side plastic air deflectors

[irvin]

there are plastic air redirectors under the l &r rocker areas. in your opinions, do they make a mileage dfference

or do they just collect crap? anyone taken them off? gonna drop them and the rear wheel liners to clean

and rustproof. any help on this ?  is much appreciated. just bought a '13 awd limited with 40,000. first edge.

have changed ptu and it looks good. anything else i should look at? thank you !! irv

[2FAST4U]

Leave them on. They have a purpose and that is to keep road debris from being thrown. 

 

Claude.

[irvin]

On 5/20/2019 at 10:23 AM, 2FAST4U said:

Leave them on. They have a purpose and that is to keep road debris from being thrown. 

 

Claude.

not for aerodynamics and mileage ? how about snow and salt gathering in the winter?

 

[2FAST4U]

5 hours ago, irvin said:

not for aerodynamics and mileage ? how about snow and salt gathering in the winter?

 

If you're talking about the small deflectors  just behind the front wheels then yes they keep snow and salt from building up at the bottom of the doors, but due to their relatively small size I doubt that they have any effect on aerodynamics and mileage...

 

Claude. 

[Waldo]

I think he's talking about the "tire spoilers" in front of the rear wheels.  Their purpose is to direct air away from the moving tire and yes they do make a small difference in fuel economy.  Probably not enough difference that you could ever reliably measure, but over the life of the car it would add up to a few gallons.

[irvin]

1 hour ago, Waldo said:

I think he's talking about the "tire spoilers" in front of the rear wheels.  Their purpose is to direct air away from the moving tire and yes they do make a small difference in fuel economy.  Probably not enough difference that you could ever reliably measure, but over the life of the car it would add up to a few gallons.

no, im talking about the long plastic runners along both rockers [around 5 feet long held in by push retainers. 12-18" wide.almost like an underbody closeout.

some one must have seen these under their car.

[JoeVic]

On 5/22/2019 at 9:48 AM, irvin said:

no, im talking about the long plastic runners along both rockers [around 5 feet long held in by push retainers. 12-18" wide.almost like an underbody closeout.

some one must have seen these under their car.

 

Ford put them there for a reason.  I am assuming it is to smooth out air flow underneath the vehicle and possible keep debris from flying up in there.

 

I have seen tractor trailers with long plastic panels that prevent air flow from entering under the side of the trailer, so I believe that every little bit helps MPG.

[irvin]

On 10/27/2019 at 5:30 AM, JoeVic said:

 

Ford put them there for a reason.  I am assuming it is to smooth out air flow underneath the vehicle and possible keep debris from flying up in there.

 

I have seen tractor trailers with long plastic panels that prevent air flow from entering under the side of the trailer, so I believe that every little bit helps MPG.

my thought too, but i live inthe snow, rust capital of America. its called nw illinois. it gonna catch and collect a lot of

crap that you cant reach from the car wash. have to take one off and see. i only have a midrise lift at the shop

instead of a 2 post , so i cant look in from the middle.

[vega]

I've had the opportunity to remove one on the driver side cause it got crushed.  The underside was pretty clean and free of rust.  I fixed it and put it back.  I live in chicago and my 2015 has seen a lot of salt and grime.  I can't imagine not having them.  The whole bottom would start to rust quickly.

 

[lildisco]

I coat the underside of our 2016 SEL every winter with fluid film. I pull back the felt cover as far as I can reach & just spray everything. Also, whenever I rotate the tires or oil changes, I coat the areas I see with it. The underside of the Edge is like new. We live in NE Ohio & deal with salt & brine so we need all the protection we can get. 

Edited November 26, 2019 by lildisco

[Jombi]

1 hour ago, lildisco said:

I coat the underside of our 2016 SEL every winter with fluid film. I pull back the felt cover as far as I can reach & just spray everything. Also, whenever I rotate the tires or oil changes, I coat the areas I see with it. The underside of the Edge is like new. We live in NE Ohio & deal with salt & brine so we need all the protection we can get. 

Could you share what product you use please?  I used to use a spray called LPS on the non-hot bolts & metal, and then permatex high-heat antiseize to coat the exhaust hardware—that saved me a bundle on a cat pipe change once.  Without coating the threads, they’d be toast after 3 years.  After 5 years I put a socket on these, loosened them without too much sweat and they practically spun off just with my fingers!  Easiest exhaust work I’d ever done.

[lildisco]

1 hour ago, Jombi said:

Could you share what product you use please?

3 hours ago, lildisco said:

I coat the underside of our 2016 SEL every winter with fluid film.

 

https://www.fluid-film.com

Edited November 26, 2019 by lildisco

[2FAST4U]

For years, I've had my vehicles sprayed (whole underside, inside doors, quarter panels, hood, etc…) with an oil-based anti-rust product with excellent results. The oil gets in all the nooks and crannies of the body where water would normally go and form rust.

 

Claude.

[lildisco]

Fluid film is great because it's non toxic & environmently friendly. We've been using it on company trucks for years & the frames & body panels look new on vehicles that around 10 years old.