Truth or BS? Dealership info on removing air dam

[Desert_6Gen]

you need to find another dealer. Was it a lube tech teenager that said that? The air dam isn't even connected to the fenders. What a idiot.

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[Tarekith]

Just put the bolts back in, it takes two minutes to remove them and the air dam and 2 more minutes to put the bolts back in. I did mine in the parking lot at the dealer before driving off, didn't even take long enough for my wife to ask what I was doing.

 

[horbit]

Is it necessary to put the bolts back in or did you do it just to not lose track of them?

It just seemed like the right thing to do if you don't take the clip nuts off, those will fall off without a bolt. I just checked and the bumper itself has different bolts securing it.

 

[BPS~]

Last time I went to a dealer the kid they had working on my car went into my glove compartment grabbed a tazer I had in there and “accidentally“ shot it off. Luckily it didn’t hit anyone. Never again.

 

[Beedeviled]

Last time I went to a dealer the kid they had working on my car went into my glove compartment grabbed a tazer I had in there and “accidentally“ shot it off. Luckily it didn’t hit anyone. Never again.

What!! That’s crazy. I’d be pissed if I was his employer.

 

[4Everest]

"the fender liners aren't going to want to stay in place. You'll need to come up with a solution for that."

Even if this were true (it's not), all you would need to do is replace all the bolts you take out and there would be no issue. It's a good idea to replace them anyway, since most of the mounts are clip nuts that would fall off eventually, with no bolt to hold them there.

Here's a tutorial (from a Toyota dealer!) you can follow if you need it. It gets into the clip part, which is nice because you have to fiddle with those a bit. Enjoy!

 

[Joey_Midnight]

Its 5 10mm bolts and some plastic clips. It doesn't even need a lift. Go pull it off outside and put the 10mm bolts back in so u dont loose them

 

[Dr_Al]

Go to Harbor Freight and pick up a cheap metric socket set if you don't have the tools. Watch the video and have at it. You'll be amazed how easy it is. Plus you'll be able to put it back on if you decide you don't like having it off. Somewhere in the mid 80s (about the time of the 1st gen 4R) the air dam didn't do much. Then Toyota changed it so it flared out towards the front. The result was less water would splash up when driving through a puddle at speed. For me it's all about driving in snow. The more ground clearance the better.

 

[Irish89rmf]

I had taken off the air dam, but glad I read this and put my bolts back in. Love this forum.

 

[Dario]

Is it necessary to put the bolts back in or did you do it just to not lose track of them?

I put mine in a ziplock bag and zip tied the bag to the air dam. Seems unlikely they are ever going to get separated. If I put them back in there's a chance they could loosen and fall out.

 

[54smontalvo]

Took mine off about a month after having it… been a year since and I’ve had 0 problems.

 

[milsuper]

I took my 2025 Sport Premium in today for its 10,000 mile oil change and while I was there I asked about having the front air dam removed. The cost was going to be excessive at the dealership (no surprise) but the tech also said to me that if I did that "the fender liners aren't going to want to stay in place. You'll need to come up with a solution for that." It seems I've seen numerous posts from people who have removed it. Has that been a problem for anyone? I already have a low opinion about the honesty of my dealership.

Here is the video instruction.

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