What is this piece? Can I remove it?

Pardon my ignorance, I'm a total noob and just got the truck - I'm trying to learn.

I don't see this on many pics of other tacomas:



What exactly is this "under-bumper"? It seems to be self-dependent and easily removable with a few cranks of a wrench. I think I like the look better without it. Is it safe to remove? What is it's purpose?

Thanks!

 

Air dam....purpose is better fuel mileage. It can be removed with some 10mm bolts.

 

Doesn’t come on the Off-road, and a lot of sport and other trim owners take it off because they don’t like the look of it

 

Easy to remove, with 10mm bolts as explained above. Also held on with some 2 sided tape, so make sure you got all the bolts out, and pull it off firmly, yet gently. Replace the bolts when you’re done

 

Cool, I'll do that when I upgrade the grill. Thanks, dudes.

 

Definitely will look better with it removed

 

After removing the air dam, think about adding a TRD Skid Plate. It finishes off the look of the front end and of course is functional. I also think it (the skid plate) smooths out the air flow under the truck and mitigates the loss of the air dam to some extent. Although most people report zero or minimal change in MPGs with the dam off unless you do the majority of your driving at highway speeds.

 

I removed mine, looks better in my opinion and I did not see any major mpg change with/without it.

 

Second on the skid plate addition. Even if you don't off road, it really helps finish the front end without the air dam.

 

doesn't have tape, or at least mine didn't on my SR5. just the bolts.

 

My SR5 did have tape, as did many others.