Bumper air dams

Bob Barrett wrote:
Just wondering if some of you have an opinion as to whether an air dam serves a purpose, especially when towing . I have an older 95 Silverado that seems to have alot of heat that builds up in the engine compartment. The gauge reads normal , and i have added a tranny cooler, but not an engine oil cooler . From what i can read the air dams channel some of the air into the radiators and condensors for AC . Most of my camping destinations are within 60 miles , once a year a beach trip that is 140 . As i build up a little more experience we plan to venture a little farther

Bobby Barrett
05 Zepplin 28 ft tag

So your temp gauge reads normal but there seems to be a lot of heat build up in the engine compartment? You do realize that your engine is running around 200 degrees, made of aluminum and metal as well as being surrounded by metal right? Your engine compartment is going to be hot once all that metal warms up.

The air dam has little to nothing to do with cooling as it's designed with the rig's aerodynamics in mind. Air dam's are designed to reduce the drag under the vehicle by forcing air down to the ground reducing air drag under the truck. So actually an air dam might cause the engine compartment to be even hotter as its forcing air away from the underside of the compartment.