3G spoiler.....no more

[Purple Penelope]

Bought a 3G spoiler about 4 weeks ago. Got it painted...looked great. Then yesterday.

Worked as a volunteer at the Senior PGA Boeing Championship Golf Tournment. Had to park on an adjacent fairway course...not so bad. However when I left I had to straddle the cart path between some trees and thats when it happened.

Heard this scraping sound, then a rumbling under the truck. The cart path caught the spoiler pulled it underneath, while I ran over it before I could stop. I have two big pieces instead of one, but the worst part is that it pulled Mike's Aux fan off with it. Severed the wires at the fan while breaking one of the upper mounting brackets off. No leaks or OEM cooling fan damage, thank heaven.

Also the plastic piece the air dam mounts onto came off in the fray as well. Well needless to say I'm done with spoilers. Been through two of them now. Just ordered some BFG KDW's which will increase the front rake of the truck, and add to a lower setting front end.

For those with spoilers and Mike's fan installed you might want to remove the mounting screw from the bottom of the fan so if this happens you won't lose your fan. The two top screws hold the fan famously unless Mike has an alternative attachment idea.

P/P

Peace

[wireworks]

what is a BFG KDW? and where do i find that?

[AC Rob]

Clearly, a lesson learned.
Golf Carts are for Golf Courses.
SSRs are for Roads

[Joe Schuhriemen]

Ed, I don't blame you for being done with spoilers. When I saw how much ground clearance I had after installing Mike's air dam, I knew installing a front spoiler was out of the question. We have to many parking curbs and other obstacles in Florida to be concerned with beer can clearance under the truck. After all, it's a truck not a Ferrari. Sorry for your mishap.

[JAustin]

Originally Posted by wireworks

what is a BFG KDW? and where do i find that?

BF Goodrich g-Force T/A KDW tires. I like the looks of the "alternative" tread pattern available on these. They also have a "rim protector" protruding rubber ring.

My concerns are tire weight and no exact replacement for the SSR's front tires. Also, since they're unidirectional (and you can't swap front to back on the SSR), there'd be no rotation to extend tread life.

[JAustin]

Originally Posted by Joe Schuhriemen

When I saw how much ground clearance I had after installing Mike's air dam, I knew installing a front spoiler was out of the question.

After I installed Mike's air dam (I just put it on yesterday), I had just as much ground clearance as with the factory piece (of sh..).

[HotRodGirl]

Ed.......... I feel badly for you

Since I've had mine on the truck.....I've been doing great with it........hubby on the other hand forgot I had it and hit a crub last week. No damage though Not so sure how long I'm leaving mine on either. Not to happy with the damage that can happen.

It is tuff..............you can't let it out of your mind for one second or its......

[crazyrtr53]

Maybe we should grove out the air dam's and chin spoilers center hole, meaning it wouldn't be attached to the center hole. That way if you have the Aux Fan installed and hit something there would be a clean break away and no stress on the center bolt. Do you guys think the four push pins would hold the air dam's I no it would be ok for the chin spoiler's because of other attachment points on them..
Just a common sense thought lets here from the engineers???

[Purple Penelope]

Originally Posted by crazyrtr53

Maybe we should grove out the air dam's and chin spoilers center hole, meaning it wouldn't be attached to the center hole. That way if you have the Aux Fan installed and hit something there would be a clean break away and no stress on the center bolt. Do you guys think the four push pins would hold the air dam's I no it would be ok for the chin spoiler's because of other attachment points on them..
Just a common sense thought lets here from the engineers???

crazyrtr53....Just exactly what my thought was after I saw the fan on the ground secured to the spoiler. In fact when we put the spoiler on I thought about not including it in the pattern. Shoulda, coulda, woulda. That spoiler I can live without...the fan I cannot.

I'm sure Mike will get to this thread sooner or later and re-evaluate the pros and cons of such. If I had it to do again, I wouldn't put them together.

P/P

Peace

[big-daddy]

to hear this Ed. I have been very careful since I installed mine, good luck so far. I've just orderd the KDW's also, I went with the 255/35 in the front since they are close to the same height as the originals, didn't want to lower it any more. Hope have em mounted this week.

[Purple Penelope]

Originally Posted by big-daddy

to hear this Ed. I have been very careful since I installed mine, good luck so far. I've just orderd the KDW's also, I went with the 255/35 in the front since they are close to the same height as the originals, didn't want to lower it any more. Hope have em mounted this week.

I hear you George. The difference should be about 1" lower in the front. If I can't deal with a soda can in height in front now, I don't have a prayer with these KDW's later. Anyway I hope someone benefits from the experience.

P/P

Peace

[Mike in AZ]

Originally Posted by Purple Penelope

Bought a 3G spoiler about 4 weeks ago. Got it painted...looked great. Then yesterday.

Worked as a volunteer at the Senior PGA Boeing Championship Golf Tournment. Had to park on an adjacent fairway course...not so bad. However when I left I had to straddle the cart path between some trees and thats when it happened.

Heard this scraping sound, then a rumbling under the truck. The cart path caught the spoiler pulled it underneath, while I ran over it before I could stop. I have two big pieces instead of one, but the worst part is that it pulled Mike's Aux fan off with it. Severed the wires at the fan while breaking one of the upper mounting brackets off. No leaks or OEM cooling fan damage, thank heaven.

Also the plastic piece the air dam mounts onto came off in the fray as well. Well needless to say I'm done with spoilers. Been through two of them now. Just ordered some BFG KDW's which will increase the front rake of the truck, and add to a lower setting front end.

