Removed Active Air Dam From my F-150 - DIY Writeup

[Jamescamp11]

Love this look. This is my inspiration:

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[Jamescamp11]

Also, we’re you planning on powder coating the skid plate black or try to find that silver piece above the tow hooks? It appears that is separate from the skid plate AND it has the three ridges that perfectly line up. Mine like yours is smooth, doesn’t have the ridges to line up with the tremor plate. Was going to see if I could somehow just buy that silver piece as well?

 

[M4X]

Can you post the parts link for the brush guard? I see you pasted the image above but want to track down the actual link. I’ve been trying to locate it on fords website without success. I’ve been planning on doing this since the day I bought my 2021 carbonized Powerboost XLT. The shield on the tremor makes the front end look so much better. I really hate the air dam look. I would’ve waited for the tremor but it doesn’t look like they will have it with the Powerboost hybrid engine. Guess I’ll try to make it look like a tremor instead!

It's not available from Ford yet and probably won't be until the Tremor F150 goes into production. The part number is not available either.

 

[M4X]

Also, we’re you planning on powder coating the skid plate black or try to find that silver piece above the tow hooks? It appears that is separate from the skid plate AND it has the three ridges that perfectly line up. Mine like yours is smooth, doesn’t have the ridges to line up with the tremor plate. Was going to see if I could somehow just buy that silver piece as well?

You might need the silver piece from above the towhooks as well, which I *think* is connected to the black piece above it (the two side bits around that vent.)

It may mount up w/o it but just leave a few airgaps but I'd rather have the seamless look. No way to really tell until the parts are available.

And they are not going to be cheap. I expect that skid plate and trim piece (and the two brackets) to easily set a fella back 1,200-1,500 unless tasca works some magic.


edit: I also pointed out a few posts above that you'll probably need the Tremor's "airdam" trim bits as well around the sides of the skid plate, but I'm betting you can trim up your existing one further (like mine) to make it all fit together.

 

[Jamescamp11]

It's not available from Ford yet and probably won't be until the Tremor F150 goes into production. The part number is not available either.

Where did you get the photo showing the diagram with all the parts? Was that from a raptor?

 

[M4X]

Where did you get the photo showing the diagram with all the parts? Was that from a raptor?

No it's for the "Skid Plate Kit" that is listed for the 2021 F150 (parts.ford.com). And it does show a part number, but not the complete number.

I'm sure a ford parts expert could chime in and decipher the full part number, but i doubt that it will resolve to anything yet in the system.

 

[Jamescamp11]

No it's for the "Skid Plate Kit" that is listed for the 2021 F150 (parts.ford.com). And it does show a part number, but not the complete number.

I'm sure a ford parts expert could chime in and decipher the full part number, but i doubt that it will resolve to anything yet in the system.

Sorry for all the stupid questions:

Would a ford "skid plate kit" look and cost drastically different than trying to pull the actual tremor front end skid bits?

I didn't even know you could get a skid kit unrelated to the tremor or raptor. Is this kit solely for the F-150 line?

Really appreciate your help.

 

[M4X]

No to be clear, this is a general parts diagram that they use for (almost) every F150. The images may be incorrect, but the part numbers will be mostly valid if the parts exist for that vehicle.

Once the Tremor becomes available there will be a "Skid Plate Kit" most likely with Tremor in the notes. But it doesn't exist yet, so the parts diagram on ford's website does not show a related part for the Skid plate, just the image which is both incorrect (wrong design) and goes nowhere (no forward skid Plate exists yet.)

 

[Jamescamp11]

No to be clear, this is a general parts diagram that they use for (almost) every F150. The images may be incorrect, but the part numbers will be mostly valid if the parts exist for that vehicle.

Once the Tremor becomes available there will be a "Skid Plate Kit" most likely with Tremor in the notes. But it doesn't exist yet, so the parts diagram on ford's website does not show a related part for the Skid plate, just the image which is both incorrect (wrong design) and goes nowhere (no forward skid Plate exists yet.)

now I’m on your page. Got it!

look forward to seeing where this goes.

