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When I purchased my truck, the first thing I did was take off the ugly front license-plate mount (holder). I now have the gaping space in front of the active shutters and intercooler, but I've noticed some trucks do not.
The first photo is a photo of what my truck currently has and the second photo is a photo of what I was considering doing.
Has anyone done this before? If so, do you have issues with overheating? I'm unsure if this gap exists for air to flow into, or if air flows through the grill and moves downward. Most F-150's I see have the gaping hole like I do, but on rare occasion, I'll pass one that doesn't. I suspect this may be a difference between either trim levels or US and Canadian trucks, but I'm not entirely sure. Half the time, I swear the shutters are closed anyways, but I don't want to do anything that would disrupt the proper flow of air. Thanks!
I take it you have an EcoBoost. You have the open lower grille, the 5.0's have the closed grille with the fake louvers. But, and it's a BIG but, some of us have taken the 5.0 lower, opened up the space between the louvers, and stuck them on our EgoBoosts. I know of at least 3 of us on here have done that, and none of us has a problem with the CAC or charge air getting hot. I can monitor my temp, and even in summer heat, IIRC, the hottest I ever saw at the throttle body was around 122F.
Here's a front shot of mine.
Ecoboost trucks have the opening. I cant imagine covering it up wouldnt affect cooling to the intercooler. The shutters will open when intake air temps start to rise.
The interesting part is the pre 15 ecoboost trucks had the license plate off to the side to not cover up the opening.
Ideally your intake temps really shouldnt be much higher than ambient while driving.
I do in fact have a 3.5 EcoBoost. I might actually consider purchasing the one I linked and doing some cutting on it since JohnDay mentioned it. Looks much better than the regular opening you'd have otherwise. Thanks for the replies and help everyone!
@johnday That's a good looking truck! It seems you've removed your lower air-dam deflector as well, correct? Has that caused you any noticeable issues? Mine scrapes quite often when taking on steep inclines even though I'll angle the truck and not go head on. Something about the deflector gives the truck a slightly ugly front appearance in my opinion. Even worse when they've been poorly cut to allow room for larger wheels, lol.
I agree that you definitely do not want to block off the intercooler on an Ecoboost truck or it could have a negative impact on the intercooler's efficiency. We do also offer an optional modification in our tuning that can force the active grille shutters to stay open all the time or even disable them for customers with upgraded intercoolers that have removed the AGS system all together.
I take it you have an EcoBoost. You have the open lower grille, the 5.0's have the closed grille with the fake louvers. But, and it's a BIG but, some of us have taken the 5.0 lower, opened up the space between the louvers, and stuck them on our EgoBoosts. I know of at least 3 of us on here have done that, and none of us has a problem with the CAC or charge air getting hot. I can monitor my temp, and even in summer heat, IIRC, the hottest I ever saw at the throttle body was around 122F.
Here's a front shot of mine.
I opened up my 5.0 insert like that about a year ago but I’ve also tested the EcoBoost insert. With a Whipple blown 5.0 and the heat exchanger mounted directly behind that opening my IAT’s are identical. I’ve logged them with the different inserts several times from our so called winters to the heat of summer and can’t find a difference.
@johnday That's a good looking truck! It seems you've removed your lower air-dam deflector as well, correct? Has that caused you any noticeable issues? Mine scrapes quite often when taking on steep inclines even though I'll angle the truck and not go head on. Something about the deflector gives the truck a slightly ugly front appearance in my opinion. Even worse when they've been poorly cut to allow room for larger wheels, lol.
Thank you. I removed the air dam the first whole day I had it home, thought it was ugly myself. The Owners Manual mentions it can be removed for extra clearance as well.On my '12, I had it on for a couple months, then took it off for winter. I noticed no issues other than better looking without it on both trucks, the ones on the '19's look even worse!!
I installed a T-Rex bumper grille to fill in that space in the bumper on my truck. Simple to install and plenty of airflow, if you shop around you can find them at much less than the list price, check Amazon warehouse deals in particular.
I take it you have an EcoBoost. You have the open lower grille, the 5.0's have the closed grille with the fake louvers. But, and it's a BIG but, some of us have taken the 5.0 lower, opened up the space between the louvers, and stuck them on our EgoBoosts. I know of at least 3 of us on here have done that, and none of us has a problem with the CAC or charge air getting hot. I can monitor my temp, and even in summer heat, IIRC, the hottest I ever saw at the throttle body was around 122F.
Here's a front shot of mine.
Blocking Off Intercooler Gap In Bumper?
