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Front Air Dam from xenon


ECUAdam

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Is there a better option that the urethane front air dam with ducts? I dont think I want fiberglass because it can crack so easily. Is one brand better than the other? Does say one from black dragon, or Msa fit better than the ones on ebay. I searched and couldnt find the exact answer to this question. Thanks.

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Fiberglass isn't too bad to work with. Generally it is easy to repair (once you learn of course).. drawbacks of urethane is it can flex/bend/fold under speed. Race cars run fiberglass since it generally doesn't flex/move. Ive always fiberglass body panels on my cars and never had issues unless its a daily driver, got to be more cautious.

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All of these mail order air dams and fiberglass or urethane parts seem to suffer from "production creep". In other words, the prototype fits like a glove. But over 40-some years of production, the product creeps toward crap. I have one of those urethane airdams on my car. I bought it and installed it without even painting it because I consider it a sacrificial wear-prone part. I scrape it on driveways (my own driveway), I run over cones with it, I kick it in the garage with my feet and jacks, and I scrape the heck out of it on my trailer ramps every chance I get. I braced it from below to limit sagging, but I'm sure it curls back under the car some at speed. The product creep compromised the mounting somewhat. Because of product creep, these things come without any holes drilled in them for mounting, and when you go to mock it up, you find that there is no material to drill a hole thru in the place where a hole should go-like in trimming them coming out of the mold, they cut the mounting material off! So with all mail-order airdams you need to be prepared to do some minor engineering to get them secured to your car. I love my pig-ugly, unpainted air dam cause I can treat it like a dog and concentrate on more important things like brakes, tires, motor, etc. But, I hope in the future to mount it with dzus tabs and to have a fiberglass airdam with the brake ducts in proper location to serve a purpose (they are kind of in the wrong location in my current air dam), to have a splitter and to get the air dam on the ground where it belongs. The car will look like a drift car on the trailer with the airdam stored inside the truck till I get to the track, because such an airdam would not allow me to load the car on the trailer. I will run my urethane airdam 90% of the time and break out the custom version only for special occasions, like landspeed and track days where i need the brake ducting. I still wont paint it very nicely cause I still plan to abuse it. That first scrape on a new paint job really hurts and the airdam is often where that first scrape (or crunch) occurs. Lots of compromises to be made.

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Edited by RebekahsZ
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Took about 6 months for my unsupported urethane piece to sag towards the middle, even after bracing, I was always OCD about how much flex it would have under speed. 

 

Went the fiberglass route and reinforced it with a steel bar behind it. Unless you run over something head on, I think this actually might be the more durable route, no flex which stretches/damages the paint either.

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I just put mine (Xenon Urethane) on last weekend. I would say it fit about perfect with good material (edge distance) for drilling holes. 

 

It did seem like it would sag in the center over time. I ran a brace across the center an made a bracket that tied the bracing into the original center support. If you just brace the airdam itself and don't tie it into the car's body it will still still sag. 

Edited by Aero Z
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  • 3 months later...

I just put mine (Xenon Urethane) on last weekend. I would say it fit about perfect with good material (edge distance) for drilling holes. 

 

It did seem like it would sag in the center over time. I ran a brace across the center an made a bracket that tied the bracing into the original center support. If you just brace the airdam itself and don't tie it into the car's body it will still still sag. 

About to install my Xenon Urethane air dam. Can we get a pic of your bracing method?

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