Hey all... so I was looking at taking the black valance off of the bumper of my 08 Ram SLT, and when I got stumped with the removal of the stupid thing, I came across a thread or two that mentioned that this piece actually served a higher purpose than to simply line up the bottom of the front bumper with the bottom of the rest of the truck. Air circulation to the rad seemed to be the common statement on this. Anyone have any thoughts on this? Aerodynamically (I'm a pilot so I'm a simple guy...), this doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me, except to say that it may help the air eddy behind the bumper... that's a stretch in my mind though...

Next... so there's two screws that sit quite tactfully and quietly behind the bumper that are a pain to get at. They almost seemed to mock me when I stared at them. Any tricks for gettin' this thing off?

Thanks!

 

Holy hell a fellow Albertan. This doesnt happen that often.

 

Take it off-roading and it'll break off if you hit enough jumps. At least that's what it took to get mine off, though it wasn't on purpose when it happened

 

the first thing i did when i got her was take that piece off. mines a 6 though. i think it was like 6-8 small bolts hanging it on.

 

i heard somewhere that it helps with fuel economy or something. makes your truck more aerodynamic but when your truck is basically a brick on wheels, there is only so much you can do to make it more efficient
try sending a letter to the guys at dodge and see what their top engineers have to say

 

6 Hemi Ram, how did you get to the hard to reach bolts? I tried to take mine off, but couldn't get to those. I too have been wondering about what it does for aerodynamicy. I don't know which look I like more, no valence or valence.

 

i remembr when i did mine...it was a biotch to get to the nuts your talking about...

 

HEMIGUY!!! GO STAMPS!! lol You're not originally from Alberta though...are you??? I mean afterall there are like six of us here in this Province that are originals ya know.. lol

I was doing some thinking on this as I drove aimlessly tonight. The Power Wagon doesn't have this valance... which almost instantly tells me it's probably a load of B.S. that this somehow improves economy, air circulation, blah blah blah... Perhaps it helps when coasting down hills? I mean if anything could use a helping hand in economy it would have to be the PW, no?

I think I may just resort to unbolting those that I can, and abusing the valance to some degree until it gives in. I saw this piece removed on a few Ram's and it gives it just a tad bit of attitude on the front end. I'll let ya know on the progress tomorrow.

Thanks y'all!!

 

The lower trim makes the effective front area of the truck larger, making the radiator inlet more "attractive" to oncoming air. Without it, more air would take the path of least resistance which would be under the truck or over the hood.

I doubt it'd make a difference where you live but I wouldn't go without it here in the summer, especially if I was doing anything like towing.

BTW - this is another case of "change whatever it came with." If our trucks didn't have the trim, people would be bolting it on left & right. Since the Ram has a stock honeycomb grille, the aftermarket kits are there to change them to bars. You can bet if the stocker was bars, the honeycomb kits would sell like crazy.

 

haha good way of looking at modding. i also wouldnt touch it, it must be there for a reason or else they wouldnt have put it on.