bug shield

The rocks I have had crack my windshield have all been direct hits that you could see incoming for a split second. The tard'ed deflector would make zero difference for the stones large enough to cause a crack.

 

I think so too. Had avs Bugdeflector 2 on my ranger and it looked great as well.

 

Kinda funny how some say they increase MPGs while other claim it goes down. I have never noticed any difference on my vehicles.

 

It definitely makes absolutely no difference in MPGs. I think the last post claiming mpg increase was sarcastic.

 

Yeah, maybe. But my Butt Dyno says I got at least a 10bhp boost from my bug deflector!

 

I bought two of the weather techs and sent them both back. On the driver side, it was very close to hitting the corner of the grill while the driver side was fine. I bought a second one while I held on to first one and same issue. Seemed luke over time with wind buffeting, it would have hit my grill and worn the paint off. Currently looking for another option.

 

I've notice some brand deflectors even cause the hood to rattle at 60 mph and higher. Never once did i ever gain fuel economy adding a bug deflector...thats just plain bs.

 

If your neighbor had paint chips after a ceramic coating, the coating wasn't worth chit whoever did it. I've had a glass ceramic coat on my truck by simonize. After 18 months, and 11k miles there's not a single paint chip anywhere on that truck. Bugs are a different story, but get a micro-fiber cloth, and cold water...they will easily wipe right off. Back in 2001 i never had that option on my tundra. It had no bug deflector, and yeah the hood had numerous paint chips, and bug stains that went deep into the clear coat. I've had bug deflectors on older toyota pickups before the tundra...imo, they don't protect much except whats directly behind them. Seems the top of my windshield, and cab roof were now getting hit more.

 

If you like the looks of these things, that is fine. I actually kind of like how they look on some vehicles. But I have always believed that the functionality claims for these things is total BS. They might protect the leading edge of the hood that it covers from a rock chip, but I never believed these thing would create enough uplift to save the the windshield from getting hit (where are the Myth Busters when you need them!)

 

You might find this interesting:

"The National Research Council of Canada has done some testing in a wind tunnel on commercial trucks to see the effect that bug deflectors have on fuel economy. According to their study, bug deflectors decrease fuel economy 1.5% (or so). That’s not a heck of a lot of change. Another study of commercial trucks pegged the fuel economy decrease at about 3%. So the data suggests that the fuel economy impact of a bug deflector is minimal (1.5-3%).

Is There A Way To Buy a Bug Shield That Doesn’t Hurt Gas Mileage?

Bug deflectors reduce fuel economy and there’s no getting around that. However, there are a couple things you can do to reduce the gas mileage “penalty”:

1. Buy a bug deflector that’s been wind tunnel tested for your specific application. Many of the products on the market are made by companies that don’t do any tunnel testing and as a result they’re far more likely to hurt gas mileage.
2. Try to save gas by making a modification in another area. Low rolling resistance tires for example, can boost fuel economy 2-3%. Making sure your tires are properly inflated can increase gas mileage too. Installing running boards on your truck will help the air flow around it more efficiently. Deciding not to install a lift kit, over-sized wheels and tires, etc. can all save gas too.

But mostly, bug deflectors are going to cost you a little gas. The trick is to invest in a good quality deflector. That way, the fuel economy loss shouldn’t be too big (and it might actually deflect bugs too)."

 

What if I used the air dam that I removed from the bottom of the truck that is for increasing mpg and affixed that to the hood a as a bug deflector?

 

I noticed 0 difference in fuel economy when I installed the Bugdeflector. Commercial trucks have those huge flat deflectors, unlike the ones for passenger vehicles.

 

I do prefer the look without, but I’m tired of touching up my hood. Also, I took a 500 mile trip recently and it did help with the bugs. The lower part of the windshield was almost untouched, had a few bug splatter on the top part.

It does create some uplift, can tell by the edge.

FWIW, I had avs Bugdeflector 2 on my ranger and in 7 years never had issues with the glass. I’m on my second cracked windshield on my taco, so recently decided to install one.

 

And this and others says the opposite
https://thecustomtruck.com/bug-deflectors-gas-mileage/

 

I hope yours is right since I ordered a Weathertech for the truck. I've always had good luck with them in the past and haven't noticed any MPG difference either way, but that's just my own seat-of-the-pants anecdotal experience.

 

I had a Bugflector 2 on my '17 Taco. It looked good and did what it was supposed to do, but anytime there was water in/on it (from morning dew or after a rain) it would constantly spray water onto the windshield. Just got annoying. I am going with the Weathertech for my '21.

 

Hey, you might be onto something.

 

probably because those huge flat deflectors actually work.

 

I had deflectors before and they all worked great.