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Front Spoiler Sure Is Vulnerable


CobraFun

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One of the hardest things for me is judging the distance between the front spoiler and the curb.

It feels like I have plenty of room before the spoiler would ever think of touching but when I get out and look, it's almost ON the curb.

 

Tonight I drove into a gravel parking lot and the smallest of holes made the bottom scrape the dirt.

 

I suppose after driving SUV's for so long, it's going to be a learning process to not damage the spoiler.

I can only imagine how many people have banged theirs up with how easy it is to do..

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I ran mine into a curb last year and bent it down and scrapped the top of it. LOTS of flex in the spoiler and bumper. No damage other than scraping the crap out of the top of it. I used a pneumatic stone to grind it down so it was not so noticable. I just purchased another one. IMO it is a sacraficial part if you drive it regularly. It is easily replaced as well.

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I ran mine into a curb last year and bent it down and scrapped the top of it. LOTS of flex in the spoiler and bumper. No damage other than scraping the crap out of the top of it. I used a pneumatic stone to grind it down so it was not so noticable. I just purchased another one. IMO it is a sacraficial part if you drive it regularly. It is easily replaced as well.

 

 

I wonder if the SS owners will be able to say the same with the carbon fiber front fascia splitter. May not be cheap.

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lol! How the hell are you driving that you are hitting the front fascia. That is 5 inches of clearance.

 

Tell you what go buy a Viper with 3" of clearance. Then when you scrape it and it cost you 3k for a new one you will learn to drive more carefully!

 

Gotta learn your car better. You should never be within 10 inches of a curb. Park the car like it has a bubble around it.

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Scraped the bottom of mine on a parking bumper when I first got it (not visible) - I learned my lesson and it hasn't happened since.

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Scraped the bottom of mine on a parking bumper when I first got it (not visible) - I learned my lesson and it hasn't happened since.

 

My house is on a hill. I scrape mine every time I go down the driveway. Currently spending 30k to have that part of the driveway ripped out and redone because I KNOW it's only going to get worse when the Supersnake is done. Where the driveway meets the street, there is a nice little dip that makes me bottom out no matter what. I did hit a parking block the other day :banghead:

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I did not realize that the GT500's would hit the parking bumpers also. The Shelby GT sits even lower. But, I knew this when I got the car. I love the low stance and when its low one just has to live with some occasional scraping and being as careful as possible.

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lol! How the hell are you driving that you are hitting the front fascia. That is 5 inches of clearance.

 

Tell you what go buy a Viper with 3" of clearance. Then when you scrape it and it cost you 3k for a new one you will learn to drive more carefully!

 

Gotta learn your car better. You should never be within 10 inches of a curb. Park the car like it has a bubble around it.

Actually it was at the last Shelbyfest. Right before leaving to go home we went to eat breakfast at some IHOP and pulled into a parking spot with a LARGE curb in front. Taller than the chin spoiler. I hate to say it but I did not see it (no coffee yet so I was dragging ass). I bent the chin spoiler under a bit but no damage to the front facia. The fact is, the more you drive the greater the chances for accidents. I put 13K miles on it in 10 months. Definately not a garage queen.

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I ran mine into a curb last year and bent it down and scrapped the top of it. LOTS of flex in the spoiler and bumper. No damage other than scraping the crap out of the top of it. I used a pneumatic stone to grind it down so it was not so noticable. I just purchased another one. IMO it is a sacraficial part if you drive it regularly. It is easily replaced as well.

 

Can you tell me what the part number is for the splitter. The Shop Manual CD I have does not list it seperately, I've only driven my vert. for 200 miles and I have already suffered a minor scuff, I'm sure I'll need a new splitter sooner than later. Thanks in advance.

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  • 1 month later...
+1

Sure is a good thing there is alot of flex on that front splitter as I have whacked mine

a few but still cant tell unless you look at the bottom of it.........

 

Where did you purchase the spoiler? Thanks in advance!

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I can usually run my finger along the bottom edge of the spoiler and get strings of plastic off of it from scraping various items.

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Instead of pulling head first into a parking spot with a curb, why not simply back in? With the height that our rears are jacked up to, you could probably back over a shopping cart and not do damage.

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Where did you purchase the spoiler? Thanks in advance!

You can get it from your ford dealer. I ordered mine and they had it next day. Not that hard to get. Just make sure they order the GT500 one. Look at their picture to be sure it is the right part.

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Instead of pulling head first into a parking spot with a curb, why not simply back in? With the height that our rears are jacked up to, you could probably back over a shopping cart and not do damage.

That is very funny but so true! I agree. It was a lesson learned.

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One of the hardest things for me is judging the distance between the front spoiler and the curb.

It feels like I have plenty of room before the spoiler would ever think of touching but when I get out and look, it's almost ON the curb.

 

Tonight I drove into a gravel parking lot and the smallest of holes made the bottom scrape the dirt.

 

I suppose after driving SUV's for so long, it's going to be a learning process to not damage the spoiler.

I can only imagine how many people have banged theirs up with how easy it is to do..

 

As others will say, just buy a replacement valance, and keep it in the closet for car shows, or change it as often as you like. There is just no protecting it if you drive with gusto, and you should enjoy the car.

 

:happy feet:

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I back into parking almost always. The worst I scraped mine was when I was sitting at train tracks, arms came up, and I noticed the SUV behind me coming fast and the guy looking in the back seat. Needless to say, I hit those tracks as hard and as fast as I shouldn't to avoid getting rear ended. Sheesh, stupid people, ATTACK!

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Mine is at the shop, today, beng replaced. While driving back from Dallas on Memorial day I was caught too close to some big rigs in both lanes in front of me. I didn't even have 2 seconds to react as an entire steel belted big-rig retread was in the road in front of me. :angry22: I only managed to avoid having it hit both front tires, swerving to the left - my front passenger tire it the middle of the tread and well, it could have been a lot worse. No damage at all under the car, the front spoiler looks like it was hit by a moving chainsaw - must have been all the loose steel belts - and one of the clip points is broken off. I was really worried it would tear up something under the car, or slap up against the passenger door. My wife was in the passenger seat and never saw it coming, she was really impressed whe she looked behind us - that it didn't do more damage. I'll find out later what the bill was.

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