Air Dam Removal - Did You or Not?

[mister_mcgoo]

Just thought I would make a poll here to see who has and hasn’t removed their front air dam!

I’m torn on whether I would like to get rid of mine or not. Also, this may be a stupid question, but does the air dam actually protect against anything? Or is it purely for aerodynamics/fuel efficiency?

Thanks!

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[Tarekith]

Took mine off the minute I got home from the dealer. Just looks weird to me.

 

[ModernDay4Runner]

Just thought I would make a poll here to see who has and hasn’t removed their front air dam!

I’m torn on whether I would like to get rid of mine or not. Also, this may be a stupid question, but does the air dam actually protect against anything? Or is it purely for aerodynamics/fuel efficiency?

Thanks!

This question has been kicked around plenty enough already. You can search on the subject. That said, opinions seem to be very strong on this subject so I suspect some people will be more than willing to post their opinion again, which is great. For me, I kept it.

 

[mthiessen]

When you removed the dam did you put the screws back in? I'm thinking putting them back in would keep out the road salt in winter.

 

[Tarekith]

Yes I put them back in.

 

[Marty60]

Mine took itself off within 500 miles. I added a Trail Hunter skid to my SR5, so it'll not be going back on

 

[Laszlo]

Took mine off (and put the screws back in) pretty much as soon as we got home with the vehicle. Personally, I like the look with it off. We are planning on putting a TRD skid plate on hopefully soon.

 

[M2014RN]

Took mine off the minute I got home from the dealer. Just looks weird to me.

Same here!

 

[Soloflight]

When you removed the dam did you put the screws back in? I'm thinking putting them back in would keep out the road salt in winter.

I put the screws back in, and i noticed in the tacomas there are 4 holes in the lower control arm in the 4runner the other 2 holes are already covered

 

[photorunner]

When you removed the dam did you put the screws back in? I'm thinking putting them back in would keep out the road salt in winter.

Definitely put all the screws back in -- otherwise you might have other loose trim pieces.

 

[4RunnerTony]

I got the Sport Premium trim and don't intend to do much off roading (traded in my Jeep for this Toyota and my off road days are over). I chose to keep my air dam on.

 

[brumey]

I kept it on. It's a thing of beauty and has some function. With what seems the vast percentage of folk on here taking it off, those that did not will have a unique look.

I sincerely doubt Toyota put it on for purely looks. If it did not do something they thought was needed, they would not include it.

 

[Nodak]

technically the air dam gives you roughly .7 mpg at highway speed.

otherwise its an appearance preference for most people.

for me its a look vs mpg, and i dont care about mpg in the long run.

i mean i kill my mpg during the winters by doing remote starts for 10-20 mins twice a day. and the wife kills it even more with her tundra doing the same thing during the winters up here in ND.

she hit 6.91 mpg a tank in winter remote starts and i hit 9.8 mpg during winter remote starts.

 

[Tarekith]

I got the Sport Premium trim and don't intend to do much off roading (traded in my Jeep for this Toyota and my off road days are over). I chose to keep my air dam on.

I could definitely see it for someone only using the 4R on road without deep snow to worry about. If you don't mind the look, might as well get the better gas mileage.

 

[bakutheleo]

As @ModernDay4Runner said there has been a lot of discussion about this on this forum, but I will answer again here. I keep mine on except if I am going off road where it might be a problem--it takes maybe 5 minutes to remove or reinstall, just make sure you get the screws tight again (I goofed on that the first time apparently and the outer 2 on both sides came out--they have not since I replaced them and put them in tighter). It is there for aerodynamics; from what I have read it gives you around a 0.8 MPG improvement. Not much, but over time adds up. I have no issue with its looks--I am also more concerned with function, not appearance. I am not one to spend much on purely asthetics stuff.

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