Active Air Dam Issue

[BlackCloud]

Surprise! The backordered parts finally arrived, and they were installed at my local dealer. Looking underneath, it appears that there is a lot more clearance between the fixed versus movable part. I can easily slip my finger between the two while it is retracted (of course).

I still wish there was a way to manually extend and retract it while watching it in motion. I suspect there is something in the tech manual, but they would not tell me.

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[sbmann]

I have the same issue. The dealer sent pics to Ford and they declined to pay for the repair because of a few scratches-they said I hit something. It's been like that since I got the truck in May and the part was on backorder for a few months. And now my sunroof is leaking! my first Ford purchase and it's not going well.

 

[BlackCloud]

I have the same issue. The dealer sent pics to Ford and they declined to pay for the repair because of a few scratches-they said I hit something. It's been like that since I got the truck in May and the part was on backorder for a few months. And now my sunroof is leaking! my first Ford purchase and it's not going well.

The first dealer I went to (Rodeo Ford, west of Phoenix) had the same reaction. At first, I don't think they even knew the air dam had a moveable component. They said a lot of owners (with previous model years, and fixed air dams) would come in and complain about the air dam being crunched, when it was obvious they had run it into a curb, or possibly hit something while driving. It seems the service managers and techs were already skeptical of air dam claims, and often refused without even checking. When I showed them the forum thread with all the pictures of the exact same type of malfunction, they finally softened. That dealership would have fixed it under warranty, but there was a long backorder for parts (I wonder why?), and I was relocating soon, so we decided I should just take it up with the next dealer.

I took a different approach with the second dealer (Totem Lake Ford, near Seattle). Before they even looked at it, I showed them pictures from the forum, including the GoPro video showing the motion up and down. I made sure (politely) that they understood the "bit lip" look was a common problem on 2021's, and when they finally did look under my truck it was obvious it had the same issue. I should mention that my truck had no other telltale signs of damage, like scratches. It took about 3 months for the parts to arrive, but the service manager called me the day they arrived, and the work was done the next day. Great service, once they understood what was happening.

About that leaky sunroof. I had a sunroof in my 2010 Platinum, and hardly ever opened it. Regardless, it would sometimes start to leak (in rainy Seattle), and I would have to clean out the drain ports in the troughs on each side of the tracks. I ultimately solved that problem by not having a sunroof on my 2021 King Ranch. I don't miss it at all, and the solid roof doesn't leak.

 

[Eric]

I have the same issue. The dealer sent pics to Ford and they declined to pay for the repair because of a few scratches-they said I hit something. It's been like that since I got the truck in May and the part was on backorder for a few months. And now my sunroof is leaking! my first Ford purchase and it's not going well.

I’m only 5’7 so I see this thing everyday. My wife’s a little taller so it’s not as noticeable to her and she told me to forget about it but it was just too annoying so I took @schoonerboy advice and just took that one piece off.

Just like he said, three little screws and voila. And it is a very flimsy piece of junk. To save the hassle of the entire process of having the dealership handle it properly, it was well worth the 5mins it took me. And my truck looks a million times better. AND mine also had some scratches, in places that could not have been caused by me touching anything with it.

I actually asked one dealer to just remove it for me I didn’t even really care for a properly functioning replacement and they just kindly told me to F off.

Good luck with your sun roof my man. I took that option off last minute and I got roasted for being paranoid.
This will absolutely be my last Ford. I always wanted a mustang but I can’t support a company that treats people like this.
For (expletive)’s sake the profit margin on one of these trucks and you can’t even help a guy out with some issues that you created yourself by choosing the cheapest possible components.

 

[fastlane]

Well nearly three months and I got a call that the parts are in. So I’ll be having this hopefully resolved here within a couple of weeks.
Ours doesn’t really catch anymore, but the piece that lowers down is definitely deformed downward. If the replacement doesn’t correct it or it does this again, I’ll just remove the assembly. Going to give Ford a chance to fix it first.

 

[Eric]

If you zoom In that front piece looks like a cod damn (expletive)(expletive) just chillin on the dangle but hopefully some time and warm October weather will straighten er right up. Not perfect but way better than that crooked azzz trash azzz attempt of an active air damn.

 

[Wolfey FX4]

Does anyone know if removing this Active Air Dam will void the Warranty in any way? My inclination is to just remove it all together.

 

[Mike D]

My dealer told me it wouldn't void the warranty, I removed mine and trimmed it up. Only thing I noticed is the MPG went from 20.5 average to 20.2 so far, I can live with that. I do travel off road a lot though.

 

[Pjeffries]

My 3 month old Lariat is doing the same thing. Have an appt to get it looked at next week. Didn't know what was going on until I found this forum. Will post when I hopefully get some answers.

 

[Eric]

I ended up trimming off that lower piece of rubber that got deformed from the air damn curling under it. It was just bugging me too much and now it looks a lot cleaner.

 

[fastlane]

So an update….

I finally got a call from the dealer saying that the new air dam had arrived. Went in this morning and they replaced it within about an hour. Got home….it’s hung up again!

so I got down on the ground and inspected it myself a little closer. Turns out that I believe this was all caused by an assembly error at the factory.

the tow hook trim pieces (rubber pieces that fill in the hole around the tow hooks) were reversed! Right was on left, left was on right. As a result, the angle of the back part of those trim pieces stuck back and interfered with the dam on both sides by about an inch.

i dealt with it on my own in the driveway since the dealer said they couldn’t get me in til next week….didn’t want to chance jacking up another air dam and then having to wait another three months to get yet another one.

so i unbolted both hooks from underneath and pulled them and the trim pieces forward through the holes in the bumper. They are marked with both “R” and “L”…..yep….reversed. Good grief. Some factory worker had ONE JOB!

switched them and bolted the hooks back on. Issue resolved. No more interference.

so if you are having this issue, look for this as being a possible cause. Let your dealer know to check it. The tech that changed mine out apparently didn’t pay enough attention to see that these pieces were clearly interfering with the dam…..hell, he likely had to wedge it up in there against these two trim pieces to make it fit and STILL didn’t notice. Omg.

so FYI.

pics below show how the tow hook trims were installed wrong….looking straight up from the ground you can clearly see that the angle of the rear edge is protruding into the dam because it’s backwards.

 

[ib_jigged]

90 miles on my new truck so far and already doing this.

 

[RalpL]

Just completely read through this thread. One more thing to check when my truck is delivered. However after reading the posting about the tow hooks, is this a problem only noticed by owners of 4WD models? Might I escape this dilemma since my King Ranch is 4x2 and there aren't any tow hooks?

 

[ib_jigged]

The covers on my tow hooks were correct.

After looking at it more and watching a video on how to remove the air dam, I think if some spacers (washers) were placed between the actuators and the frame, it may move the dam back some and allow it to move up and down without any contact.

 

[fragment]

So I'm in a different mindset. I like the idea of active aero on a big brick punching a hole through the air. Also, I see benefits not claimed by Ford. I live in the north, and salt/sand are real vehicle killers; I expect that keeping wind off the undercarriage will help keep it cleaner and rust resistant.

Anyway, two weeks into ownership I hit a racoon (I saw him at least a 1/4 away thanks to the excellent lights) but the bugger must have been facing support payments and decided to cross back at the last moment. RIP air damn.

My question is, anyone able to share the PN? Just for the plastic part that lowers. I'll replace it myself once I get one in on order.

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