Active Air Dam Issues - No Recall Yet?

[Chuck_Canada]

i bought a used 21 a few months ago…it had the same problem…either something hits it while deployed or the air resistance pulls it down at speed and the upper lip of the movable dam gets jammed on the lower lip of the stationary dam. At first I pulled it off of the actuators and all was well….but since my truck was out of warranty I devised a fix…. I went to Lowes and purchased a 6 ft piece of aluminum bullnose moulding…the kind you use installing flooring with a “J” channel o one side and flat on the other. I cut this to length…notched it to clear the plastic supports on the movable dam.
Since my lower dam had been jammed for a while it had taken on an odd curvature that lent itself to jamming again. I installed the bullnose moulding on the top and it actually bowed slightly and held the lower dam in its original as built shape….I held it on with a few stainless steel sheet metal screws and reattached it…..works great…increased rigidity keeps it from bowing down and the round edge of the bullnose moulding acts as a spacer between the fixed and the movable dam……none of the attached hardware is visible…so for me the problem is solved…..

Any chance to could post a picture of the fix? Or maybe just a hand drawn diagram.

Glad you got it working all the same. I had the problem when I bought my 2021 brand new. Really had to fight with the dealer and Ford Canada to get any help.

Ford Canada did nothing even deleted my post about the problem on their facebook page!

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[Mosey]

Please post some pics. Others will the same issue will be appreciative.

 

[PowerBoostSoCal]

I am on my second air dam replacement for my 2023 F150 - each time the dealer had a Ford engineer inspect the damage and admit it was not my fault and off to replace the parts. This time they are going to replace everything related to the air dam - the upper part, the part the moves, the actuators and some other bits as well. The problem with mine is I drive on a freeway into heavy wind - the truck at 80mph and the wind can have gusts of 30 to 40 mph - when that happens it bows out the middle and the thing fails. I told the service guy (who is very supportive) and the Ford engineer I will keep coming back for replacements until they get it right, that I bought this truck with the dam functioning properly and am not speeding or off roading, etc. They both agreed I did nothing wrong and promise to make it right! So there's that ... I also purchased an extended bumper to bumper warranty (80 months and 125K miles), so I will be bugging them regularly if the solution does not work!! ha ha

 

[F150Dean]

I have a 2021 F-150 with the same exact issue. Valance is warping due to a design flaw in the active air dam. I have attached photo of the valance. I took it to my local dealer (Theodore Robbins Ford in Costa Mesa, California) and the technician tried to suggest that I must have hit something. I told him that is ridiculous as there is no other damage and even if I hit someone it wouldn't just deform six inches of plastic.

He then said he called Ford and was told that they would not cover this as a warranty item. I told him that there are numerous forums on the interet where complaining about this exact issue with very similar photos posted. I also told him that it is a known issue and that Ford has modified the replacement part so that the issue gets resolved.

Nevertheless, even after advancing the issue to the service manager, the technician said they could repair it if I paid a little over $1000. He said their dealer won't repair the item under the warranty until such time as Ford issues a recall for the air dam.

As you can imagine, I'm pretty furious at this point. I spent over $80k to buy a top of the line truck and Ford won't warrant an obvious (and known) defect!

I called Ford's customer support and they basically said they don't have any power to do anything to help me. They were completely worthless.

Has anyone had any success getting this covered as a warranty item? How did you do it? At this point, I am wondering if I need to sue Ford in small claims court to get them to honor the warranty. Super aggravating!

 

[Chuck_Canada]

I have a 2021 F-150 with the same exact issue. Valance is warping due to a design flaw in the active air dam. I have attached photo of the valance. I took it to my local dealer (Theodore Robbins Ford in Costa Mesa, California) and the technician tried to suggest that I must have hit something. I told him that is ridiculous as there is no other damage and even if I hit someone it wouldn't just deform six inches of plastic.

He then said he called Ford and was told that they would not cover this as a warranty item. I told him that there are numerous forums on the interet where complaining about this exact issue with very similar photos posted. I also told him that it is a known issue and that Ford has modified the replacement part so that the issue gets resolved.

Nevertheless, even after advancing the issue to the service manager, the technician said they could repair it if I paid a little over $1000. He said their dealer won't repair the item under the warranty until such time as Ford issues a recall for the air dam.

As you can imagine, I'm pretty furious at this point. I spent over $80k to buy a top of the line truck and Ford won't warrant an obvious (and known) defect!

I called Ford's customer support and they basically said they don't have any power to do anything to help me. They were completely worthless.

Has anyone had any success getting this covered as a warranty item? How did you do it? At this point, I am wondering if I need to sue Ford in small claims court to get them to honor the warranty. Super aggravating!

I had the exact same problem.

The dealer and Ford Canada said they would not cover it under the warranty. So I got a suggestion from folks on this forum.

What I did was I went to the dealer where I purchased the truck. I said to them "Please put in writing on your company's letterhead exact what part of the Ford warranty you are referencing to deny service on my vehicle"

That seemed to have gotten their attention and the next thing the front air dam was all of the sudden covered under warranty.

I hope this helps, please let me know how you make out.

Cheers

 

[MrT]

No luck with warranty repair. Dealer Svc Rep just called me, said pictures show damage and Ford won't replace under warranty. This is a common problem on '21s and they refuse to acknowledge their flawed design. Perhaps @Ford Motor Company would like to respond to this. I'll be back with pictures. Part numbers ML3Z17626BB, and ML3Z1726P, contact ID # 120441197

 

[F150Dean]

My primary Ford dealer (Theordore Robins in Costa Mesa) refused to fix the air dam under the warranty. They suggested I had probably hit a curb or something, which is ridiculous since my truck lives a very pampered life. Additionally, I sent this thread to the dealer with all the similar complaints, but the dealer held their ground and did not honor the warranty.

So I decided to take it to another Ford dealer on the other side of town (Tuttle-Click Ford in Irvine) when I had some other recall work scheduled to be done. They replaced the air dam without hesitation.

It's an obvious defect and the dealers who refuse to address the issue are acting in bad faith (in my opinion). Good luck with your local dealership!

 

[jhelrey]

Have they updated the designs on these yet? I somehow cracked mine in half.

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