Air Dam, Belly Pan, or Both - Ranger

[nathan01xl]

I want to make an air dam or belly pan for my truck but cant decide which one is the better option for the time being. I am pretty sure that if i did a belly pan for the entire underbody that would be best but it isnt realistic at this point.
The best that i could do for a belly pan right now would probably be back to the front suspension of possibly to the tranny crossmember.
My current front valance has a bit of an air dam already and has 10" of ground clearance and my measurements tell me that the lowest piece of the underbody is 8" from the ground.




Another thing i noticed looking at my vehicle through an aero perspective is how my rear bumper is a bit of a parachute. is that something i should look at filling in or directing air around? eventually i might get a roll pan because they look cool and i think that would be better for aero as well but for the time being i wonder if i should do any mods to my current rear bumper.

[Xist]

Looking at the list of modifications and the reported gains, people have supposedly seen larger improvements from air dams than belly pans.

[nathan01xl]

Originally Posted by Xist

Looking at the list of modifications and the reported gains, people have supposedly seen larger improvements from air dams than belly pans.

the reason i think a belly pan might net a bigger gain is because my underside is especially dirty and long because its a truck.

if i do an air dam how close to the ground should i make it? as close as possible or just below the lowest underbody parts?

[Sporty Modder]

My take on this is this, the airdam is really easy to put on &take off, the belly pan , not so mucj. I did a home depot air dam, (walmart in this case) spent $8 in materials, and the wife thought it was a factory piece. 8" garden edging.

I haven't finished the full tank since I put it on, but I think it is helping. In the past I observed 10%to 15% increase in fe.

[sully06]

Originally Posted by Sporty Modder

My take on this is this, the airdam is really easy to put on &take off, the belly pan , not so mucj. I did a home depot air dam, (walmart in this case) spent $8 in materials, and the wife thought it was a factory piece. 8" garden edging.

I haven't finished the full tank since I put it on, but I think it is helping. In the past I observed 10%to 15% increase in fe.

That looks good and clean

[nathan01xl]

any suggestions for how to mount the front air dam? i am trying to avoid putting holes in anything unless absolutely necessary, so screws are a last resort. i have yet to think of an alternative mounting method that would yield the necessary rigidity though...

[oil pan 4]

I have read a lot of belly pan and air dam posts.
It looks like air dams offer at least 80% of the advantages of a belly pan but require about 10% of the time and materials, plus they don't get in the way of any work that needs to be done such as oil changes.

You need to put screws in stuff to hold that air dam in place. I would weld in some brackets and stuff too.

My step bumper does the same thing, yeah it needs to be fixed.

[Xist]

Originally Posted by nathan01xl

any suggestions for how to mount the front air dam? i am trying to avoid putting holes in anything unless absolutely necessary, so screws are a last resort. i have yet to think of an alternative mounting method that would yield the necessary rigidity though...

This has been done several times on here and I believe that everyone has used screws, but you could try using 3m tape, just make sure that you have the right stuff, mine was supposed to support ten pounds per inch of tape, but it quickly peeled off in the heat.

According to Car MPG Efficiency Modifications Main - EcoModder, three members made belly pans and saw improvements of 3.48%, on average. Three users also made front air dams with an average 4.74% improvement. Also, the air dam took 40% as long to install and cost 1/3 as much.

[euromodder]

Originally Posted by nathan01xl

I want to make an air dam or belly pan for my truck but cant decide which one is the better option for the time being.

Doing both would be the most effective.
Starting with the airdam should give noticeable results, and could be done quickly.

Doing a partial belly pan from the airdam aft also helps, partially

My current front valance has a bit of an air dam already and has 10" of ground clearance and my measurements tell me that the lowest piece of the underbody is 8" from the ground.

Try to extend what's already there.
Having the corners rounded off is good, too.
No need to have a straight dam all the way out to the outer edge of the wheels, as the air gets pushed out further than the actual dam / bumper.


You could make the dam as deep as the belly pan would eventually sit, if you get to install one.


Reducing parachute volume also helps.


For inspiration, check out BamZipPow's truck :
http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...pan-24777.html
(and previous threads)
or aeroheads T100, if you're really going for it
http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...tion-6323.html
(and plenty other threads)

[Sporty Modder]

Aftermarket body kits use th 3m tape, they often are molded to be a very tight fit. With the garden edging I use #8 sheet metal screws, never had one come off. If you do remove the air dam the #8.s leave a 5/16" hole. Small enough so most wont notice.