mtb9153 Posted January 29, 2014 Report Share Posted January 29, 2014 Attached are pics of the new air dam I fabricated to go underneath the front facia. I will be changing the white extruded rubber as soon as I can since the piece I had was not long enough to go across without splicing a piece on the drivers side. It will be interesting to see what if any affect this has on my mileage. ptjones and obob 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fotomoto Posted January 29, 2014 Report Share Posted January 29, 2014 Are you going to replace it with black material? I removed the one from my Volt as it was aggressively low and scraped loudly on everything including my driveway. The latter got really old as it was quite the attention getter in the neighborhood. GM eventually did offer a shorter one as an accessory. I still have it on a shelf somewhere so I might see if it will work on the wife's CMax; especially since she drivers about 90% highway with it now. ptjones 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mtb9153 Posted January 29, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 29, 2014 Are you going to replace it with black material? I removed the one from my Volt as it was aggressively low and scraped loudly on everything including my driveway. The latter got really old as it was quite the attention getter in the neighborhood. GM eventually did offer a shorter one as an accessory. I still have it on a shelf somewhere so I might see if it will work on the wife's CMax; especially since she drivers about 90% highway with it now.fotomoto actually I just bought some clear vinyl 1/8" thick which should work nicely at 5 inches wide leaves me with 2-3 inches of ground clearance. But it is pretty flexible so it shouldn't be problem with the killer speed bumps we have round here, or the curb stops when parking. The "L" shape extruded aluminum I used as my support bracket which mounts to the black plastic nose filler in front of the black fiber panel which swings down for access to the oil filter. Is pretty sturdy and should hold up under the worst circumstances, time will tell. First preliminary numbers on my first commute with this air dam showed very little affect at freeway speeds of 65 with cruise control. My trip2 reading stayed pretty much right at 44.5mpg. However at 35-40mph on surface streets it jumped as high as 46.3mpg on level roads. So we'll see what takes place in the weeks to come before making a final assessment of how effective the air dam is. Stay Tuned. hybridbear and ptjones 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mtb9153 Posted January 30, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 30, 2014 Well this is encouraging that maybe the air dam is helping in town from 35-40mph. Got up to 53.3 after starting the day at 43.4 :happy feet: ptjones 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wab Posted January 30, 2014 Report Share Posted January 30, 2014 Good job, didn't take you long. Could you post another pic, maybe 2.1 from 25' and the other from 50', catching the front and side. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mtb9153 Posted January 30, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 30, 2014 I'll take new pics but probably have to wait till daylight. It is much harder to see now because I switched to a clear vinyl material so it is one continuous piece approx. 5ft across the full width of Maxus. This material is thinner than the previous white rubber material, but much more durable but completely transparent which makes it sort stealthy. I brought both ends out all the way back to the black factory tire deflectors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mtb9153 Posted January 30, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 30, 2014 (edited) These are the best pics I could take, if I got any farther away you can't see the air dam because it is transparent. I have my gopro camera hanging off the front bumper to see if it moves much at freeway speeds. Stay tuned Edited January 30, 2014 by mtb9153 obob and ptjones 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ptjones Posted January 30, 2014 Report Share Posted January 30, 2014 Nice job, be interesting to see if it bends. I'm going to try something at the front of the bumper and see how that improves MPG's. :) Paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mtb9153 Posted January 31, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 31, 2014 Well the transparent vinyl clearly didn't work because at 65mph it is folded back from the air flow and basically lets all the air get under the car. So back to the drawing board. I bought some 1/8" extruded rubber like I used on another car back in the 1980's. This is much stiffer but still it folds under when going over speed bumps and curb stops. So I'll get it on there and see what happens. I will say so far it is clearly more effective in the 35-40mph range. My trip 2 readings were up in the 60's at one point today and I finished my commute with 50mpg. So looks promising for this air dam to be an effective tool for boosting my mileage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mtb9153 Posted January 31, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 31, 2014 Nice job, be interesting to see if it bends. I'm going to try something at the front of the bumper and see how that improves MPG's. :) PaulDidn't work Paul, too flexible at freeway speeds. So I bought some stiffer 1/8" thick extruded rubber as my next design. But I did see some serious increase in my numbers in town today. Started out at 45.3 and got as high as 60.3 hope this only gets better as I dial it in. obob 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wab Posted January 31, 2014 Report Share Posted January 31, 2014 I worked on one of you pictures. ptjones 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mtb9153 Posted January 31, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 31, 2014 I worked on one of you pictures.Sweeeet! I like it, just might have to do this when I get the new black rubber air dam installed. Unfortunately the clear one was too flimsy and at freeway speeds it folded back letting all the air go underneath the car as it would without the air dam. I shot video of the clear air dam at 65mph with my GoPro camera, it shows quite allot of wind force pushing against it. Giving me a pretty good idea of the amount of air flow underneath our cars at freeway speeds +. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recumpence Posted January 31, 2014 Report Share Posted January 31, 2014 That is exactly how I mounted my dam. :-) I am very interested to see your calculated affect because mine was made in winter when the temp was too variable to test mpg. Matt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveofDurham Posted January 31, 2014 Report Share Posted January 31, 2014 How about a rigid version that extends in front of the vehicle and doubles as a snow plow? salsaguy and ptjones 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HPRifleman Posted January 31, 2014 Report Share Posted January 31, 2014 Aren't you guys concerned about speedbumps or transitioning from a level surface to an incline? