3d printed strakes (wip)

[ihasnostang]

i didn't want to spend $100 on ones from ford so i attempting to reverse engineer them. i am taking a picture that isn't quite normal to face and extrapolating dimensions off that based off a known dimension, but i did take a scan of that k member area to get the base profile. i did look at a pair on a car last year but i don't remember if 1" tall elements is correct. Currently with 3 walls and 15% infill, print time is <4 hours. the best layer direction would probably have it printed at an angle, but at least this way has layers with not split in the up and down direction when on the car. hoping to print these soon, just need to figure out hardware size.

Will i notice a difference? probably not. will they be effective? .

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[GTP]

Cool project, kudos to you.

I used to DIY everything when I was young. Now, I would ask myself "Is my time worth more than the $100 to buy the ready-to-go product?"

Doesn't the Ford product have rubber vanes, just in case you scrape on a tall speed bump, etc?

Finally, as far as aero is concerned, they might help by 0.001% but a little "ricer" add-ons that weigh next to nothing is Okay in my book. The only aero panel under my GT is the belly pan, and serves a secondary purpose of deflecting stones from bouncing into the engine bits. I suspect the added weight of underside flat panels is a greater lap time penalty than better aero at HPDE speeds.

 

[screaminrevs]

i didn't want to spend $100 on ones from ford so i attempting to reverse engineer them. i am taking a picture that isn't quite normal to face and extrapolating dimensions off that based off a known dimension, but i did take a scan of that k member area to get the base profile. i did look at a pair on a car last year but i don't remember if 1" tall elements is correct. Currently with 3 walls and 15% infill, print time is <4 hours. the best layer direction would probably have it printed at an angle, but at least this way has layers with not split in the up and down direction when on the car. hoping to print these soon, just need to figure out hardware size.

Will i notice a difference? probably not. will they be effective? .

I am ignorant. Where do these mount? Are they for brake cooling,or what?

 

[John S]

The OEM air vanes are rubberized and durable, Ford did a good job on this add-on for the Dark Horse. I don't know how much aero benefit it contributes to underbody air management but I'm confident it can't hurt and it sure looks the part to anyone curious enough to look under your car. (I added it to my Mach 1 and noticed absolutely no impact, why can't Ford share their wind tunnel data, you'd think Marketing would love to brag about something besides their J.D Power Quality Award and record breaking number of recalls.)

 

[mavisky]

Just print them with a 95A TPU and you'll be about the same as the factory units. Supports are kind of a bitch with TPU , but this isn't super aesthetically critical anyway.

 

[ihasnostang]

did a test fit, and ill have to reprint to move a hole on the rear split piece as there is a big hole in the k member there already. one picture to show approx clearance to bottom of tire.

GTP, i believe the OEM ones are made with 2 different materials, with the body being a hard plastic, and the elements being a flexible material.

The OEM air vanes are rubberized and durable, Ford did a good job on this add-on for the Dark Horse. I don't know how much aero benefit it contributes to underbody air management but I'm confident it can't hurt and it sure looks the part to anyone curious enough to look under your car. (I added it to my Mach 1 and noticed absolutely no impact, why can't Ford share their wind tunnel data, you'd think Marketing would love to brag about something besides their J.D Power Quality Award and record breaking number of recalls.)

how tall are the elements? Looking at it on the car, 1" seems a little short.

 

[GTP]

...
GTP, i believe the OEM ones are made with 2 different materials, with the body being a hard plastic, and the elements being a flexible material.

how tall are the elements? Looking at it on the car, 1" seems a little short.

A good rule of thumb is 5" ground clearance.

 

[mavisky]

Would you be willing to share the model? Would love to try this in a hard shoreness TPU and then adhere them together with dovetail seam. Should work great and still rigid enough while having some flexibility.

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