What is This

[Rav34653]

Does anyone know the name and part number of the plastic part that connects the front fender flare to the bumper closing the gap as shown it Photo

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[WXman]

It's called a "Closure Panel". Last time I looked it up, they were around $11 bucks I think.

 

[TheSolarWizard]

Does anyone know the name and part number of the plastic part that connects the front fender flare to the bumper closing the gap as shown it Photo

Do not buy that way for someone to smartly discard theirs.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

I need those - where can a person get them? Dealers?? After-market? I drove home on slightly icy roads with some random snow and a bit of sand and slush and just on the drive home from picking it up - well, look at the top of the bumper...... and that was on not bad roads. We're expecting a nasty spell of snow, crud, ice. They love to slime up the roads here - don't need that all over the bumper on street driving.

 

[WXman]

It'll surprise you how much efficiency those closure panels and the lower bumper scoop add. When I put my aftermarket bumper on, I had to obviously remove those pieces. The aftermarket bumper is shaped very similarly to the stock one, except it doesn't have any aero pieces on the outside to deflect wind around the tires. Nor does it have a lower scoop to deflect wind around the suspension linkages and axle (though I made one of those at home later). The aero changes immediately destroyed my fuel economy. I'm talking a hand calculated 11% loss or so. Those plastic aero pieces DO work.

In fact, if I hadn't spent so much $$$ on this aftermarket bumper and winch, I'd probably put my factory stuff back on. I'm going to give it a year and if I don't end up using the winch much I'll likely go back to stock anyhow.

 

[TYJ]

Another thread about the same piece: https://www.jeepgladiatorforum.com/...-shields-between-the-bumper-and-fender.22545/

 

[Trippin01]

Did you ever get this figured out? Did you have to switch out your bumper to make it work?

 

[ShadowsPapa]

I'm still hoping to find a pair - and see if they can be installed on the Overland. I'm really surprised that since the Overland level is the one for MPG and making nice that they don't have those on them. Why the Sport and not Overland? I'd expect the sport to NOT have those since the Sport is more for - well, sport LOL

 

[Trippin01]

I'm still hoping to find a pair - and see if they can be installed on the Overland. I'm really surprised that since the Overland level is the one for MPG and making nice that they don't have those on them. Why the Sport and not Overland? I'd expect the sport to NOT have those since the Sport is more for - well, sport LOL

I had to cut mine off because they are part of the bumper, they cover the back of the fog lights. You may need the whole bumper. Well, Happy Thanksgiving to you at any rate. Good luck

 

[Mark Doiron]

... The aero changes immediately destroyed my fuel economy. I'm talking a hand calculated 11% loss or so. Those plastic aero pieces DO work.....

Surely if there was a couple dollar part (OEM cost, not selling price) that would increase fuel economy by nearly ten percent (inverse of your cited 11% loss), FCA would include it on every model. They're spending money buying emission credits from Tesla (https://techcrunch.com/2019/06/03/why-gm-and-fiat-chrysler-are-buying-teslas-regulatory-credits/) and siding with the Trump administration for removal of special status for California emission controls because they are struggling for every bit of fuel mileage and lower emissions (https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/california-emissions-gm-fca-toyota-trump-epa/).

 

[jurfie]

Surely if there was a couple dollar part (OEM cost, not selling price) that would increase fuel economy by nearly ten percent (inverse of your cited 11% loss), FCA would include it on every model. They're spending money buying emission credits from Tesla (https://techcrunch.com/2019/06/03/why-gm-and-fiat-chrysler-are-buying-teslas-regulatory-credits/) and siding with the Trump administration for removal of special status for California emission controls because they are struggling for every bit of fuel mileage and lower emissions (https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/california-emissions-gm-fca-toyota-trump-epa/).

Agreed. You’d expect FCA to install on all models to increase the average mpg across their line and leave it to the owners to remove them if they want. I doubt they make too significant of a difference.

I’m not saying @WXman is wrong, but there must be another contributing factor to see an 11% loss. Did he change tire size, add a lift or is it possible that it coincided with gas changing to a winter blend?

From https://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/coldweather.shtml

Fuel economy tests show that, in short-trip city driving, a conventional gasoline car's gas mileage is about 12% lower at 20°F than it would be at 77°F. It can drop as much as 22% for very short trips (3 to 4 miles).

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