made is to swap tires to the XL-rated Nitto Ridge Grapplers (OEM size). On the freeway (70 mph) my instantaneous MPG is in the mid-20s.

 

[Eltaco]

I'm at 33K miles and the only change I've made is to swap tires to the XL-rated Nitto Ridge Grapplers (OEM size). On the freeway (70 mph) my instantaneous MPG is in the mid-20s.

That’s your average, or you take the foot off the gas and see instantaneous mid-20s? Mid-20s average on flat highway at 70mph sounds hard to believe for a Hemi... I encounter plenty of times at 70mph where my instantaneous shows 20s, but over a long trip I’d be very lucky to be in the 16s for average.

My truck is one of the heaviest I’ve seen on the load rating sticker, so that’s definitely not helping things in my favor.

I’ll report back on what the air dam does for me. So far not seeing much... maybe 0.2-0.5mpg improvement... but it’s way too early to say for sure. Could swing the opposite direction next week for all I know.

 

[brian42]

That’s your average, or you take the foot off the gas and see instantaneous mid-20s? Mid-20s average on flat highway at 70mph sounds hard to believe for a Hemi... I encounter plenty of times at 70mph where my instantaneous shows 20s, but over a long trip I’d be very lucky to be in the 16s for average.

That's flat freeway with the cruise control set at 70 mph (instantaneous MPG). Obviously it fluctuates a little bit but it hangs around the mid-20s on the flats (sunny day with little to no wind). If I take my foot off the gas it goes to 99 mpg.

Overall I'm in the low 15s for mpg per tank (hand calculated). If I do mostly highway (no traffic) and stay at 70 mph or below I can creep into the 16s, if I do more city than highway it quickly dips into the 14s and if I'm feeling a little frisky I can easily get it below 14 mpg overall.

It's a truck so doesn't bother me much if I get 14 mpg or 16 mpg per tank. As long as I enjoy the drive I'm good. If fuel economy was a concern then I would be in a hybrid car.

My last truck (older diesel) I tracked fuel economy religiously. A 2 mpg difference than usual indicated a possible problem.

 

[dlrsavannah]

I’m also tempted to remove my valance but it’s there for aerodynamics and to help keep debris from flying up into the engine bay from the road. For instance, my wife and I were riding down I95 N one day in her Mercedes C250. It was clear and medium traffic when I noticed something in the road just ahead of us. Wood and metal, maybe just under a foot tall and I had just enough time to swerve around it but the poor guy behind us in a Civic took it right in the bumper destroying the cover and somehow getting under and puncturing the radiator. Granted it was low to the ground car but something that size could possibly even get under the valance of our 1500’s and do some major damage, maybe more so without the valance. If that did happen without the valance there, would the dealer cover any warranty repairs caused by that knowing the valance had been remove previously? I don’t care for the valance either but I’d rather keep it on just for that reason alone. That’s my 2 cents anyway.

 

[mikeru82]

I’m also tempted to remove my valance but it’s there for aerodynamics and to help keep debris from flying up into the engine bay from the road. For instance, my wife and I were riding down I95 N one day in her Mercedes C250. It was clear and medium traffic when I noticed something in the road just ahead of us. Wood and metal, maybe just under a foot tall and I had just enough time to swerve around it but the poor guy behind us in a Civic took it right in the bumper destroying the cover and somehow getting under and puncturing the radiator. Granted it was low to the ground car but something that size could possibly even get under the valance of our 1500’s and do some major damage, maybe more so without the valance. If that did happen without the valance there, would the dealer cover any warranty repairs caused by that knowing the valance had been remove previously? I don’t care for the valance either but I’d rather keep it on just for that reason alone. That’s my 2 cents anyway.

Your warranty won't cover any road hazards, so it wouldn't matter if you have the air dams or not. That would be an insurance claim. If you're worried about something like that happening you can add a skid plate.

 

[Wilsonwanderings]

Took the dams off my ecodiesel today and thought I'd throw out the fact that removing the bolts holding the two plastic brackets on each side of the license plate requires that you move the intercooler temporarily. Not a huge deal as only two 13mm bolts hold it on, but thought I'd add it for the record. Happy with the result and instantaneous mpg seems roughly the same (based on one hwy drive) but who knows.

 

[mikeru82]

What's an intercooler?

Just kidding...I hadn't considered that since both our trucks are Hemi's. Good information though for those that do have the EcoDiesel.

 

[Ty151]

Love the look removed!

 

[Wilsonwanderings]

What's an intercooler?

Just kidding...I hadn't considered that since both our trucks are Hemi's. Good information though for those that do have the EcoDiesel.

It did make me briefly consider relocating the intercooler to a horizontal configuration. Working on a skid plate & Front receiver hitch design right now that would benefit from it not being there, but not sure I want to tackle that job.

 

[RedBeard85]

That looks really good! I have been looking for a Rebel Bumper for my truck but........I think you just convinced me to just remove my air dam instead.

I wanted to do the same, but not worth the cost of parts. This is a solid option!

 

[RedBeard85]

I am not a fan of the front air dam/valence. What’s the point of having a truck with 6” of clearance in the front. Always find myself catching them on snow in the winter.

I searched around looking for pictures and information around issues with a dash light if the active air dam was removed. Found a couple pictures but no other information so I wanted to post up for others who wanted to remove the air dam and active air dam.

The active air dam is a simple electric connection and 4 12mm bolts. I taped up the connection to keep weather out and zip tied it to itself out of the way. If anyone knows a blank plug cap for this connection please post below. I was worried disconnecting might throw a check engine light or something but have had absolutely no issues.

The front air dam is just a matter of removing 15ish (didn’t take an actual count) 10mm nuts, 3 plastic clips, and 2 10mm nuts holding on plastic brackets. Then it just drops down and you’re done.

Now I understand these are for aerodynamics and better fuel mileage.I didn’t make this thread to get into the advantages and disadvantages of the air dams being there vs not. Just wanted to show some before and after pictures and a brief right up.

I am very happy with how it looks.
View attachment 37941 View attachment 37942 View attachment 37943 View attachment 37944

Excellent! Thanks so much for posting this.

That looks really good! I have been looking for a Rebel Bumper for my truck but........I think you just convinced me to just remove my air dam instead.

Also, not sure if you picked up the backflip yet, but I have bought 2 encore tonneau covers (one for my old tundra and another for the ram) and they are excellent. That being said, I rarely need full bed access, but when I do the cover comes off really easy and only weighs maybe 30/40lb Food for thought

 

[Wasachevyguy]

Does anyone want to sell their active air dam? If so, please PM me a price with shipping. Or, I’d drive to get it anywhere in the east KS/west MO area. I’m not far from KC. I imagine shipping would be a pain due to size and need for packaging. If you’re curious, water got in mine, shorted, CEL came on. Dealership said I needed a new Active Grill Shutter, so I ordered and installed myself. Nope. It was the air dam. Anyway, I still need to replace and looking to save $. Thank you.