So let's put a 4 figure piece of complicated hardware in the place that is most likely to take an impact, will continuously get blasted by dirt/crud/snow/rain, etc. That makes phenomenal sense!

 

I actually came in here to say that I think the air dams are as much about cooling as mpg’s. Low pressure zone under the engine bay to help pull the air from behind the radiator and intercooler.

Would you notice it just driving around in the middle of the winter? No, probably not.

Random fact; Toyota actually retracts the air dam on the new Tundra when a trailer is hooked up. They said it actually causes more drag if there is a trailer behind the truck.

 

Must be for cooling because after a year without it my Fuelly average is still within the same margin of error.

 

It's actually considered a warranty item because it seems that there's a design flaw that allows the dam to be overextended and then the wind deform it so that it can't fit back into the housing to be undeployed. As a result it catches on things, as you now know.
It's all the result of it not being installed properly.

So if you actually want it back, you should know that Ford has had to replace a few.

(It's actually easy to adjust properly if you catch it before it gets broken)

 

It's actually considered a warranty item because it seems that there's a design flaw that allows the dam to be overextended and then the wind deform it so that it can't fit back into the housing to be undeployed. As a result it catches on things, as you now know.
It's all the result of it not being installed properly.

So if you actually want it back, you should know that Ford has had to replace a few.

(It's actually easy to adjust properly if you catch it before it gets broken)

Mine was retracting cause I stopped and checked right after I had the incident. The dam had detected into its slot. And AutoNation Ford told me that replacement wouldn't be covered by the warranty.

 

I agree with mass. Causes that pressure drop that allows more airflow thru the intercooler and radiator.

 

From what I understand there are fasteners that can be loosened on each side that allows for you to adjust the starting point higher or lower. It needs to start high enough so that when it is fully extended there's still enough of it captured in the external shell.

I'll see if I can find a diagram

 

From what I understand there are fasteners that can be loosened on each side that allows for you to adjust the starting point higher or lower. It needs to start high enough so that when it is fully extended there's still enough of it captured in the external shell.

I'll see if I can find a diagram

Ok thanks

 

Removed Active Air Dam

Mine, a 2017 was not active. If it is for MPG or cooling testing OEM/removed/trimmed made no measurable change at all on my F150 and I ran at least a tankfull each way, and monitor IAT2 all the time. The active dam is not on the Tremor or Raptor models in 2022. It may help with CAFE but on ann individual truck basis I do not know other than my own testing. I did trim mine by 1 3/4 inches 3 years ago. KM

 

When I first purchased my truck, I kept it on. 3 months later, I knew I was going down some "interesting" dirt roads. I decided to remove it. Removal was less than 2 minutes with an electric wrench. I've kept it off ever since because I've seen ZERO benefit on mpg. It did give me a little wiggle room down the dirt roads.

 

It's not for MPG. It's for cooling airflow.

 

I live in Vegas. It hasn’t made any difference out here. 🤷‍♂️

 

Because where you live if you take HEAT minus HEAT it still equals HEAT.

 

They made that stupid air dam power-adjustable on the 14th gen? Ugggh.

From a purely physics point of view, having or not having that air dam isn't going to make the truck feel "sluggish" to the butt dyno. Now, if not having it (which I assume the PCM knows about) causes the computer to do something stupid with the engine... that's entirely different.

 

They made that stupid air dam power-adjustable on the 14th gen? Ugggh.

It's now another component of the relentless pursuit of every IPG (inch per gallon) of modern automotive design.
So yes, along with the shutters for the grill, the shutters for bumper opening (Intercooler), and the dam below, there is computer logic to manage the hole the truck is punching into the air.

Analog is dead.

There's a real ethernet network onboard between the various systems and subsystems because of the amount of data processing going on that a traditional automotive CanBus can't keep up with. Lol

 

I agree with mass. Causes that pressure drop that allows more airflow thru the intercooler and radiator.

 

I honestly did not know this existed. What is it supposed to look like? (lol now I have to go look under my truck for it haha)

 

Well just checked. I definitely have it. It doesn't appear stuck, at least not in the down position anyway, so I guess I should be thankful. Not sure if I'll ever know if it works, however its nice to know to be careful of that area.

 

If you know that you exceeded something like 55 or 60mph on your last drive, just take a glance after parking to make sure the spoiler doesn't look really low and if it is it will be caught/jammed on the lip of the housing.
But if it isn't already, that indicates it was installed properly in the first place. The problem is from it being installed out of spec.