DIY 3rd Gen Ram Secondary Air Dam

[steve05ram360]

DIY secondary air dam for 3rd Gen Dodge 4x4 Rams 1500 Mega Cab & all 2500/3500's

MPG improvement TBD (if any)

Parts:
1 3/8" x 3' pre-drilled flat steel
1 1/20" thick x 3/4" x 48" (or 96") aluminum angle
5" x 40' Landscape terrace board (see pic) or equivalant
Nuts, washers & Bolts as needed (use nyloc nuts)
black paint (or coating of your choice)

Measure & cut the length of terrace board desired for the air dam.



Unbolt swaybar from frame and allow to droop, support with jackstand or something sutable.
Note: I did not drop the bar because of the steering stabilizer and just loosened/remove bolts on both sides as needed.

Cut the flat steel approx 10" and drill out holes to mount onto swaybar mounting points. I had to open up the holes some and redrill them so they would fit correctly. Once complete, install the flat steel (now refered to as brackets) under the swaybar and re-install the swaybar.

Position the terace board where you would like it, I set mine so it was at least 2" below he OEM air dam, and mark the terrace board (now referred to as air dam) for drilling.

Drill & mark holes 1 at a time, the air dam will want to bend back to its packaged state so it's easier this way.

Cut aluminum angle so it is approx 2" shorter than the length of the air dam.

Mount the air dam using just the 2 upper mounting holes, tighten nuts snug so it is not flopping around.

Place aluminum angle on the lower mounting holes, mark and drill

Install remaining lower bolts and install aluminum angle prior to installing the nuts.

Drill 1 or 2 more holes in the middle of the alumnum angle & air dam to secure it from wind vibrations.

Remove and paint as needed, reinstall when ready.

Radius the outer edges/corners to your liking (I still need to do this)









Before




After





motivated by this video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YL423MHtLc

[mcrews]

aren't Big Box stores GREAT!!!!
I have used the same angle and flat steel also!!!!
looks good.
coulda done 6 inches!

[steve05ram360]

yup, or... re-cut the mounting hardware and drop it down even more...

What do you think about the side to side coverage? I picked this idea up from the new ford F150 4x4's, never came across one that I could poke my head under to see the side to side coverage. I figured if Ford did it there may be a benefit from it...

Still only looking for a 1 mpg bump to get solidly into the 20 mpg range... Test drive time..

[a8ksh4]

Is that really going to do anything if it isn't large enough or positioned to deflect air out around the sides of the truck or over the hood?

[steve05ram360]

Originally Posted by a8ksh4

Is that really going to do anything if it isn't large enough or positioned to deflect air out around the sides of the truck or over the hood?

I have no idea... like I mentioned, the new fords have it so I thought I'd give it a try. Have about $40 bux into it so if it gives anything it shouldnt take long to re-coupe the expense.

[slowmover]

We used to mount a dam just below the radiator to help with airflow through the heat exhangers on big block V8's. The area from there to the front bumper was sealed (often, by factory with a composite ply material). The fan shrouding was very carefully aligned (blades 1/2" out) and this was seen as a help in long duration HP demand scenarios. I also did this to run a hotter thermostat as well as a faster timing curve (and consequent fuel demand curve changes) so as to increase mpg.

I say all this as it was the first thought about what FORD may have been up to: improved heat exchanger air flow. If so, it's still a good idea as it ought to reduce fan on time.

[steve05ram360]

added this video to the 1st post...

Going to go do a 115 mi run up I5 in an hour or so... average runs have been 20.2~20.4 mpg on this run during testing with 1 run at 21.15... I dont buy that one however, I think there was an issue with the fuel level in the tank, maybe an air pocket...??? I can say though that doing 2 cheap & dirty changes made the low end noticeably stronger... blocking the air to the airbox from the front area forcing it to draw in warmer engine compartment air and then (looking at effects of controlling airbox airflow) blocking some of the opening to the airbox (I'm missing the foam and have a broken airbox pin so it is loose in there).

I still think that bumping up the IAT's to around 80~90*f will yield some gains. Came up with a potentially cheap easy way of moving warmer air into the box in a controlled manner. Wifes gone this weekend so maybe I can bang that out??? hahaha

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YL423MHtLc

[steve05ram360]

air dam run, 116.0 mi, 20.2 mpg :-( traffic was light, cruise control 95~98% of the time. The only thing that stands out once again is the ambient temps are lower & calc load is higher. While driving I can watch the calc load increase as temps drop... if I hit a cold pocket of air it is really noticeable in the raw data.