I was under the truck yesterday and looking at the huge air dam/splitter thingy on the front bottom of the truck. I've never been a fan of the way it looks and was thinking of yanking it off since I've got some forest service roads in my future.

I know it improves MPG's, but how much does it really impact the mileage? I'd like to hear from anyone that's pulled it off. Curious if they saw any change (MPG's, noise, whatever...).

 

You will probably lose about 1-2 mpg, depending on speed. I'm going to remove mine too; I just haven't gotten around to it yet. I was on some logging trails this summer, and surprised that it didn't rip off yet. I was getting 20.5mg with the cruise at 75 on a 2,000 mile trip (with a 5L and 3.55), but I'm sure I'll lose a little bit of that.


I usually break them in winter, from hitting frozen snow that's left from the plow at the end of driveways, interstate off-ramps, etc.

 

Mine didn't change.

 

I took mine off last winter and didn't see any change.

 

Thanks for the replies....I'm guessing it only will drop it a few tenths at the most, don't think there will be a 5-10% hit.

 

Like I said, it really matters how fast you drive. If you spend a lot of time at 75-80 on the interstate, it will be noticeable. If you never go over 55 mph, it won't be very noticeable.

 

Fair enough, but you said you still have your front splitter installed. Do you have direct experience with this decrease or are you just guessing? Cruising at 75-80 MPH is going to drink a lot of fuel even with the splitter.

 

I am guessing at how this truck will do, based on removing the air dam on other trucks I've owned. It shouldn't be much different. Like I said, it still got 20.5 mpg with the cruise set at 75, which I am very happy with. It does a couple mpg better at 55-60, but not a huge difference.

I'll be taking the same 2,000 mile trip next year (without the air dam), so then I will find out exactly how much difference it made.

It would be interesting to see how much difference the active grill shutters make, as well.

 

I've got a '16 2WD Sport Crew Cab short bed 5.0 and took mine off at 1900 miles... I'm at 5200 now... my gas mileage average for the last 4000 miles is showing 19.6 mpg. I can't tell a difference but I'm sure that it affects it some. At 75 MPH I get 19.2 ~ 19.5 ... same as before. At 65 I'll get 20.5 ~ 21. At 60, 21 ~ 21.5. At 55, 22... the difference for me appears small. I may reinstall it just to see how it does since the engine has broken in more and the oil has been changed (at 5,000 miles)... but the air dam is so low to the ground that I figure it'll get damaged at some point if not really careful.

 

I took mine off. Honestly I don't think it changes anything but the looks. I think its there to hide the under side. Think about it. Less surface area to contact the wind with it gone.

 

From what I've read on the Googles, the benefit of redirecting the air is there is less drag as it passes under the trucks. But yes, the big frontal area makes you wonder how that much frontal area smacking into the oncoming air actually helps. Another thing to consider is all these little aero tweaks are designed to work at the speeds and limits of the mpg testing parameters. In theory (theory only; I have no facts or data), these designs might add benefit only within the speeds used for mpg testing and actually reduce efficiency at higher speeds (where we all actually drive).

This sounds like a fun test to run. I track my mileage on trips, so I think I'll leave the dam on for now until I get a trip in that's a few hundred miles. Then I'll remove it before the next time I make the same trip.

 

Personally I think there are to many factors effecting the true out come of any test. Weather a big one, hills, temperature, ect. I believe you need to go in the same direction same tail or head wind, same humidity, same weight I think you get the picture. Just my thoughts.

 

I have a 2015 5.0 and I drive 50-75% of the time on highways doing 70-75 mph. I have driven with the dam on the truck and without it and have seen no difference in mpg.

 

To bring the Googling back into it, when I was looking at air dam removal effects, there was some talk of creating high speed instability. I don't know how it would, but I'm not an engineer. I drove trucks with no air dams for many years and never felt any "instability". The argument was that the truck is designed with the air dam, which is why removal can affect stability due to increased unstable air under the truck. I don't really buy it, but like I said, I'm not an engineer. I can buy measurable instability on the computer in the lab, but not enough instability to make any difference in the world.

Anyway, I removed mine after my first fishing trip with the new truck, where I scraped bottom on a dirt road heading to the lake, while some little low to the ground car cruised right over. That was embarrassing.

I would do what the manual says about just removing the air dam when I go offroad and keeping it on for highway driving, except that I usually drive a long way on the highway to get to an offroad area, and I'm not stopping to remove and reattach the thing everytime I go off/on road.

Just my opinion, but I think these things are stupid to put on a truck that's going to see utilitarian / recreational use. I have no problem taking an MPG hit to increase the usefulness of my truck.

What is the splitter you guys are talking about? Or is that just another name for the air dam?

 

I use the terms splitter and air dam interchangeably. I also read about the stability aspect. Apparently they create downforce in some (all?) applications. But downforce also increases friction, which decreases mpg's in theory. Maybe the names vary by application and intended function.

i didn't see the manual reference to removing the part. It looks like there are about a dozen screws holding it on, so removing it prior to hitting the trail isn't very feasible on a real-time perspective.

All good discussion....