Spring loaded segmented air dam?

[GasSavers_BEEF]

mine are black.

http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/web...%7CGRP2042____

I don't think mine are rated that high but they also have an 8,000 lb ramp kit. either way it will hold up my car. they do sink up in the ground if you aren't on a hard surface.

[GasSavers_maximilian]

Originally Posted by jeep45238

Look at the front of most GM cars. Almost all of them have a vertical plastic "air dam" that's spring loaded like you're describing.

Thanks! Having a tough time finding closeup pictures, but I'll take your word for it and keep my eyes open the next time I'm in a parking lot. Nice to know the idea is viable. Could allow for a pretty aggressively low air dam. If I make it a little too long and it hits bumps frequently, presumably it will wear down to the correct length! I can use colored plastic, but I guess it would turn sort of grey with the scraping.

[GasSavers_BEEF]

when you say spring loaded, do you just mean that they will give and then come back to the shape?

I have such a cheesy air dam. it is just an L shaped piece of plastic so that it will give. it isn't very big, I added to it and made it unstable so I had to add some supports behind it so that it didn't fold back in the wind.

*edit* it is more like a "7" and is attached at the top of the 7 to a metal piece just below my radiator.

[GasSavers_maximilian]

Nope, actual springs. So it can tilt really far and then come back. I'm exploring how reasonable a dam that's just about dragging on the ground might be. That's why it'd need to be segmented.

[theholycow]

As a bonus, you could have removable braces that prevent it from tilting and use it to plow your driveway...

[GasSavers_maximilian]

Maybe if my Accent had a lower gear... I prefer a snow blower as you start to run out of places to put the snow some years. With a blower, you just angle it up a bit more. Check out the bank on the left. Yeesh.



I guess I could blend both approaches: flexible dam for the first few inches, spring tabs for the rest. Tabs could move a lot less and it'd give me more mounting flexibility to the car.

Why don't auto makers add flat bottoms anyway (at least partially)? Difficulty of maintenance? Cost?

[theholycow]

Nobody cares what the underside of the car looks like, the cost of the belly pan would be too much to sell on the slightly increased fuel economy, and then there's the whining about how it impedes servicing the car...look at car forums for cars with engine covers and all the whining that goes on.

http://www.google.com/search?q=site:...ngine+cover%22

My VW has a decently smooth undercarriage, with large areas covered.

[GasSavers_maximilian]

My engine cover comes right off. What's the big deal?

[dkjones96]

Do it like this guy!

[GasSavers_maximilian]

Thought it was on a trailer for a second!