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mtb9153 Posted January 31, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 31, 2014 from my experiences on other vehicles with doing this, there is of course a problem with rubbing in situations as hprifleman points out. This why I make the air dam with a flexible material which is flexible enough to bend and move when going up and down these surfaces. After a while the extruded rubber gets scraped and edges rubbed off and is to be expected. But if the mounting surface for the rubber section is strong enough at the attachment point to the car and why I use the strong aluminum I use. I haven't had any issues. The L-shaped bracket is mounted to the black plastic filler panel behind the front fascia on our CMax. In my test video which I will be putting up on YouTube with a link on the forum. I noticed that at freeway speeds of 65mph the black plastic filler panel is buffeted up and down from loose fitment. This might be useful when going up and down uneven surfaces because it will allow movement of the air dam minimizing damage to the air dam on uneven surfaces. Last time I used this technique I mounted the rubber to bottom edge of a fiberglas air dam which was mounted to my car just under the front bumper. I did experience some fiberglas breakage from hit hitting curbs and parking stops. So I re-enforced the backside of my fiberglas air dam with more glas and resin. This created a stronger mounting surface and the problem never reoccurred. Hope this addresses any concerns with what Paul, myself and others are doing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mtb9153 Posted January 31, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 31, 2014 How about a rigid version that extends in front of the vehicle and doubles as a snow plow? mr plow.jpg :lol2: DaveofDurham thanks for the laugh. Wouldn't need a snow plow in the bay area of Central California. Especially since there hasn't been any measurable amount of rain for the last two winters. But excellent thought, would certainly holdup to the test. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plus 3 golfer Posted January 31, 2014 Report Share Posted January 31, 2014 How about a rigid version that extends in front of the vehicle and doubles as a snow plow? mr plow.jpgMight be a good idea as the C-Max flexible belly pan in only about 4 1/2" off the ground. Trying to drive through deeper snow could prove problematic without a plow on the front end. :) I guess the 5 1/2" of ground clearance (specs) assumes the belly pan bends upwards one inch when hitting objects. I have straddled truck tire rubber in the C-Max at high speeds thinking I should have cleared it only to hear it hit the underside (reason I know the "real" clearance of the C-Max). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mtb9153 Posted January 31, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 31, 2014 Nah! snows not a problem in rainless Northern California, brother Jus might could benefit with this concept on his frequent trips to snow country at Mammoth Lakes. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jus-A-CMax Posted February 1, 2014 Report Share Posted February 1, 2014 (edited) Snow, what snow this year?!?!?!? Even the Polar Vortex knows to avoid this whacked out state of ours....Governor Moonbeam needs to build a highspeed rail direct to the Vortex to bring it here, now that would be a GREAT USE of taxpayer dollar ;) Edited February 1, 2014 by Jus-A-CMax ptjones, salsaguy and C-MaxSea 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mtb9153 Posted February 1, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 1, 2014 :lol2: Brother Jus, I laughed over your description of Governor MoonBeam. Very funny, yes he is very hung up on the idea of building a bullet train so that we all can pay for his mistake after he leaves office. NOT! Why not continue with the work the Govenator AAARNOLD started with building a self sustained electric highway infastructure and really do some good with taxpayer $$$$. :doh: Jus-A-CMax 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mtb9153 Posted February 2, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 2, 2014 (edited) ok got the new black extruded rubber installed on Maxus and took a ride on the freeway with my GoPro recording the Air Dams movement. Unlike my second attempt with the 1/16" clear vinyl, the 1/8" extruded rubber stays pretty much in place with minimum curling from top to bottom (5inches across). I'm pleased with this design and it flexes well when backing out of my driveway. You can hear the rubber rub from inside the car which will require a little care when going in and out of a driveway so not to bottom out the suspension. I'm editing video footage of both the clear vinyl test and the new Black Rubber Test. I will combine both onto a short video which with be on YouTube soon. Edited February 2, 2014 by mtb9153 ptjones, obob and Jus-A-CMax 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScubaDadMiami Posted February 3, 2014 Report Share Posted February 3, 2014 Looking forward to getting your numbers! Good luck! :thumbsup: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jus-A-CMax Posted February 3, 2014 Report Share Posted February 3, 2014 (edited) :lol2: Brother Jus, I laughed over your description of Governor MoonBeam. Very funny, yes he is very hung up on the idea of building a bullet train so that we all can pay for his mistake after he leaves office. NOT! Why not continue with the work the Govenator AAARNOLD started with building a self sustained electric highway infastructure and really do some good with taxpayer $$$$. :doh: Not many would know what I am posting about since it was aimed at yer for a good laugh, great to see u appreciate it Brother Mike :rockon: This sounds like a great MPG find, I think my wife would kill me if I did this mod. Since yesterday she already glared at me with evil eyes for the lexan grill covers. Luckily I BS my way out of her aim :victory: Edited February 3, 2014 by Jus-A-CMax ptjones, salsaguy and mtb9153 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mtb9153 Posted February 4, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 4, 2014 Not many would know what I am posting about since it was aimed at yer for a good laugh, great to see u appreciate it Brother Mike :rockon: This sounds like a great MPG find, I think my wife would kill me if I did this mod. Since yesterday she already glared at me with evil eyes for the lexan grill covers. Luckily I BS my way out of her aim :victory:Brother Jus got a good snicker from me on your comments. I frequently try doing the BS route myself but have never seemed to succeed in getting anything past my Denise. Seems Italians are too smart for a Texas transplant like me? Don't mean to slam those less fortunate than I for keeping their hair past middle age, but Governor Moonbeam probably can reflect enough moonlight off his topper to be visible by the Space Station. :lol2: Jus-A-CMax 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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