For those with spoilers and Mike's fan installed you might want to remove the mounting screw from the bottom of the fan so if this happens you won't lose your fan. The two top screws hold the fan famously unless Mike has an alternative attachment idea.

P/P

Peace

P/P

Sorry to hear of your mishap. I'm waiting for a group of fans to be delivered this week and will be able to send you a replacement some time next week. I'm in Olympia, WA with family issues (quad bypass on my wife's mom) and expect to be back building fans on Sunday. Please do an inspection of the two pin connector to see if the main harness has taken a hard pull at the connector joint. If you placed the tie wrap at the hood latch area correctly, it should have only pulled on the fan side of the mating set. Let me know how I can help.

As for the lower bracket attachment to the lower radiator support, You could use the nylon locking pin instead of the 6mm bolt and nut. Not my preference, but it is a reasonable second choice. I would not recommend doing without the lower attachment. There is too much there to let it flop around.

I'd love to have you send me the broken hardware. It is something that I worried about and have no data on. You can use my home mailing address on Tanglewood Drive.

Again, let me know how I can help get you back on the road.

Mike

[Purple Penelope]

Originally Posted by Mike in AZ

P/P

Please do an inspection of the two pin connector to see if the main harness has taken a hard pull at the connector joint. If you placed the tie wrap at the hood latch area correctly, it should have only pulled on the fan side of the mating set. Let me know how I can help.

Mike...Your right on the break point...it was the two wires just outside the second tie wrap which came loose from the harness.

As for the lower bracket attachment to the lower radiator support, You could use the nylon locking pin instead of the 6mm bolt and nut. Not my preference, but it is a reasonable second choice. I would not recommend doing without the lower attachment.

Agree on the lower bracket needing to be secured.

I'd love to have you send me the broken hardware. It is something that I worried about and have no data on.

Be glad to send it to you. It stayed intact during the ordeal. The blade even turns.

I'm waiting for a group of fans to be delivered this week and will be able to send you a replacement some time next week.

Certainly am going to need one. Was stuck in traffic going home and the temp gauge went half way to 235 before retreating. Also, put me on the "air dam" list.

I'm in Olympia, WA with family issues (quad bypass on my wife's mom) and expect to be back building fans on Sunday.

My best to the family and prayers for a speedy recovery.

P/P

Peace

[Mike in AZ]

Thanks for the well wishes. I'll pass them along.

I'll ship an air dam and pins to you as soon as I get home. You'll need a new lower radiator support..... brace yourself - it's not cheap. See if you can getone from one of our forum parts contacts. It will save you $65.

I'll kit up a whole new fan sub-assembly for you and get it shipped as soon as possible. I'll include everything from the two pin connector to a new set of mounting brackets. Hopefully the aux fan didn't beat up the A/C condenser on its way off the truck......

Later,

Mike

[ddprice1]

PP,

Sorry about the mishap! I almost lost mine 3G Carbon Fiber on the way to Mike's house to get the aux fan installed. I overshot the turn to his house and did a wide U-turn. Heard this terrible grinding and knew what I had done. Got to Mike's and he held his tongue just the right way and tweaked it back into place. Now I have a scar but have become very spoiler aware in my old age. I compensated by having Mike install the Turn-signal mirrors and I added the "Born on Date" Ray Hobbel piece of jewelry to add to the bling.

I may be down your way in June so start saving up for my lunch.

Dorsey

[Purple Penelope]

I may be down your way in June so start saving up for my lunch.

Dorsey

Just ring me up when you get here....My treat

P/P

Peace

[Boosted]

Sorry to stray off topic but where can I get one of these spoilers? My truck is realy on driven on weekends and never around curbs and golf courses...

I went to your gallery PP and have to say that looked real nice on your truck...

[blueeyes]

Go to www.3Gservicesinc.com - info is on their web site, including phone #'s.

[jim_king]

Sorry to hear of the mishap, Ed. I did like the look of your spoiler.

[Buffy]

Ed,

I will ditto the sadness that we all feel for your mishap.

I know that PP is your "baby" and you hate to have your babies get hurt.

Hopefully you will get it back to normal again and look back on this as a life lesson.

Good luck, my friend!

[Boosted]

Thanks

[crazyrtr53]

Call me crazy wait a second I am crazy but I modified Mike's Air-Dam with the Aux. Fan. What I did was outlined the bottom bracket of the Aux-Fan on the Air-dam with a highlighter pen. Took the center bolt out of the Aux-Fan bracket and removed the Air-Dam. Cut the hightlighted portion out of the Air-dam, reinstalled the center bolt with washer spacer's making up for the space of the Air-Dam's piece which was cut out. Installed the Air-Dam back on using the four push pins, it looks like its on very tight and will do the trick. I will road test and let everyone know. After reading P/P problem I just had the feeling that some day I will hit something in the road and lose everything too.

[Ricochet]

Im guessing this is why GM never offered one.

[Purple Penelope]

With the spoiler and the fan laying on the ground two other pieces were there also. The radiator support bracket, the piece that mounts the air dam, was broken off the mounts on both sides.
Went to Chevy yesterday to order one. Retail price is $294. How about some kind of a discount??? Nope.

Called Jason Cromer at Sam Taylor Buick Cadillac in Ft. Walton for a quote. He told me $185. Order it.

A damn piece of plastic for $185. . If I had used the push pins which the OEM air dam used, they would have pulled out, and the loss would have been minimized.


P/P

Peace