[DeTomaso] GT5 Air Dam - scraping damage and rock ships

Charles McCall charlesmccall at gmail.com
Tue May 15 15:08:57 EDT 2007


Curious Peter... The GT5-S air dam is steel, which is perhaps less forgiving
than fiberglass. Or perhaps not - it is perhaps a little more flexible and
therefore doesn't break, but in any case I have only touched once or twice
in my years of ownership. You haven't been watching too much "Dukes of
Hazard", have you=?=??? :-) 

That being said, I *have* banged up the rocker panel right in front of the
rear wheel from a very closed curve in the mountains with elevation change
where it touched at speed. Kind of scary. But I haven't touched the front
air dam. 

I'll have to measure clearance when I get a chance and see if it is the same
as yours. I'd imagine so. 

Oh, and I screw up my parking brake about every other year, since that is
the low point of the car going over speed bumps...  

-----Mensaje original-----
De: detomaso-bounces at realbig.com [mailto:detomaso-bounces at realbig.com] En
nombre de Peter Havlik
Enviado el: Tuesday, 15 May, 2007 9:03 PM
Para: Tomas Gunnarsson; MikeLDrew at aol.com; detomaso at realbig.com
Asunto: Re: [DeTomaso] GT5 Air Dam - scraping damage and rock ships

Thanks, Thomas. Yes, I had thought of using curb feelers, but they would
inevitably be visible and look incongruous on a sports car. I associate them
more with Grandpa's '59 Buick.

Good thought, though.

- Peter

At 11:21 15/05/2007, Tomas Gunnarsson wrote:
>Peter,
>
>Have you considered getting some curb indicators like the ones you see 
>on old classics? You could probably either mount them behind the dam so 
>that they protrude the correct amount forward/down or modify them to 
>suit your needs.
>
>http://www.mooneyesusa.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=755&osC
>sid=019383a018ac2e10913fa81db56cf9f0
>
>Tomas
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Peter Havlik" <phavlik at pris.ca>
>To: <MikeLDrew at aol.com>; <detomaso at realbig.com>
>Sent: den 15 maj 2007 19:36
>Subject: Re: [DeTomaso] GT5 Air Dam - scraping damage and rock ships
>
>
> > Mike:
> >
> > I take your point, but I'm still wondering if there is not something 
> > I can do that will give me an audible warning just before I start to 
> > scrape. I'm not intending to make the air dam stronger, because I 
> > agree it should have as much flex as possible.
> >
> > The rubber (or Teflon or aluminum or whatever other sacrificial
> > material) strip will start to scrape first and, because I'm usually 
> > going slow when approaching gas station entrances or steep 
> > driveways, I should have more than enough time to stop before the 
> > fiberglass hits or starts to bend much. That's my theory, anyway.
> >
> > Also, I have to wonder just how cheap a GT5 air dam is to replace.
> > First of all, from the look of it, not all aftermarket air dams are 
> > the same as the factory ones (and the factory ones are prohibitively 
> > expensive - if you can find one). Second of all, one still has to 
> > pay for installing and painting the new air dam, which is not cheap 
> > either. And, at the rate I'm going, this will be an annual event!
> >
> > I just can't believe that no one out there is having the same 
> > problem as I am, and that there isn't some kind of a solution. We 
> > have enough engineers, fabricators and general geniuses on this list 
> > that I'm convinced the answer is out there somewhere!
> >
> > - Peter
> >
> > At 10:06 15/05/2007, MikeLDrew at aol.com wrote:
> >
> > >In a message dated 5/14/07 13:11:58, phavlik at pris.ca writes:
> > >
> > ><< Second, I would like to modify the underside of the air dam so 
> > >that some sacrificial material starts scraping first before the 
> > >brittle fiberglass contacts the pavement. Has anyone done this, or 
> > >know of some other solution to the problem? I just want to hear a 
> > >warning scrape before I damage the fiberglass. >>
> > >
> > > >>>Well, keep this in mind--fiberglass is cheap, and by 
> > > >>>definition,
> > >sacrificial, whereas what it is attached to is expensive.  Mad Dog 
> > >made the mistake of reinforcing his air dam to make it very strong; 
> > >when he
> subsequently whacked
> > >it, it transmitted the force to the car and bent his front
> fenders!!!!  So be
> > >careful of what you ask for....
> > >
> > >I suppose you could put some sort of rubber strip etc. at the
> bottom of the
> > >air dam, but it won't change anything.  You will just hit the 
> > >rubber strip first, then still hit the fiberglass under the same
circumstances.
> > >
> > >The real solution, of course, is to (DUH!) stop crashing into
> things!  Plan
> > >ahead, approach driveways with caution, and if the approach to a 
> > >given gas station looks too steep, it probably is--just go around, 
> > >or go
> to a different
> > >station.
> > >
> > >I am in the process of fitting a GTS mini air dam to the front
> of my car.  It
> > >will have substantially greater clearance than you GT5 air dam has, 
> > >of course, but it will require circumspection nonetheless since my 
> > >car is fairly low.
> > >I have deliberately mounted it in a manner that will let it snap
> off, rather
> > >than warp the car, in the event of impact.  Fiberglass is 
> > >cheap--metalwork isn't!
> > >
> > >Mike<BR><BR><BR>**************************************<BR> See
> what's free at
> > >http://www.aol.com.</HTML>
> > _______________________________________________
> >
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