The Great Air Dam Debate

[DustyNv]

Agree. I removed both the active and stationary air dams and have had no difference in mpg's. And, in my opinion, the truck looks better both from the front and the side as the stationary air dam hangs quite low. Plus, when the active one deployed, it left barely any clearance, and I ended up banging up a few times. My truck has a 3.5" Rough Country suspension lift that includes correct angle upper control arms, and the mono-tube shock option. Although my truck is lifted with 35x12.5r22 Mud Terrains, I had removed these things well before the lift. I saw no loss or gain in mpg's. Obviously, if your truck is lifted with bigger tires, it's a no-brainer that the air dams will be useless. My experience is that they are useless anyway. I think the truck looks much better without the air dam.

Alec

Hello, would there be any reason for some type of engine bay protectant across the front area that would now be exposed? Thank!

 

[DustyNv]

I see no reason to remove it. Unless you need extra clearance for something. Outside of that I couldn't see any logical reason to remove it.

Hi, I’m somewhat curious about this topic as I negotiate some mountain passes in the winter and we get much snow on them and would hate to rip the plastic off and or damage the active part as well. I might need to consider removing both units. Your thoughts?

 

[theblet]

There are a few options. More than likely requires removing the air dam under the bumper well. Here’s one thread. you can also search the forum for more

Front Skid Plate

I removed my Air Dam last night and I noticed there is no protection from loose rocks on the road under my truck. The engine is completely unprotected!!!! Does anyone have a part number or suggestion for a basic cheap skid to protect my engine? Check out the image of it wide open.

5thgenrams.com

 

[Rick3478]

Hello, would there be any reason for some type of engine bay protectant across the front area that would now be exposed? Thank!

Some of us think so. RCI makes some that look decent and others on here have installed them. I have too many other projects happening all at the same time to deal with it right now, but the active dam is likely to go away on mine at some point, and I'll probably be inspired to look at skid plates again when that happens.

 

[mikeru82]

I was planning to make some kind of debris shield after removing both air dams, but life got busy. Now four years later I still haven't installed one and nothing bad has happened on our 2020 Limited. At this point I'm removing that from my ever growing list of things I want to do LOL.