 

[M4X]

Today I set out to tackle the rear "air dams".

The Tremor will have a different piece back here that should fit our trucks and eliminate this air dam, but its not out yet, and this thing is going to get ripped off and do a lot of damage to the fender when I'm offloading and the right rock comes along.

If you remove it from the truck it leaves an unsightly hole, so the best option is to trim it.

I used a cutoff wheel to cut the bulk of the material away and then a razor blade to flush it up, and then sanded:

The end result leaves a small hole where two pieces of plastic meet due to it being very thin in that area, but its the only way to get it flush.

I used some sandable JB Weld plastic bonding to fill the hole from the other side and then sanded flush:

Then to finish it off I used krylon satin multi purpose outdoor rattle can (3 or 4 coats):

It's not perfect, but it will pass for now until the Tremor parts become available. Now I just have to do the other side.

 

[M4X]

So today I happened to walk past a 2021 Limited F-150 and discovered that this trim piece I spent time modifying to remove the air dam is actually already available from Ford (It's called a "Stone Guard") for vehicles that have the electronic extending steps. ?

Parts.ford.com PN is 99292A22C and 99292A23C:

 

[XLTitties]

I think everyone that ordered the 6 inch extended boards got the stone guards. My XLT has them.
Im sure ice fishing will take out the air dam and the boards will be gone the 1st time they hang me up.

 

[ReactiveD]

Nice easy to do and cheap mods. These are going on my to do list.

thank you for sharing.

 

[Jamescamp11]

Waiting for this bash plate option for my 2021 is hard. Anyone hear about an actual release date for the tremor yet?

 

[frankie40]

Hey guys. First post here. I've seen a few threads discussing the possibility of removing the electronic air dam on these trucks.

I plan on switching out to the Tremor skid plate as soon as it's available, and do not care for the extra mpg and noise quieting the airdam affords, so I decided to take a crack at removing it this evening.

Removal of the electronic portion of the airdam was relatively straight forward. Just six hex screws (3 per side on the motors) on the airdam itself, and then eight torx bolts (4 per side) holding the motors themselves on. I found that the upper bolts nearest the edges of the truck were easier to get at if you take a few lower bolts out of the fender liner so you can scoot it over a bit and reach in.

Now the real fun begins. You have three options at this point for the outer "fixed" airdam.

1. Leave it alone.
2. Remove it to trim it.
3. Trim it on the truck.

I chose #2.

I would not recommend it.

To remove the fixed airdam you have to remove roughly 16-18 nuts.

* Three underneath each foglight.
* Two on each corner.
* About 6 or so in the center behind the license plate bracket area.

In addition to these screws there are 3 plastic retainers (the squeeze and pull kind). 1 in the middle, and 1 on each end.

So with the valance completely removed you'll see the towhook rubber filler panels are exposed (the bracket on the left is my foglight hanging). Other than that there isn't any junk hanging below the bumper so you could theoretically stop here.

I decided; however, that it would probably look cleaner if part of the airdam was reinstalled. So out came a razer blade (was late, didn't want to wake the neighbors with powertools) and sandpaper.

Then finally after cleaning that up I put it back on the truck.

One thing of note, I noticed without the airdam the plastic that passes under the towhook is a bit flimsy. It will probably be fine, but I decided to put a few zip ties on it for good measure. You probably WONT need to do this, but you'll understand why I did once you trim yours.

I recommend trimming it ON THE TRUCK if you wish to go that route. Will turn a four hour job into about 10 minutes. Hindsight.

The Tremor Skidplate will cover the entire towhook area, and I believe it will use a different lower valance altogether as well. Looks like just end pieces.

So this will do for now on my truck for the extra clearance.

I'll post some pictures in the daylight later today.

can you remove the electric air dan without removing the stationary?? I’m just looking to remove the electric air dam because I have already hit something and bent it. I don’t even want it on there.