air dam

[drewclare25]

i'm thinkin about taking all of the plastic below the bumper (air dam i guess?) off my 97 disco. Can somebody that's done it show me a pic or something so i can see how it will look before i do it? and also is there any noise problems while driving?

and what about the blinker light on the side?

[FelixLockhart]

I did it on my truck, I just cut the bottom part of the endcap off. Mine's a '95 though, not sure if the '97 has the same design under there.

[drewclare25]

so you didn't go underneath and unscrew everything, you just cut it?

are there any noise problems when you drive?

[wade]

Is the reason to cut it off looks or gas mileage?

[me.guevara]

It's three pieces: two end caps and the dam itself. All unscrew quite easily, you just slide under the car with a phillips screw driver and go to it.

If you want the end caps back on like Felix, you'll have to cut them; otherwise they dangle down like dorky "fangs" and flop around (they attach to the dam itself for stability).

I've taken all three off and left them off - the Beast looks less "refined", but that's actually the look I was going for.

Several LRO members have removed theirs (they'll post soon) - you could also do a search. Most do it for better approach angles and better ground clearance (if you do rocks, it's going to get beatup pretty badly). I did it for those reasons and kept the end caps off to preserve the potential resale value of my vehicle (NB: its NOT for sale, I hope the Beast breathes it's last breath under my control, but one must be careful with these things) - a lot of people pay close attention to all the esthetic plastic crap and I don't need it on the truck.

I have had no noise or handling issues. In fact, people think it's been in an accident and keep the distance when I'm underway and leave it alone when parked.

If you go off road (or plan to), take it off...

Piece,

[drewclare25]

thanks, do you have a pic???

how do the sides look compared to the pic above?

also did you keep the turn indicator light on the side on or did you take it off...its on the endcap.

[me.guevara]

Originally Posted by drewclare25

thanks, do you have a pic???

how do the sides look compared to the pic above?

also did you keep the turn indicator light on the side on or did you take it off...its on the endcap.

Sorry, I don't have a picture - my home was burglarized a few months ago and the thief took my camera (with surprisingly few other things). I'm planning on replacing it, but in the meantime, no dice.

The sides are a square or triangular bracket - definitely unrefined. Do a search, there are some pictures around. Or, take the end cap off - it's a 15 minute job.

My Disco is a '95 like Felix's, as such, it didn't come with the turn indicator in the end cap.

Cheers,

[me.guevara]

That's 300bhp/ton's rig, I got the pic off his sig line. My sides are square...

[drewclare25]

thanks alot for your help

[FelixLockhart]

The front bumper consists of the metal understructure (the part you see in my pic), two endcaps, an airdam underneath, and another plastic panel that covers the weld points for the mounts. The airdam is easily removable, it's held on with nuts and captive bolts under the metal bumper. Or, if you prefer, just kick it a few times and it should fall off on its own. The cover over the middle is even easier, but it's impossible to put back on with the same fasteners, it's just some metal clips around plastic studs. If your state requires a front plate, you may have to improvise a new mount for it (if you don't need a front plate, you'll be left with perfect mounting holes for a euro-style plate ). The endcaps can be cut with an Xacto knife, and there's a groove to guide you, just make sure you have a steady hand. Or, you can remove them entirely, though you may have to do something different with the side markers (standard on NA rovers) depending on the inspection laws in your state.

[Bene]

here's my '94 with all the plastic crap removed (my first "mod") for the side indicators i just wraped a ball of duct tape around the wire going down behind the headlight so they hang out of sight.

hey Felix, seeing that euro plate on the front of your truck makes me want one...

[FelixLockhart]

Originally Posted by Bene

hey Felix, seeing that euro plate on the front of your truck makes me want one...

www.licenseplates.tv

[300bhp/ton]

lol I see I've made into this tread without the need to even post

On Range Rover Classics the air damn is actually supposed to be removed for off road use it has instructions in the hand book. It does offer slightly better aerodynamics (less drag) at high speed (~70mph) and I think is meant to offer 1-2mpg improvement. But remember that's only at that speed and not on you're over all average mpg. Diesel Range Rovers didn't have the air damn at all.

The Discovery air damn looks smaller and probably has less affect and is mostly cosmetic to match in with the bumper corners/end caps.

I'll be honest I removed mine beacause when I put some bigger tyres on they rubbed on the inside of the end caps, so removing them meant the air damn had to go too. They come off pretty easy although the screws on mine where rusted so I just undid a few and used a bit of brute force and ignorance to basically rip them off, but I had no intention of putting them back on.

You could use a jigsaw and cut the bottom of the end caps off to make it look right when you remove the air damn but this will still limit the wheel arch wdith if you plan on larger tyres.

Mines a 1991 model 200Tdi but as far as I know all the Series 1 Discovery's are pretty much the same.




Before the wheel arch flares and on little 31.10.50 tyres:


with flares and 33" Jungle Trekkers:


Sorry I don't have any closer up pics although the bumper looks different know. The corner brackets we still fowling the 33" tyres off road so I cut them off I've also added two 5 ton Nato hooks to the bumper also.

[robbie]

i noticed a difference when i removed the dam. definitely felt the wind going through the undercarriage creating a bit of drag.