Front air dam????

After some careful measuring, I cut mine in two and moved the bottom piece up and over the top piece and screwed them together.

 

Now that looks really tight.
Can you take some close ups and what were your measurements?

 

I basically ran a 2" wide piece of masking tape along the top of the dam, making sure to follow the curvature of the body at the ends. I used a jigsaw to carefully follow the tape line so the curvature would be close.
I then positioned the lower piece on top of the upper piece, making it double thick. The end of the dam cut and curvature should then closely match the original one underneath. You can raise it up slightly higher than the original curve and clamp it together.
It will be double thick now and you can trim the higher outside part to match the original curve underneath perfectly. A Dremel with a sanding drum was very useful here.
I used JB Weld plastic epoxy on the ends and clamped them together as I didn't want screws showing.
I Dremel trimmed the center section to fit up into the bumper ribs so the screws would be as high as possible and unseen. This is not really necessary or noticeable, just my OCD at play.
Had I known I would be joining TW, I would have taken more and better pics along the way!
I made a drawing of sorts, don't know if anyone can make heads or tails out of it but I had fun.

 

I'd like to know why Tacoma puts the front air dams on Tacomas to begin with? Is it for air deflection for better mileage, smoother ride at highway speeds, debris deflection, or something else? I gotta believe the engineers at Toyota have a reason to include them in the first place. But they are weird looking, especially in profile, and I like the looks of what you guys have done here.

 

That sure is a clean looking line for tin snips! I'm no stranger to tools, but hats off to you on that job.

 

Mine will be going back on before the first snow. Based on lessons learned on my Tundra, every little bit of protection will help during New England winters.

 

Cut mine today using sheet metal shears.
Looks much better, but we'll see how it holds up being in three small sections. The two end wings seem a little flimsy...

 

Looks great!

 

Should you start to hear a whistling sound at certain speeds, then there are 8 holes to plug - four on each suspension arm.
Hole Plug (PLUG, HOLE(FOR FRONT SUSPENSION LOWER ARM) ) [Qty = 8] 90950-A1021
They MSRP for $3.76 each, but the online parts shops are usually less. I got all 8 from Fred Anderson shipped for less than $21.
Others have had equal success with generics from Amazon or Ace Hardware open stock bins.

 

wow. If you were local I'd be willing to pay for you this effort on a second one!

 

Must not be a great reason if they know it can be left off the off-road models lol

 

That's what I was thinkin'!

 

That was a thought that's keeping me from pulling the cowl off-- the salt/chemical road stuff on our winter Minnesota roads is brutal to undercarriage metal.

 

Good point, but I'm concerned about the reduced ground clearance particularly in the winter. Ironically, I don't mind it as much in the summer other than the aesthetic consideration.

 

My TRD OFF-ROAD trim had the goofy air dam.

 

The air dam is needed to achieve the mpg Toyota has claimed on their trucks.
IMO it’s a truck… you lose your departure angle with that plastic piece on the front. Anyone concerned about mpg on a truck doesn’t need a truck. It’s oxymoron.

 

This statement is whoafully inaccurate.
There are more reasons to own the utility of a truck than simply a departure angle. Off roads and even paved steep incline or decline are a minority of use, not a majority. It might not feel like it to you, but zoom out from a hobby obsessed forum into real world and and that as a requirement is not the reason the majority of trucks get bought or used.


While we are at facts over fiction - there is ZERO LOSS OF CLEARANCE with the front lower spoiler ("air dam").
Ground clearance at the lowest point of the front stabilizer arms (which is a small nib right near the tire itself) is 8-1/16"
Ground clearance at the lowest point of the front spoiler is 8-3/16"
So Toyota already made sure there was no negative clearance issue. If you get up under the truck in the middle and look forward, you can clearly see it does not extend below the natural clearance of the vehicle.
It's an optical illusion from the front as you aren't looking at level.

You do you. But facts matter

 

There is no reduced clearance. The air dam sits 1/8" higher than the lowest point in the stabilizer arms.

 

That’s a lot of jibber jabber with just your opinion. The fact is front air dam reduces front clearance. Let me give you a visual reference so your brain can comprehend.

 

As as I stated in my post. It does not reduce clearance. You are observing an optical illusion because your camera angle is significantly off line.
YES, the front spoiler reduces *approach angle*
NO, the front spoiler does not reduce *clearance*

Get down on the ground with a tape measure on level ground and measure from the lower point of the spoiler to the ground and then measure from the lowest point of the stabilizer control arm to the ground.

All you did was prove the point in my prior statement...