Front air dam
Thread Starter
Drifting
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 1,507
Likes: 7
From: Palmetto FL
St. Jude Donor '07
Front air dam
remove or not remove... that is the question. What are the cons of removing it? I want to remove it for cosmetic reasons, but don't want to cause any harm either. From what I can gather, it is there to reduce the amount of air flowing under the car as well as keep the engine bay cooler. If loss of cooling is my biggest concern, I could remove it and monitor the temps. Any insight is greatly appreciated.
Instructor
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 122
Likes: 0
From: Raleigh NC
It forces air up into the cavity in front of the radiator where the fans draw it through to cool the coolant. Im not sure if your radiator would be as efficient if you do it, but may not cause harmful temps.
Safety Car
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 4,979
Likes: 5
From: San Diego, CA "leaf" "tee" "e"
Without it, you'll get higher coolant and intake air temps, less fresh air to the intake and aerodynamics would get worse, equaling greater drag AND more lift. If you have a Z51 or Z06, your power steering will run hotter. If you have an automatic, your transmission will run hotter. If you have an oil cooler, your oil will run hotter. There's also a greater chance that you'll scrape the bumper since you won't have the air dam there to warn you.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 2,964
Likes: 310
From: Maryland
Well, I lowered my car and the thing was scraping everywhere. I trimmed about 7/8-1" off mine, and it made a helluva difference with no problems so far with overheating etc...here is the best pic I have showing it
Racer
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 261
Likes: 0
From: Metro Detroit MI
Originally Posted by allmee
I think it plays a major role in getting ouside air to your radiator when the car starts moving. I have a feeling that removing it will cut way down on your engine cooling!
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Le Mans Master
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 7,201
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From: DP(oh you know where) IL
St. Jude Donor '06
i would think that triming it if you are lowered wouldnt be a problem since the airdam was that high before you lowered it. I would think that if you removed it entirely then it would let too much air get under the car, reducing you drag co-effieciency giving you lower gas mileage and possibly getting more crap from the road into your engine bay, just a tought no scientific data to back this up.
Supporting Tuner
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 51,896
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From: ================== Houston, Texas www.englandgreen.com ================== Necessary Evil™ __________
CI 6-7-8-9-10 Veteran
St. Jude Donor '05-'06-'07-'08-'09-'10-'11-'12-'13-'14
Originally Posted by SilentFright
Your car would overheat without it. Good luck
Le Mans Master
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 9,919
Likes: 1,880
From: Hot Springs AR
The center air dam doesn't do much for aero or drag, because since it's hinged it will flex if it has too much pressure applied to it. The sides do affect aero/drag because they direct the air spilling off the side of the center dam more smoothly to the side of the car.
The air coming into the center of the car is going to create drag in any case. Therefore the center dam is used to direct air into the A/C condensor and radiator. If the dam is removed then the pressure differential between the front and rear of the rad is lowered, making the rad less effective. This could get to the point the cooling fans have to run more than they're designed for, shortening their life, raising the electrical load, etc.
To the original post, I'd recommend trimming the center and side air dams to get the clearance you need.
HTH, and have a good one,
Mike
The air coming into the center of the car is going to create drag in any case. Therefore the center dam is used to direct air into the A/C condensor and radiator. If the dam is removed then the pressure differential between the front and rear of the rad is lowered, making the rad less effective. This could get to the point the cooling fans have to run more than they're designed for, shortening their life, raising the electrical load, etc.
To the original post, I'd recommend trimming the center and side air dams to get the clearance you need.
HTH, and have a good one,
Mike
Melting Slicks
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 2,996
Likes: 61
From: Fort Wayne IN
Originally Posted by myc5inparadise
remove or not remove... that is the question. What are the cons of removing it? I want to remove it for cosmetic reasons, but don't want to cause any harm either. From what I can gather, it is there to reduce the amount of air flowing under the car as well as keep the engine bay cooler. If loss of cooling is my biggest concern, I could remove it and monitor the temps. Any insight is greatly appreciated.
Instructor
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 150
Likes: 0
From: Wisconsin
Originally Posted by rickkym
Why would the air dam improve aerodyamics or fuel efficiency? It creates drag which forces air into the engine bay. Air that did not want to go there by itself.
Heel & Toe
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 21
Likes: 0
From: Edgewood KY
Upside Down!!!
The guy I bought mine from had beat up the center air dam, and had installed it upside down!!!! Don't know if it was intentional or not, but it gives you another .75 to 1 inch of clearence. The shape and functionality is all wack though. The side dams were also a little rashed up.
I recently installed all three, new from Fichner, and it seems like the temps went from average 195 to 190. Not a scientific study, but in my opinion, they spent alot more engineering time and money at GM looking at these pieces than we do, so why not leave them on.
Just my $0.02.
I recently installed all three, new from Fichner, and it seems like the temps went from average 195 to 190. Not a scientific study, but in my opinion, they spent alot more engineering time and money at GM looking at these pieces than we do, so why not leave them on.
Just my $0.02.
Thread Starter
Drifting
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 1,507
Likes: 7
From: Palmetto FL
St. Jude Donor '07
Thanks everyone.
I really appreciate everyone's input. Since I am only scraping on the side air dams, as I take all inclines and declines at an angle, I may just trim the side air dam corners, similiar to what GM did with the C6. This should reduce the scraping considerably. By the way, I think the car would look nice without the air dams.
Since I am only scraping on the side air dams, as I take all inclines and declines at an angle, I may just trim the side air dam corners, similiar to what GM did with the C6. This should reduce the scraping considerably. By the way, I think the car would look nice without the air dams.
Pro
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 611
Likes: 0
From: Fayetteville NC
Bringing this one back up. The air dam on the right side of my car takes a beating from going into & out of my inclined driveway. This morning I noticed that it is now coming starting to come off. I may remove the side air dams to do a little triming.
Anybody have any pictures of vettes with trimed or removed air dams?
Anybody have any pictures of vettes with trimed or removed air dams?