Front Air Dam Removal

[mikeru82]

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.

You should be able to just unplug the thing to keep the CEL from coming on until you can get another one. You'll probably have to reset the trouble codes first though. You can have mine if you want to drive to SE Washington state LOL.

 

[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. No fix. Nope. It was the air dam. Anyway, I still need to replace and looking to save $. Thank you.

You should be able to just unplug the thing to keep the CEL from coming on until you can get another one. You'll probably have to reset the trouble codes first though. You can have mine if you want to drive to SE Washington state LOL.

Ha! Thanks for the offer, but I’d prolly pay the $275 for a new one instead. I unplugged and did a reset after I figured out the problem. Not a big deal, but if it will buy me 1/2 to 1 mpg on long trips I want To fix it. I’m cheap!

 

[mikeru82]

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. No fix. Nope. It was the air dam. Anyway, I still need to replace and looking to save $. Thank you.

Ha! Thanks for the offer, but I’d prolly pay the $275 for a new one instead. I unplugged and did a reset after I figured out the problem. Not a big deal, but if it will buy me 1/2 to 1 mpg on long trips I want To fix it. I’m cheap!

Haha I don't blame you there. Could be a fun road trip though ... Has your warranty expired on your truck? This would be a covered repair under the factory warranty.

 

[Wasachevyguy]

Haha I don't blame you there. Could be a fun road trip though ... Has your warranty expired on your truck? This would be a covered repair under the factory warranty.

Yes, the warranty is expired. Truck bought in 2018 and +60k already. Yep, I just need to find one of you guys that stripped one off that will sell and ship it to me!

 

[brian42]

Check local salvage yards. They may have one since it’s not a hot item like body panels, doors, and interior components.

 

[5thGenLoco]

I removed both the fixed and active dam for added clearance off road. I noticed an immediate drop in mpg, surprisingly so, of approx 1.5. I truly didn't expect much at all. I always disable the mds as well and have not noticed any difference without it.

I reinstalled them both as I do far more on road than off. Installing Bils and slightly taller tires have improved clearance sufficiently for my use.

 

[Curlymurt]

I picked up a blue Igloo cooler on a highway clearance sale. I have not noticed much, if any, decrease in average MPG without the active air dam.

 

[CJR28]

I picked up a blue Igloo cooler on a highway clearance sale. I have not noticed much, if any, decrease in average MPG without the active air dam.

That poor lil’ fella! Hope he didnt suffer! All jokes aside, one my reasons beside offroad ground clearance was I was afraid of waffling a raccoon and damaging the front of my truck.

 

[Eltaco]

I picked up a blue Igloo cooler on a highway clearance sale. I have not noticed much, if any, decrease in average MPG without the active air dam.

Did that damage the hard plastic air dam, or anything else besides the active dam?

 

[Curlymurt]

Did that damage the hard plastic air dam, or anything else besides the active dam?

It added some rash marks to the bumper but they'll buff out. The air valence did get warped a bit, but it shaped back for the most part.

 

[NoLiF3]

So I'm installing a Fab Fours front bumper and need to take the active air dam off, I saw that a couple of you guys said you got "check engine lights" and most had not. Just curious to know if you guys still haven't gotten any lights and if those that did ,did you have to re install it. My friend that works at Ram said they just remove the fin and leave the motor but I'd rather take it off.

 

[Eltaco]

So I'm installing a Fab Fours front bumper and need to take the active air dam off, I saw that a couple of you guys said you got "check engine lights" and most had not. Just curious to know if you guys still haven't gotten any lights and if those that did ,did you have to re install it. My friend that works at Ram said they just remove the fin and leave the motor but I'd rather take it off.

I disconnected the entire air dam and removed the wire connector from the motor. I just zip tied the wire up under the bumper and taped the connector to avoid any corrosion. No error lights for me.

 

[Curlymurt]

So I'm installing a Fab Fours front bumper and need to take the active air dam off, I saw that a couple of you guys said you got "check engine lights" and most had not. Just curious to know if you guys still haven't gotten any lights and if those that did ,did you have to re install it. My friend that works at Ram said they just remove the fin and leave the motor but I'd rather take it off.

I disconnected the assembly and zip tied the wire out of the way and facing down. Didn't want standing water in the connection to cause corrosion. Still need to cover it up somehow, but no CEL is present.

 

[mikeru82]

Like taco and curly, I zip tied the wire up out of the way. Then I wrapped the connector completely in electrical tape to keep contaminants out. No check engine lights on either our Laramie or Limited.

 

[Rafael_95]

That poor lil’ fella! Hope he didnt suffer! All jokes aside, one my reasons beside offroad ground clearance was I was afraid of waffling a raccoon and damaging the front of my truck.

A raccoon is the exact reason I removed my active air damp (mainly because the sucker broke it)

 

[Rafael_95]

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

How did you remove the two plastic brackets that supported the passive air dampener? I see where two bolts connect to it through the radiator but idk how to get to them ha!

 

[Wilsonwanderings]

How did you remove the two plastic brackets that supported the passive air dampener? I see where two bolts connect to it through the radiator but idk how to get to them ha!

See my post above. Annoyingly the intercooler has to move to access the bolts. Quick and easy though.

I have a perfect condition valance and AAD in my garage in Portland, OR if anyone wants them. Free minus shipping charges.

 

[wcarman]

@BostonBLS and anyone else interested in a blank plug

I just removed my active air dam along with the air dam on the bottom of the bumper in order to clear my plow frame. I love the look but I wasn't happy about just taping the active air dam connector so I did some digging and I think I found a solution to make my own blank. I just ordered a part number 0535451528 which is sold as a Mercedes-Benz plug housing but from what I can tell it's the exact same connector. I found a used one on ebay for $5 so I figured I'd give it a shot. I plan to fill the connector pin holes with epoxy to seal them and then just plug it in.

I'll also through this out there-
I found these which appear to be the same connector as well but they were a bit more expensive. I also can't tell what the difference is in the MA vs MB connectors
https://shop.hirschmann-automotive.com/connectors/2070/4way-1.2-sealstar-ma-connector
https://shop.hirschmann-automotive.com/connectors/2071/4way-1.2-sealstar-mb-connector
https://www.amazon.com/Davitu-Connector-Hessmann-872-617-541-805-122-541/dp/B07LD5YRHW
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Connector-...F-Temp-Oxygen-Sensor-HIRSCHMANN-/254655726572

I noticed most of these come from overseas so the shipping time may take a bit. I was lucky and found one in the US.

So I will let you all know either way when I get it, and if it does fit I'll post pictures of the outcome.

 

[JbVt]

A raccoon is the exact reason I removed my active air damp (mainly because the sucker broke it)

I can second that! Hit him dead center at 50 mph, thinking I would drive right over him. I found out the next day that I did indeed have Active Air Dam. I say did literally because I noticed a small plastic arm hanging down under my driver's side. I crawled under and say two black plastic arms with a silver bar between them with an actuator on the driver side. Quick search and I realized that I did have AAD, only now was missing the actual plastic fin part. Damn raccoon. So my lower valance is still there although I think I will remove it. To keep from seeing the black arms hanging down, I loosely zip tied them up to the bar. Now I can't see them. As far as I know the motor still actuates but only the bar rotates down as the arms are broke and there's not fin.

 

[smikels]

I might need to look back up under my truck. I pulled air damn off and didn't unplug anything. I did leave that middle piece there hanging down as it didn't stop it from coming off. I will check when it gets warmer.