Were the steel air deflectors (that bolt under the chassis rails, below the radiator) only installed on F150's? Those I've seen have been.

If so, did the F250/350 sit too high to benefit from having deflectors, or were they also installed on heavier trucks?

I have one on a dead F150, that I would put onto my F250 if it is any aerodynamic gain (anything to help ).

Thanks

 

I don't know, but it would seem that it would be in the way for any truck with a front swaybar.

 

Can you post a picture? I don't think I've seen them so don't know what you are talking about.

 

Pretty sure thats not an air deflector, but the mounting bracket for the front sway bar.

 

Mine has what you decribe....very thick sheet metal.
I thought it might be a skid plate of some kind.

 

No, it's 'either/or'.

I have sway bars - well, I've actually taken them off to ease the hard riding.
The front sway bar mounting brackets used the same holes to attach to the rails that the deflector does - so you can only have one or the other.

oneowner83 - it does look like a small skid plate, but only a few inches wide.
This is just a 2wd truck though (so, on-road), the other one I've seen was too.

Gary, I'll try & get a photo.

 

Not true. The deflector is the sway bar mount on the 100/150's and can be seen on some without bars. The 250/350 uses the frame to mount the bars and thus the bars use the deflector mounting holes.

Kenny

 

I have what I think you are calling a deflector - heavy gauge metal. And, I have the front sway bar as Kenny said.

 

Ditto here

 

Oh, okay - my mistake.........because of the way my F250 sway bars mounted, I assumed only one or the other would be fitted at a time. I haven't seen a set of F150 bars in place.

So, the deflectors were factory-installed on trucks heavier than F150's? Is that right?

 

Dunno. But I can check the catalog later today - which would also determine the name of the part.

 

Left lower pic: 1980/83 F100 & 1980/88 F150 2WD Front Stabilizer Bar & Related Parts / Right lower pic: 1980/86 F100/350 & U150 (Bronco) Front Bumper Parts

%001A06 = E1TZ-10001A06-A .. Air Deflector-Use with Fuel Economy Package ~ 1981/86 F100/350 (not listed for Bronco).

 

Bill - Thanks! You, as always, did it better than I would have. And you also captured the piece I thought Ken was talking about:

• 5C128 in the illustration, which is "Cross member (frame front lower)" from the text section.
• %001A06, aka "Air Deflector". I wonder what help it gave on the MPG? Worth adding?

 

Thanks very much Bill.

So as Blue Rebel said, it's not designed as an air deflector.

I wonder how much gain there would be in mounting a deflector plate onto it, pushing the airflow down below the untidy underside of the truck? Probably it would just come back up off the road in time to be caught by the rear axle & bed.

 

Ken - Why not mount the one shown in the drawing on the bumper?

Does anyone have any pictures of a truck with the chin spoiler on the bumper? Not sure I would like the looks, but if it helps the MPG then I might grow to like it.