Maximum95
Active Member
I was writing my build thread, and had a question from @joemomma
I told him I would do a write up next time I had the car in the air. Which thanks to my leaking T5... I did! So, I'm here to share some photos of how I installed an '83-'88 Ranger air dam on my SN95.
The whole project started because I noticed my cooling fan engaging while driving on the highway. I did a little research and found out just how important that little factory air deflector is (my car was missing it). The SN95 and many other '90s cars with tiny grille and bumper openings rely on some type of air deflector along with openings in the bottom of the bumper for cooling.
When travelling at speed, the air deflector generates a high pressure zone in front of itself, which causes a low pressure zone behind. This effect draws air up and over the radiator. Even those little 1" deflectors that come on the SN95 are essential.
Because I do a ton of highway driving, I decided to go a step further. I went and got a Ranger air dam from the junkyard and mounted it in place of the factory one. This made a HUGE difference in cooling. My fan only ever engages if the car isn't moving. When driving around town at any speed over 35mph, you can just watch the temperature gauge go down. Even at 120mph+, bearing down on the throttle, the coolant temperature never gets over 200°. I would recommend this to, well, everyone!!!
For starters, here is a photo of the part and the part number. E27B-10001A06. I haven't washed the car recently and this thing catches ALL the bugs.
Once you have the part, it is necessary to grind down the ribbing that comes onto the top. I don't have a before photo, but this is how it should look after you cut them off. I used an angle grider with a sanding wheel. Doesn't take long at all.
I held the air dam up to the radiator support, and marked the locations of the 5 holes in the middle. The center hole on the air dam was lined up with the center clip hole for the bumper cover. I then drilled the holes and installed 1/4"-20 nut serts.
Here it is installed. You can see the location of the machine screws holding the air dam and bumper cover, instead of the plastic clips that usually hold the bumper cover.
When the car was lower, I used the same part but trimmed down. If you don't like how far down the deflector is, that is always an option too. Here is the shorter version.
Here's how it sits now. I hope this helps someone out there!
I told him I would do a write up next time I had the car in the air. Which thanks to my leaking T5... I did! So, I'm here to share some photos of how I installed an '83-'88 Ranger air dam on my SN95.
The whole project started because I noticed my cooling fan engaging while driving on the highway. I did a little research and found out just how important that little factory air deflector is (my car was missing it). The SN95 and many other '90s cars with tiny grille and bumper openings rely on some type of air deflector along with openings in the bottom of the bumper for cooling.
When travelling at speed, the air deflector generates a high pressure zone in front of itself, which causes a low pressure zone behind. This effect draws air up and over the radiator. Even those little 1" deflectors that come on the SN95 are essential.
Because I do a ton of highway driving, I decided to go a step further. I went and got a Ranger air dam from the junkyard and mounted it in place of the factory one. This made a HUGE difference in cooling. My fan only ever engages if the car isn't moving. When driving around town at any speed over 35mph, you can just watch the temperature gauge go down. Even at 120mph+, bearing down on the throttle, the coolant temperature never gets over 200°. I would recommend this to, well, everyone!!!
For starters, here is a photo of the part and the part number. E27B-10001A06. I haven't washed the car recently and this thing catches ALL the bugs.
Once you have the part, it is necessary to grind down the ribbing that comes onto the top. I don't have a before photo, but this is how it should look after you cut them off. I used an angle grider with a sanding wheel. Doesn't take long at all.
I held the air dam up to the radiator support, and marked the locations of the 5 holes in the middle. The center hole on the air dam was lined up with the center clip hole for the bumper cover. I then drilled the holes and installed 1/4"-20 nut serts.
Here it is installed. You can see the location of the machine screws holding the air dam and bumper cover, instead of the plastic clips that usually hold the bumper cover.
When the car was lower, I used the same part but trimmed down. If you don't like how far down the deflector is, that is always an option too. Here is the shorter version.
Here's how it sits now. I hope this helps someone out there!
