Explorer Express Air Dam Quality

[aldive]

My Explorer Express Air Dam for my 99 Explorer just arrived via 2nd UPS.

The thing is made of fiberglass with an extremely poor gel coat finish. The finish is bright white.

There were no directions whatso ever for the install with the box. The install is pretty obvious though.

I am in the refinishing the glass and painting stage now.

Its going to look good but i am rather disappointed in the QC of this item.

 

[mattadams]

isn't that the airdam thats basically designed to be painted and not used "as is"? If so then the gel coat just needs to be enough to be a base, not to be the surface forever. Many aftermarket hoods and airdams and such that you will buy that are designed ot be painted the same color as the vehicle come with the white gel-coat you describe on there, but thats only meant to be a temporary covering.

 

[Hartman]

Did you get the sportdam or the x-spec airdam?

 

[aldive]

Originally posted by Hartman
Did you get the sportdam or the x-spec airdam?

I got the X Spec airdam.

 

[aldive]

Originally posted by mattadams
isn't that the airdam thats basically designed to be painted and not used "as is"? If so then the gel coat just needs to be enough to be a base, not to be the surface forever. Many aftermarket hoods and airdams and such that you will buy that are designed ot be painted the same color as the vehicle come with the white gel-coat you describe on there, but thats only meant to be a temporary covering.

Matt,

The gel coat on any fiberglass component should be a smooth finish read for a fine sanding and the finish paint or the gel coat can be the final finish if the color is added to it.

This product came with a highly glossy white gel coat, thats fine, except for the chips and dings in the finish. This requires me to re-finish the gel coat in places before sanding and painting.

I truly love the air damn but the craftmanship is a bit lacking.

 

[Hartman]

air damn

LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LMAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[aldive]

Originally posted by Hartman


LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LMAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You know I cannot spell.....

 

[aldive]

The mounting hardware, which their catalog says is included was not in the box either.

I e mailed them about it and got the following response:

>>Hello,
Sorry about the mistake. In our catalog it states that the airdam comes with the required hardware. That is a misprint in our catalog.
There are no installation instructions for the airdam. We can send you the hardware if like. Just e-mail us back. The hardware consists of the following parts:
-10qty bolts 6x1x40 6mm, 1in. 40 tread pitch
-10qty nuts
- 10qty washers 8x30 8 size of hole 30 diameter of washer
-20qty 6 mm flat washers
-20qty 6mm lock washers
again, sorry about the confusion.

Thank you,
Explorer Express <<

Explorer Express is a first class operation and I have in the past ordered from them as I shall in the future.

 

[expo5.0]

mine came looking perfect ready for just light sanding and painting. it's too bad that yours didn't. i don't really like explorer express very much. i don't agree with some of their business practices.

 

[aldive]

Originally posted by expo5.0
. i don't really like explorer express very much. i don't agree with some of their business practices.

Care to elaborate?

Thanks.....

 

[expo5.0]

i have a couple of times ordered things from them and not had them show up for months. they took my order for the x-dam told me two weeks. i called two weeks later and they said that they wouldn't charge my card until it cam in but it would be at least another month before i got it. it ended up taking 9 weeks from when i ordered until it was on my truck. also when i ordered just some simple stuff like a license plate frame and that they were rude to me over the phone. also when i called with a question about their maf and how much power it would make they said that the only way for it to be worthwhile would be witha charger and otherwise my x would never be fast. it seems like they only respect you when you are dropping a ton of money which no one can do all of the time and i wasn't in a position to do at the time.

 

[Hartman]

Nothing makes me madder than when people are rude when you go to by something. This forum probably makes up about 75 percent of their total sales, they should RESPECT every customer, big purchase or small purchase.

Another thing, I know people on this board get upset because businesses don't take them seriously because they're young. I can relate!! Everytime I go into Autozone, the dumb rednecks badger me and stare me down while I'm browsing. Some people just don't get it. :fire: :fire: :fire:

 

[aldive]

Originally posted by expo5.0
i have a couple of times ordered things from them and not had them show up for months.

Sorry to hear about that; extremely poor customer service.

.

My experiences are quite the opposite. Every time I have called in an order, they were very nice and polite and offered to see of oit ewas in stock before I could ask Orders were always shipped as requested.

 

[expo5.0]

yeah its too bad they ticked me off. is the general consensus here that they are pretty good? if so i might give them another shot in the future.

 

[Jace]

I recieved my X SPEC air dam with some dings and chips in it. I sent it back 3 times and each time it came with chips in it. I kept telling them to either package it better (in case it was done in shipping) or make sure it was in perfect shape before shipping. Well, needless to say after the third one came chipped up, I got a refund. Also, I never got any mounting hardware with any of the 3 air dams I got. As for the customer service I got, it wasn't too bad. They were pretty nice and helpful. Their prices suck though. Especially on their lowering kit, i paid over $200 for it, when I could have got it for under $100 elsewhere w/ the alignment. And $225 for a K&N filter and MAF adapter?????!!!! Ben Jenkins and KKM sells these for under $100.00.

 

[X24]

Expo5.0... do you still have the factory fogs in with that airdam? If so then I might consider getting that. What did it cost you to get it painted. I know someone that own a very good body shop so I can expect a deal but I am wondering roughly what I'm looking at.

Also, What are those small lights that you have in the airdam?

 

[expo5.0]

yes, i still have the factory foglights in the airdam and they fit without modification of the brackets or anything. the other lights are pilot fogs that i got for around $30 as you can see they fit well in the space next to the stock lights in the opening and they are actually much brighter than the stock fogs. there are many other options for lights in that airdam, but for me i wanted the cheapest way i could make it look pretty good.

 

[X24]

it looks good indeed. As for the installation, it says on the website that drilling is required. How much drilling is there and is it just drilling into the bumper or does it attach in other places also? I have never installed something that needed to be painted. This just needs light sanding and paint? I just bought a lund windjammer but that is being painted by a body shop at the same time im getting the eggshells taken out of my hood and fender. That is getting done in 7 days and there is no way that I could get this airdam in my hands in 7 days. Anyway, I just wanted to do a little homework before I bought it. Feel free to tell me anything about it. Thanks.

 

[expo5.0]

well, i bought mine before i started getting in to doing things myself and i had it done by a shop entirely. but just looking at it, it doesn't look too bad to install it. the only thing that could be tough is getting the paint to match perfectly. good luck with it and thanks for the compliments

 

[aldive]

Originally posted by 98FordX24
it looks good indeed. As for the installation, it says on the website that drilling is required. How much drilling is there and is it just drilling into the bumper or does it attach in other places also?

Take a look at Dead Link Removed for the installation.