Airdam 01

[landscaper52]

Here's a pic of my airdam on my Ranger...sorry not much too see...it's made from a 12" wide piece of black bed mat that I wasn't using, attached with some L brackets to the bottom of the bumper, and so far increase mpg by 2.3 per gallon.

[BrianAbington]

that actualy looks decent.

let us know what kind of improvements you get.

[aerohead]

Just shootin' from the hip,I'd think its a little low,as bondo had to raise his back up a bit to idealize his airdam's performance.Shame to cut it though if it proved no change.Anyway,2.3 mpg is great! Good for you! And it's look is" technical",something very much accepted in today's market.Nice job.

[landscaper52]

Yeah, I'm not sure if I'm going to cut it down, or not. I've got some pretty low stuff under my truck, since it's got the heavy duty rear, and is 4x4, so the dam goes below all that. However, I have been thinking about covering the big spot where the spare used to sit, and a possible back bumper cover, so after doing that I might chop an inch or two off it. However, I did make it to be pretty durable, (all the guys I work with have eached kicked it at least once, and it survived) so maybe I'll just keep running over stuff, and gradually reduce it on kerbs!
See ya.
Rich

[NeilBlanchard]

Hello,

If it doesn't drag, then I would leave it as is for a while.

[aerohead]

Kerb-calibration and accurization sounds good!

[whitevette]

Originally Posted by landscaper52

Here's a pic of my airdam on my Ranger...sorry not much too see...it's made from a 12" wide piece of black bed mat

Air dams make soooo much sense! If you'll bend over and look under any vehicle...just look at all the projections, "stuff", hollows under the car/truck! And the air has to flow over this junk? Drag!
And you thought the "roof rack" argument was valid...is this not a rough roof rack under the car? Truck?

"Landscaper", good job! I do like the choice of material, too.

[tnp_beetle_WI]

Don't want to throw a wrench into this - but isn't this going to increase frontal area quite a bit? The big question might be this - is the underbody drag greater than the increased drag from increased frontal area? Why don't you try the coast down test with and without that air dam on there and let us know the results.

Here's the Thread for the Coast Down Test Process

That 2.3 mpg increase you had... while it sounds great - it is sooo hard to absolutely attribute it to your mod. It could have been anything else in the last tank - from routes, driving conditions, accel rates, etc. To be scientific about it - you have to isolate it. This test could do that...

I've often thought of putting on an air dam, but every time I think how much frontal area affects Cd, I freak out and decide against it. Would love to see a before-after test of this concept. It would help me, and I'm assuming many others, to take the leap.