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I’ve a 2024 F350 FX4 with a pop up camper on a flatbed. The load is permanent with the weight at 11050 just at GVRW. I’ve also upgraded the tires to AT 285/75/17s. Currently averaging 12 MPGs. I’m thinking of removing the air dam. How much will my MPG be affected? Thanks for the conversation.
Any difference will be so negligible that you'll never realize it. So many other factors affect mileage...speed driven, wind, load, tire air pressure, terrain, etc.
I replaced mine with the 2wd version and other than no longer having to be concerned with dragging it on something, I never saw any kind of difference, be it mileage, operating temps, etc.
As long as you have one the difference will be negligible. If you completely remove it, you may find that you lose a full 1 mpg. Doesn't seem like much but when I lost mine on my '03 I had been getting 16, it dropped to 15, which is a full 6% drop.
I trimmed mine when I got the 37's installed, so I can't point to any loss due to the trimming of the air dam. But it sure does look better. And there was one creek that I would drag on every single time - not anymore. I like the Tremor length; the 2WD is still too long IMO. Removed the Prius catchers too. I'm happy with it being around 2" long - I think it should come from Ford like that, all of them, all trims, 2WD or 4WD - it's stupid to vary that part...
I trimmed mine when I got the 37's installed, so I can't point to any loss due to the trimming of the air dam. But it sure does look better. And there was one creek that I would drag on every single time - not anymore. I like the Tremor length; the 2WD is still too long IMO. Removed the Prius catchers too. I'm happy with it being around 2" long - I think it should come from Ford like that, all of them, all trims, 2WD or 4WD - it's stupid to vary that part...
The thing is, in this day and age they know some of their customers are chasing every drop of mileage they can get. That's why they offer the different lengths based on 2WD or 4WD. And the things DO work to smooth out the airflow under the truck, and it DOES increase mileage somewhat. Is it a lot? No. But if you look at the percentage change, if your 19mpg truck can get 20 mpg with just adding a cheap piece of plastic, that's a 5% improvement. If you're watching your mileage (granted a lot of us on this forum don't), that's a sizeable increase for very little added cost.
I have a 2024 f250 SCSB 6.8, 3.73 gear 4wd with 3900 miles on it. All stock until last fall when I changed out the 4wd air dam to a 2wd and added rear DuroFlap mud flaps. Before the changes truck at highway speeds @ 70mph, averaged right at 17 mpg empty and 11.8 - 12mpg towing our 20' TT (5000lbs.) after the changes truck seems to have dropped 2-4 tenths per gallon on repeated drives. ???? Some of that could be winter-time fuel blend ? but I'm thinking it has more to do with the changes made. Mileage was hand calculated and running regular gas. Still, I can't complain with mpg for driving a 6400lb truck down the road
From what I have been reading over the years, the difference in mileage across the different versions is negligible.
You took a slightly aerodynamic brick and made it much more of a brick by adding the camper.
I think you could add a skirt that goes from the bumper to the ground and not notice an improvement or loss.
People have removed the air dam wihtthout noticing any ill effect, but the fact that Ford has different versions for the different clearances leads one to *assume* it is there for more than cosmetic purposes.
There is no real call-out of capacity differences between models, so it seems safe to assume any factory or similar air dam should provide the same function.
I replaced the large valence with the 2WD version (not the Tremor). There was no noticeable difference in MPG with the lie-o-meter or hand calculated. I'm sure the faster you typically drive the more larger the impact will be.
So technically if you change it to a shorter one, it would be even less of a difference. Based on that other thread, they said it was 0.66 of a difference from a test they did so how about 0.33 for a shorter one sounds crazy.
Does anyone have a picture of the two-wheel drive version?
It's nice knowing what mileage might be for figuring road trips but laughable possibly worrying about mileage loss when already adding so many things to fuel sucking brick.
When I changed from a 4x4 valance to a 2wd valance doing the exact same trip of hundreds of miles the difference was nothing. Waste more money buying junk food a fuel stations. LOL
Or just buying the valance other than you want a different look.
Last edited by scraprat; Feb 17, 2026 at 09:33 AM.
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