My '00 Ex came with a bug deflector/hood protector/whatever but it is cracked and I'm not crazy about it myself.

Do they actually work at better airflow or keeping bugs off the hood or windshield or are they mostly just cosmetic. Obviously they protect the first couple inches of the hood, but do much beyond that?

I'm thinking of just removing it and doing a strip of the 3M paint film or similar. Any experience with and w/o the bug shield?

Thanks.

 

They do more harm than good. If you remove it, you'll probably find the paint has been worn away where it makes contact with the hood.

 

Depends on the model. I had a Lund Interceptor on my old f-250 that I thought made a pretty good difference. I got two rock chips in my windshield within a week of buying my truck, after I put on the Interceptor I never had another one. It never touched the paint anywhere so I didn't have any problems with that either. The only problem I did have was with the screws that hold it on. They use existing holes in the hood and you put screws through the bugshield into them. These holes stripped out really easy and then the screw would constantly fall out. I eventually came up with the idea of putting the little plastic screw anchors like you use in cement walls in the holes and then screwing the screw into those. That seemed to work much better.

My new truck has a functional ram air hood on it so I won't be putting the bugshield on it. I have thought about doing the clear 3M film on the leading edge though. I have heard it works very well.

 

Yeah - I was a little concerned about that too. Luckily, I'm painting my race car now and it is Oxford white just like the truck, so I can blend/touchup if needed.

 

I got a smoke one in the garage that I don't use

 

I had one on my old Suburban ('85) and when it got broke in a car wash, I really noticed a difference in the amount of bugs on the windscreen. I was glad when the vendor finally sent me a replacement. Just an observation... my Suburban's windshield has far less rake (or is that slope) than the X, so that may enable the wind to flow over the X's front vs. the Suburban's.

My X has one, but I've never removed it to see the difference due to my experience with the 'Burban.

I've experienced the screw hole issue and the wearing of paint on the drivers side fender where the wing wraps around the side .

 

Run a bead of silicone under the contact edge and the screw stipping promlem is solved.