Help on attaching an air dam?

[darcane]

Link to mine:
http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...tml#post341013



I don't like the lawn edging because I think it is too flexible and requires quite a bit of support to maintain it's shape. It was also way too tall for my lowered car. I used paver edging instead which is very ridged and robust. I attached with 1/4-20 screws/nuts/fender washers.

After 2.5 years it is still firmly attached in spite of obviously taking many very hard impacts with road debris and regularly scraping against speed bumps.

[RollinWOT]

Thanks all for your suggestions. I like the idea of lawn/paver edging. On my Altima, the front bumper cover has an 1-1.5" section of flat space on the lower leaing edge, so I'm going to attach there. I'll probably end up getting some button head bolts, nuts, and washers to do the install. I'm going to use the flat space on the front of the bumper cover as the attachment point so it will end up looking pseudo-NASCAR style. My wife is the one who drives the car the most, and we've got two kids, so the interior is mainly stock. I don't want to go crazy with stripping the interior. I'll probably ditch the underhood insulator, maybe the engine cover, and I'll probably strip the trunk. I want the cabin to stay relatively stock since the insulation and what not are absolutely imperative in the AZ heat.

[Sven7]

Are you talking about weight reduction? Don't bother- just put your effort into more aero! Weight savings modifications make little difference and are not worth your time unless you're doing time trials or looking for the last 0.002 MPG.

Let us know how the air dam goes!

[California98Civic]

Weight reduction won't do dramatic things but if you find enough of it, and if you do a lot of city start/stop or pulse & glide driving, you'll get some benefit. EPA estimates 1-2% fuel economy benefit for every 100lbs weight reduction. Lighter vehicles will benefit more, as 100bs is a much bigger proportion of a 2200lb Civic than a 5000lb pickup. I took more than 200 lbs out of my Civic. AC went. Power steering went. Back seat and all the liners in the back sections. Front is roughly OEM. Lighter wheel/tire combination than OEM... the list goes on and on. Some of the removals I have regretted slightly, so go slow... the benefits are modest, but they're real.

[RollinWOT]

Well, as they say in racing, "every ounce counts." Like I said, my wife drives it, and it's only driven once every couple of days. We take a 200 mile road trip every month or so, and I'm trying to go slow in mods while taking care not to do too much in the way of sacrificing on-road comfort for fuel mileage. I just need SOMETHING to help. My daily driver is...*affixes cone of shame*...a 1998 Ford Ranger that gets approx 12-15mpg. Thankfully my commute is only 4.5 miles total. I've been thinking about getting a scooter to make as a new daily and only drive the Ranger when needed. Getting back on track though, the Altima HAS to have A/C and have the cabin be relatively stock because we've got 2 kids who need to keep cool in the AZ heat. Anywhere I can strip weight from that isn't imperative to keeping those necessities is going away. I do however have a full size spare on a matching alloy wheel(I don't want to be limited to 50mph on a donut during road trips). I'm averaging 35mpg according to the trip computer at 50mph. When i get to freeway speeds at approx 75mph, it drops to about 22-25mpg. I've read all the tips and tricks on here, and any other suggestions are welcome. Thank you all again for your help!

[RollinWOT]

Please forgive my terrible mspaint skills, but this is along the lines of what I was thinking. Also, this is my Altima not some stock photo one. I'll be removing the mudflaps as well.