air dam material???

[a8ksh4]

Where do you buy the conveyor belt material?

[kach22i]

Originally Posted by a8ksh4

Where do you buy the conveyor belt material?

A few years ago a chain store started moving into SE Michigan, they sell it there.

Tractor Supply Company - Home

I'm sure you can find it on-line somewhere, be careful to include shipping cost into your budget, it weighs a bit.

Does anyone know if you can poke holes though it with a soldering iron?

Are you supposed to drill through it?

Clamp on to it with bindings or toothed pressure bars?

[steve05ram360]

OK, just got back from a couple of hardware stores and as recommended, the garden strip should work. I found 3 different types, 1 fiberglass, 1 some sort of composite recycled whatchamacallits which is available in 5" width however it is too thick, and the traditional 4" stuff everyone has been using. I took some measurements and realized there is a great opportunity up there and really need 5" width. Brackets to hold it in place should be no problem.

So after lunch and job seeking stuff (really gets in the way hahaha) I am going to head over to a well stocked nursery the wife visits and se what they have. If I can find what I'm after, I should be able to have this done at the end of the day. (boy am I optimistic hahaha)

[WesternStarSCR]

Maybe not as durable, but perhaps a couple of pieces of sandwiched corrugated plastic coroplast from a sign shop would be cheap and stiff to let you mount and design how you see fit, and rigid enough for the short to medium term to see how it works. But finding the widest lawn edging to meet meets would be best.

This way you can make it as wide as you need, or go the big Dave way and go with it lower in front of tires and not as low in middle.

[steve05ram360]

trucks a 4x4 and lifted 3"... there is a whole lotta crap hanging down below the oem air dam

Just got back from the material search.... found a 5" wide landscape border that should work fine. It is brown however so I will have to paint it if it stays. It is also not smooth so I may have to do something with that. It is thin enough to be able to mold it to the shape I want, will probably have to get a heat gun to help shape some of it.

on a side note... during the drive today (city mostly) I decided to block the air intake from the front of the truck and force it to draw air in from the engine compartment. Tossed up the obdII monitor to watch IAT's and observed that the motor felt (no really, butt dyno verified hahaha) noticeably stronger on the bottom end. Its been my contention that the motor runs best with ambient temps in the 80~90*f range. Today temps are colder than what it has been in the past few days and with the IAT's up 10~15* from yesterday...two thumbs up..

In case anyone is wondering I have a goal to get a consistent 20 mpg out of my truck without removing the lift. I have already given the truck a partial makeover in the form of lighter wheels, taller, narrower tires and ditched the boat anchor tonneau cover I had on there. I have been able to squeeze out a 21.5 mpg over 150 mile trip from Sacramento to Fresno so I know I'm heading in the right direction. Once I have it dialed in with the air dam & 2 other mods I want to do I will switch over to writing a mpg tune for the motor. Should be able to improve it over what its doing now.

[Frank Lee]

Tonneau should have helped some.

Get rid of the lift.

[steve05ram360]

Originally Posted by Frank Lee

Tonneau should have helped some.

Get rid of the lift.

not getting rid of the lift at this point in time... Already near the goal so no point if I can squeeze out another mpg thru the remaining mods. If my truck were a pavement queen the lift would be pointless. Since it is not, lift stays.

[kach22i]

Originally Posted by steve05ram360

Just got back from the material search.... found a 5" wide landscape border that should work fine. It is brown however so I will have to paint it if it stays. It is also not smooth so I may have to do something with that.

Sounds like too many extra things to contend with in my opinion.

My local ACE True-value Hardware store carries the black 6-inch lawn edging. Maybe the wrong time of year to go looking for such stuff.

[steve05ram360]

Originally Posted by kach22i

Sounds like too many extra things to contend with in my opinion.

My local ACE True-value Hardware store carries the black 6-inch lawn edging. Maybe the wrong time of year to go looking for such stuff.

sandpaper & a can of paint? Well good thing they are all cheap and I have nothing to do most of the day.

[steve05ram360]

1st version installed... probably will change it up some though. It extends approx 75% across and is mounted to the swaybar mounts and drops approx 3" below the OEM spoiler.. I think it could be better by extending all the way over to the inside of the OEM lower lip. I took before & after shots however I hadnt painted it yet so its brown. Hard to tell its there without looking for it. Total cost under $30 bux (no paint since I had some).

anyways, time will tell on mpg changes.