Another air dam project
After reading about the air dams built by a few guys on here, I got inspired to make my own. It took me most of the day, but now that it's done, I'd say maybe two hours to knock one out. So, wit...
Forum Discussion
Oh, got it now.
Yes, this stuff is very stiff. And by stiff, I mean that I had to work to bend it at the angles to go across the front.
It does flex some at the ends at freeway speeds, but not much, maybe 20 degrees? At speeds under 50mph its not flexing much at all. There's so many holes in the stuff, it's not grabbing a lot of wind. The idea is; slow the wind down so bugs don't smash into the camper. It's not supposed to completely resist all the air flow, just slow and break it up some so it's not slamming into that area between cab and camper.
However, IF the ends did flex and fold back to where there was a problem, or if the flapped in the breeze, Then extending the end a few inches and bending back to attach along the side of the camper trim would stiffen it up. Just like the bends on the front edge, only on the ends and along the camper edge.
I toyed with maybe attaching some sort of a push broom type apparatus instead of traditional gutter guard. Where the bristles would break up the wind, but I couldn't find anything light enough. I did look at these; gutter guard whiskers;
But I couldn't come up with a way to attach.
Here's something I discovered about the stuff I did use when I was finishing up the trimmed ends;
I cut one end with a pair of tin snips. That was hard to do as the material is pretty thick and hard to cut clean. The other end I cut with a hacksaw. Easier, but left it ragged.
I experimented with how to clean up the cut edge. I took a sample and held it under a lighter to see if it would maybe melt and smooth out. It gets soft, but it won't run. It will char, but it won't sustain combustion. Not surprised as it's made for homes. Then I took a heat gun to it. Those rough edges straightened right out. Seems the plastic has a memory that causes the material to go back to it's original shape if it's heated. So I heated the end cuts and the little burrs and bends straightened right out and a razor blade shaved them off smooth.
Yes, this stuff is very stiff. And by stiff, I mean that I had to work to bend it at the angles to go across the front.
It does flex some at the ends at freeway speeds, but not much, maybe 20 degrees? At speeds under 50mph its not flexing much at all. There's so many holes in the stuff, it's not grabbing a lot of wind. The idea is; slow the wind down so bugs don't smash into the camper. It's not supposed to completely resist all the air flow, just slow and break it up some so it's not slamming into that area between cab and camper.
However, IF the ends did flex and fold back to where there was a problem, or if the flapped in the breeze, Then extending the end a few inches and bending back to attach along the side of the camper trim would stiffen it up. Just like the bends on the front edge, only on the ends and along the camper edge.
I toyed with maybe attaching some sort of a push broom type apparatus instead of traditional gutter guard. Where the bristles would break up the wind, but I couldn't find anything light enough. I did look at these; gutter guard whiskers;
But I couldn't come up with a way to attach.
Here's something I discovered about the stuff I did use when I was finishing up the trimmed ends;
I cut one end with a pair of tin snips. That was hard to do as the material is pretty thick and hard to cut clean. The other end I cut with a hacksaw. Easier, but left it ragged.
I experimented with how to clean up the cut edge. I took a sample and held it under a lighter to see if it would maybe melt and smooth out. It gets soft, but it won't run. It will char, but it won't sustain combustion. Not surprised as it's made for homes. Then I took a heat gun to it. Those rough edges straightened right out. Seems the plastic has a memory that causes the material to go back to it's original shape if it's heated. So I heated the end cuts and the little burrs and bends straightened right out and a razor blade shaved them off smooth.
