sewlow
Bitchin' Stitchin'
What I called a spoiler is also called a valance or an air dam. I thought I should clear that up. A company named LKQ carries them and they show 2 of them for our trucks. One is $13 and the other is $24. I have bought from them before and the quality is really pretty good. I forgot all about them till yesterday.
The aftermarket valances are more brittle than OEM, especially apparent at the mounting holes.
The OEM ones are made with a much more flexible plastic.
Went to a job site with my '98. Customer says to park on the grass in his backyard. At the end of the day when I went to leave, found the truck had sunk down past the lower lip of the wheels. Really stuck. Couldn't drive it out. Crawled under & hooked a strap to the front frame rails & pulled it out with a tractor.
When it was being pulled, that factory front valance was squished right up to the bottom of the bumper by the tow strap. Mashed right outa shape. My customer was worried that it was being trashed beyond repair.
Once the truck was freed & back on pavement, that OEM valance just popped back to it's original shape. Not one mounting point broken. Couldn't tell it'd been twisted around like a noodle. We were amazed. Especially when that valance was the 12 year old original.
On my '97, I installed an aftermarket valance with fogs.
That thing didn't last 3 years. In that time I had it off 4 or 5 times just to jury-rig it back on.
Just touch one of those cement block things in a parking lot. Center of the valance or just a corner. Didn't matter. Sure as sh*t, one or 2 of the mounting bolts would pull through & snap the plastic mount.
Or...
The actual valance would crack, split or chip where it touched anything.
Got to the point it couldn't be repaired. Went back to the non-fog flexi factory one.