Got a cheap bug deflector... how to apply it?

[GasSavers_RoadWarrior]

Hi folks...

Was in a thrift store and there was a "bug deflector" sitting there for $5 so I grabbed it...

Now, I'm usually of the opinion that on 90% of vehicles, when fitted as intended, these are i) as useful as a chocolate teapot ii) harmful to aero.

So you might be guessing that I'm not about to slap it on the leading edge of my hood... and you'd be right... in fact we had another voyager in the family with the 2.5 TBI motor in it, and it got 2 more mpg when the bugflector that came on it broke and fell off. I kept trying to persuade the nominal "owner" of the thing that she should let me take it off in the first place, but she thought it was doing some good... her screen collected more bugs than ours did btw...

Anyway, I'm not sure what this one is designed to fit, has a nice smooth bow to it, and hasn't got any funny crinkles.

If my screen was more upright I might consider putting it about a foot to a foot and a half in front of the screen... but even though these vans look square they do have a good amount of hood slope and windshield rake. So I'm not sure it would do a heck of a lot there.

The other idea is to mount a section of it atop the bumper ahead of the grille, been looking for a "windslammer" for the grille for some time, don't want to fully restrict it, but been looking for a way to tip air over it. Would need to be cut to clear the lights either side.

I'm thinking then that I could use the foot I trim off each end, flipped upside down and put under the bumper as air deflectors for the wheels...

any thoughts?

Road Warrior

[gutcheck]

Mounted to the leading edge of the bumper sounds like a good experiment to me.
Here's my totally wild guess hypothesis - since a kamm-back/partial boattail is somewhat effective, perhaps this would have the same effect?
Helping to direct the air more smoothly from the bumper to over the hood?
Again, I don't know anything, but I love experiments.
Keep us posted.

[LastBoyScout]

I know this is kinda old, but did you ever try this?

I was going to post a thread with this same idea for the front bumper be decided to look before i posted and voila!

My idea was to create a smooth angle to propel the air over the blocky front bumper/grille/headlight area

not my car.... btw.... just a photo of the same make/model



my original though came with me noticing how much my front plate (i dont have to have auto tags up front, so i have a glamor plate) was sticking down infront of the grille and when i blocked it i would have to move it. SO..... i stuck the glamor plate on the mounting holes from the bottom and it stuck a few good inches over the top of the bumper.

I got to thinking if I could then take plexiglass and mount it to the bumper, i could take a heat gun and heat the plexi and bend it to for an angle that would match the leading edge of the hood. I figured I could have a higher and slightly more agressive angle in front of the grille and a lower less agressive bend in front of the headlights as to reduce its effect of lighting up the plexi. plus with less of a curve it would direct the air up higher and into the oncoming hood air stream solving the issue with height.

Any ideas/suggestions/confirmations/conclusions?