Air Dam under front bumper on 2021 1500 Bighorn Quad 4wd

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JohnnyBandit

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Does the air dam serve any purpose other than to push sand and mud when I am off road?

I am thinking of having it removed....

I cannot think of a reason to keep it on.....

And mine looks like it might already be mis shaped.
 

Rlaf75

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There are models with the automatic retracting air dam that comes down below the stationary air dam so I'd imagine it is there for a reason not just cosmetic. Take it off and see what happens
 

mikeru

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Lots of people have removed both the air dam and the active air dam with no issues, no codes. They are supposed to improve fuel economy. Maybe in a wind tunnel situation but I never noticed any difference when I removed them from my last truck. I'll be removing them from my Limited this week. Looks a lot better and improves the front ground clearance by like 6 inches. Here's a pic of my old truck with them removed.

2020 Laramie right side.jpg
 

LSU04_08

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Does the air dam serve any purpose other than to push sand and mud when I am off road?

I am thinking of having it removed....

I cannot think of a reason to keep it on.....

And mine looks like it might already be mis shaped.

Remove it if that's what serves you better. I've always liked the looks of air dams from the time they started being put on trucks. They're a good finisher and when they're missing, the truck looks like it was carelessly driven over a curb and knocked off. Just my personal opinion. To my understanding, removing it doesn't set any alarms or alerts off, so do what suits you best. It's better to be missing than to be hanging off on one side.
 

mikeru

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Isn’t it just for better fuel mileage, like one mile per gallon ?
I never saw any noticeable difference in fuel economy after removing mine. Like I said above, there may be a measurable improvement in a testing environment (wind tunnel) but not so much in real-world driving. At least that's been my experience.
 
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JohnnyBandit

JohnnyBandit

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Thanks all

I did not get a chance to get it off this week. But I am going to.

I have also heard the gas mileage thing. But that does not concern me. I drive the truck like I stole it anyway. So mileage is not great to start with.
 

Regcabguy

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Thanks all

I did not get a chance to get it off this week. But I am going to.

I have also heard the gas mileage thing. But that does not concern me. I drive the truck like I stole it anyway. So mileage is not great to start with.
Retain your fasteners and store it. You might want to re-install it someday.
 

mikeru

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Retain your fasteners and store it. You might want to re-install it someday.
Good advice. I reinstalled mine before trading the Laramie in. Probably didn't need to but I like to return my vehicles back to stock before trading them in.
 

Doug Ram

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My truck has the electrically operated one that lowers at high speeds. The left side bracket broke somewhere about 1000 miles into our 12,000 trip around the southwest last winter. I don't think I hit anything because, except for the broken bracket, the thing looked brand new. But who knows. I removed it and tossed it in the truck bed until we got home. I did notice a gas mileage drop but only because I am **** about entering fuel and mileage in my Rand McNally GPS/ tablet.

Anyway, FCA replaced the whole thing, electric parts and all which was close to $700. They made me pay $100.00 for labor.
 

KG4BCN

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I removed mine with no isues. Easy to take off and put back on if you want. Ram 1500 classic 4x4 5.7
 

mikeru

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My truck has the electrically operated one that lowers at high speeds. The left side bracket broke somewhere about 1000 miles into our 12,000 trip around the southwest last winter. I don't think I hit anything because, except for the broken bracket, the thing looked brand new. But who knows. I removed it and tossed it in the truck bed until we got home. I did notice a gas mileage drop but only because I am **** about entering fuel and mileage in my Rand McNally GPS/ tablet.

Anyway, FCA replaced the whole thing, electric parts and all which was close to $700. They made me pay $100.00 for labor.
Why would they charge you labor if that was a warranty repair? That's not right. I'd be demanding my $100 back.
 

Doug Ram

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Why would they charge you labor if that was a warranty repair? That's not right. I'd be demanding my $100 back.
Good Question. The dealer originally claimed that the dam couldn't have come off unless it was damaged by getting bumped. Dealer said FCA wasn't going to cover any of it. So I called FCA and had a conversation with Ramcares and sent pictures. Price went from about $700 to $100. Maybe I was too easy but they also cut me a deal on the 10,000 mile diesel service: $49 including oil change and both fuel and oil filters changed.

I am not thrilled with this dealer. They changed ownership the weekend the truck was delivered, which delayed delivery. Then they screwed up my car loan by failing to properly endorse the cashier check. This meant no loan (or payments) from me for 6 months after rode off the lot with a new $50,000 truck. Yeah, it took them 6 months to figure out I'd paid only $25,000 for a $50,000 truck.

But their shop has been responsive to all other warranty claims. I figure I am going to start using another dealer for the next issue or service.
 

Lee955i

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No experience with the ram, but on my 06 Titan (which didn't come with an air dam) a common mod was was to install the dam from the Armadas. I picked up about 1 1/2 mpg with it on, which was nice as those VK56's are thirsty beasts!!
 

bolivarshagnasty

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Watched a video by Dodge where an engineer claims the retractable air dam reduced the drag by 9%. Gas savings feature.
 

Doug Ram

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Watched a video by Dodge where an engineer claims the retractable air dam reduced the drag by 9%. Gas savings feature.
Engineer claims... 9% drag reduction. Doubtful.

Was he old enough to have been selling fuel saving magnets to be installed on the fuel lines of a 1970s car? His picture might have been in the back page ads of 1970s Popular Mechanics.

Seriously.

And I am sure his claims were documented by a well paid "independent" third party laboratory too!. I find such claims to be highly suspect. And I like my truck!!
 

ed_b_1

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In 2010 ,my company had a contract to produce a series of parts for a company 800 miles away. The parts required special handling, so I decided to use my 5.9 2006 Ram, 4WD with 3.73 and factory lift, as the delivery vehicle. This became an every two week trip, so naturally we began to play with ideas to increase mileage.
Hauling 800 to 1100# one way each trip, we were getting 16 to 17 mpg. Added 2" to the front air dam and added a mpg. Added 4" and got to almost 20 mpg. We ended up by adding full side skirts and rear diffuser and were able to get 22 to 23mpg. Oh yea, we averaged mid 70 mph, but then it was nearly all interstate.
(My 2012 5.7 4WD w/3.23 Overland gets 15 mph except when hauling at least a 1000#, then it gets 18 mph. Maybe I need to try the air dam mods again.)
 

ecervus

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My gas mileage went way down. Mine was clogged and dealer could not get part in until September. Broke and threw code in June. They gave me a car to use. I told them I was going to use the Chrysler 300 like a truck ie.,,, was replacing flooring. They gave me a great trade value and a good deal on a new 2022 crew cab. I bought it. My mileage went from 18 ish to 12
 

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