Active Air Dam Issue

[JerseyGlock]

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

Any benefit mounting the plate holder upside down?

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[JerseyGlock]

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.

Have you try using a heat gun to heat up the plastic and see if it can return back to original shape?

 

[fragment]

Have you try using a heat gun to heat up the plastic and see if it can return back to original shape?

No. My heat gun is in storage 7 hours away.

 

[ib_jigged]

Any benefit mounting the plate holder upside down?

Didn't know it was upside down I guess. After looking at photos I guess I might be, but it fits fine like this and opens up the lower grill area somemore. Sits at somewhat of a downward angle, but is on there sturdy.

.

 

[ib_jigged]

I had the service manager put it up on a lift today and look at it. He is thinking that somewhere along the way (most likely transport truck) the air dam was hit in the up position bending it back some and it is now loose as well, so when it wants to come back up it hits the front piece. The bottom of both pieces have scrapes on them like it hit a curb or parking stop. They have new pieces on order and will replace both early next week. The other one on their lot does not look this way, nor is it as loose as mine.

 

[JerseyGlock]

Didn't know it was upside down I guess. After looking at photos I guess I might be, but it fits fine like this and opens up the lower grill area somemore. Sits at somewhat of a downward angle, but is on there sturdy.

.

Hmmm, better plate angle this way. Plate holder is just snap on to 2 posts. I broke a clip when I install a mesh in the lower grill area.

 

[michaelbtw]

This happened to me, 2021 F150 King Ranch. Sarasota Ford after some resistance agreed to replace it. Parts came in, they worked on it for a day, removed bumper, etc. to replace. 2 weeks later, it's twisted again. Seems like a design issue?

 

[cool rod]

Didn't know it was upside down I guess. After looking at photos I guess I might be, but it fits fine like this and opens up the lower grill area somemore. Sits at somewhat of a downward angle, but is on there sturdy.

.

It looks better the way you have it. Those fingers at the bottom are logical, they support the license that way.

 

[cool rod]

This happened to me, 2021 F150 King Ranch. Sarasota Ford after some resistance agreed to replace it. Parts came in, they worked on it for a day, removed bumper, etc. to replace. 2 weeks later, it's twisted again. Seems like a design issue?

I hit something and had to replace the active air dam and the left actuator. There's no need to remove the bumper, everything's easily accessible from below. I did mine lying on my garage floor.

 

[Heavishot]

The car in front of me kicked up a giant tire tread and I couldn’t avoid hitting it. Just thankful it got back down below bumper level before I hit it. Active air dam was ripped off on the drivers side.

Now I’m wondering if it’s worth getting it fixed or just remove it completely. How much real world benefit does it actually provide??? I removed the air dam on my 2017 and saw zero difference in mpg.

 

[cool rod]

The car in front of me kicked up a giant tire tread and I couldn’t avoid hitting it. Just thankful it got back down below bumper level before I hit it. Active air dam was ripped off on the drivers side.

Now I’m wondering if it’s worth getting it fixed or just remove it completely. How much real world benefit does it actually provide??? I removed the air dam on my 2017 and saw zero difference in mpg.

The exact thing happened to me, the car in front of me hit a complete truck tire tread and sent it back to me. It broke the left actuator in two and the air dam dragged under the truck and wore down to just half its normal size. The parts cost me $275 to buy and I replaced them myself and probably saved $1000 not going to a dealer. I told myself I'd do it once but not twice, so if it happens again I'll just remove the whole thing and not replace it.

I saw somewhere that the active air dam saves about one MPG. At that rate I'd need to do a lot of driving above 45 MPH to justify the cost and I wouldn't bother.

There's a YouTube video that shows how to remove it, it's not hard to do.

 

[CptBligh]

Another retread tire victim here over the holiday. Drive side bracket that holds it up is busted. Think I'll just take it off and save the expense.

 

[fragment]

Replaced mine yesterday. Took longer to open the box and find my 7mm than it did to swap it. The damaged one had a split and bend from the raccoon strike, so a heat gun wouldn’t have done much.

 

[Crawfunkle]

I know I've seen this issue posted on a forum but I cannot find it for he life of me. Does anyone else have issues with the active air dam not closing properly and it gets stuck like this?

Mine looked exactly like this and I also had a weird ticking noise coming from the lower grill louver.

So i took it into the Dealer, wasn't aware of this post at the time.

Dealer says I must've hit something and the vehicle has been "impacted".

Going in to look at the vehicle today and will be showing them this post and asking to see the evidence of it being impacted.

Wish me luck people.

 

[jmargo]

Mine looked exactly like this and I also had a weird ticking noise coming from the lower grill louver.

So i took it into the Dealer, wasn't aware of this post at the time.

Dealer says I must've hit something and the vehicle has been "impacted".

Going in to look at the vehicle today and will be showing them this post and asking to see the evidence of it being impacted.

Wish me luck people.

Yes....common.

https://www.f150gen14.com/forum/threads/active-air-dam-issues-no-recall-yet.8571/

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