Any other OR owners elect to ADD the air dam?

Kinda seems like a tacky chunk of plastic would just create resistance.

 

Your 4 door short bed must be hugging the road like a Lambo. lol

Keep the dream alive, my friend. That chin strap has the structural integrity of a bowl of jello and the increased stability of racing stripes on an El Camino.

 

Some would think this but alas - it is functional - it redirects the air which would normally go under the truck and cause instability/drag/forward resistance to the sides of the truck which counter acts all that. You don't have to believe me... google is your friend.

 

It's not a dream...it's aerodynamics. I didn't pull this out of my arse...

https://www.google.com/search?safe=...0..0.0.0.......1......gws-wiz-img.H-hNKk3nx8U

 

As weird as it sounds here on TW but off roading is not using it as a truck. Using it as a truck is hauling materials in the back. Hence the reason for the bed.

 

Once again your math /theory is ignorant of reality.

People buy what they WANT or NEED. When we talk NEED I personally NEED a truck. My wife has a Civic. I have a Z3 roadster and a RC51 motorcycle. Neither will pull my trailers nor will they carry any loads of any size. My co-worker tried to juggle his small fuel efficient car and an older truck. Was worse in the cost benefit analysis than just getting a truck he could drive full time. One insurance payment, one set of repairs etc etc.

One thing that resulted in my purchase of a Tacoma was I could not live without a truck. But if I were to do the stats 90+% of the time I am a single occupant, no trailer and no load. So do I buy ANOTHER 3/4T when my needs have changed and I don’t need as much capability or do I buy the vehicle that does everything I need and fits my needs for the greatest number of days in a year? It isn’t the best tow vehicle or biggest payload but it is the right sized vehicle for 350 days of the year.

The 4cyl argument is dead in the water. Sure it is better fuel economy wise on a testing dyno but in the real world it doesn’t pan out to the same.

As far as not being able to afford the gas you are missing the point. Being able to afford something doesn’t mean you should. I can afford an Escalade or another 3/4T but I chose something more practical. We bought a house that is 25% of what the bank pre-approved us for. Even now I want to add a 30x60’ pole barn but want to wait until I can pay cash. Life is about choices. Choosing fuel economy has nothing to do with not being able to afford gas.

 

Lol nothing. Just pointing out that if consumers didn't care about MPG nothing would change...contrary to what you claimed.

And no unfortunately your wallet isn't making any decisions here. While I do support such a circumstance it's simply not the case. A significant number of customers choose to cast those expenditures you mention into the noise. They'd happily take the V8 midsize that gets shit for MPG if it were an option. The only reason it's not is because of regulation.

 

Nice truck, I also added the chin spoiler to my 2018 TRD OR. I honestly haven’t noticed much difference but even if it’s a couple tenths of MPGs it will add up over the years. I use my truck to haul materials, camping gear and most importantly my dirt bikes. A truck is necessary for my hobbies and I prefer to maximize the MPGs while driving it.

 

My wallet chose a V6 because I know with any load whatsoever it gets better economy over the 4cyl. My wallet was considering an F150 because of the economy but I don’t want another big truck. I had an older paid off truck but my wallet chose the new Tacoma vs maintaining the old girl and paying each and everytime I hit the pumps. My Tacoma costs $200 more a month for a new truck excluding repairs on the old one. Fuel economy is what makes the numbers work and why my wallet bought into the idea of a new truck.

 

I pulled the air dam off my Sport last month to go on a camping trip and lost at least 1 solid MPG. I love the look with it off, but dang. That's cash.

 

/thread

 

I put one on my truck. I live in North Carolina and my girlfriend lives in West Virginia and I figure and a little bit of gas mileage improvement is worth it. I do not go off roading that much so the air dam is worth it to me. I found a guy on the forum that sold me his for $50. It was easy to install however I do not believe it's that much of an improvement in gas mileage. I didn't notice any real difference but I also have a leadfoot.

 

Hey, I get it... it’s one of those “believe what you want to believe” things.
But, ponder this for a moment - there is one on every single Tacoma NOT intended specifically for off-road. We KNOW they are tight bastards (bean counters). They removed the left pocket for pete’s sake... but left this? WHY would they spend the money/time/effort on a non-functional part (your assertion)? There is a REASON it is there, and it isn’t beauty. I added mine back for a reason, and that reason (mileage/downforce/stability) is good enough for me. You do you.

 

Most compelling argument I've seen in this thread.

 

The Toyota pickup truck is an off road utility vehicle.

 

Some dollars and cents for the Canuks.

Loosing 1mpg from my average of 10.6L/100km is 11.1 L/100km.
0.5*35000/100= 175L*$1.23/L= $215/year
Yeah, ill deal with taking my air dam off/on when I head to trails.

 

And it's funny it's even named Off Road .

 

That’s what I noticed when I removed mine

 

Not sure if I'm adding fuel to the fire here but nascar engineers use tape (that's right, tape) to redirect air for aerodynamics, downforce, and stability. So even though the chin is thin and made out of plastic, it doesn't take much to redirect air - also it has those "vortex generators" deals on either side which apparently help keep the air tight and stable around the truck. Just sayin'