splitter Archives - DaRtLeNe OrAnGiNa

Dartlene Front Wind Splitter

December 9, 2016 ericnyoder 6 Comments

Basic Splitter: $289.00 (gloss black finish, with support rods, includes all mounting hardware) you choose: Version S (top), Version R (rounded version above) and Version B (looks like a “B” below.) Chicagoland installation is possible, although you can likely do it yourself in an hour or less! (You do not need to remove the front bumper.) Shipping is $70.00 to most of the US.

If you are interested in the lip underneath the splitter, or the side wings, they can be specially ordered – just let us know when you fill out the form.

The car pictured (above) has a carbon fiber lip underneath the splitter, as well as side wings – these items are sold separately. (Version S pictured above, Version B is below:)

Parts are now available! We make them to order, so it will take a few weeks to get your custom splitter to you, depending on add-ons. The alumalite and basic hardware is local, but some of the rods and wings will take extra time to order and build. Keep in mind, this product is not available ANYWHERE ELSE!

We offer local installation as well – We will need to see your car for an actual quote. We can change the position of the support holes, too. This will work with the Mopar lip as well (although not recommended) and the Deyeme Racing underbody panel, although you will need eight 2.5″ M5 bolts in addition to the supplied hardware.

We can also offer a rounded design, Version R: (The car pictured has a carbon fiber lip underneath the Version R splitter, this is sold separately.)

We now offer a brand new design, version G, here shown on this Charger, and below on the red Dart:

The wind splitter is made out of 6 mm (1/4”) alumalite, which is the lightest, strongest weatherproof material I could find. This is corrugated for strength and weight, and is completely waterproof. Keep in mind, if you crash into something, such as parking block or curb – it may break. I cannot promise any functional high speed gains, as I just don’t have the equipment to do such testing – they do look pretty badass, though!

Below is the Version S splitter shown in carbon fiber wrap, and no lip / guard:

I am extremely proud to announce the version 2.0 splitter is now 100% functional, and bolts to the frame underneath. It isn’t quite a full underbody shield, but it does support the two front pieces, and protects the underside, as well. The unit is very solid & rigid, and the support rods are not necessary, unless you want to be cool 🙂

There are several options available, and unfinished will be black alumalite, and could be wrapped, painted, dipped, etc by you! The version shown below has the basic rods, wings, simulated carbon fiber underlip / splitter protector, and is carbon fiber wrapped. Keep in mind, the bottom side will be unfinished, and if you crawl on the ground, you will see the seams of the wrap, and partial bare alumalite. The basic rods have aluminum shafts, but the nuts and mounts are steel, and may rust in extreme weather conditions.

This includes all of the mounting hardware and holes, some of which I could only find in silver or clear, so these would be hand painted. Instructions included, but will require some minimal mounting skills. If you have the stock lower grille, than I will include several 1” washers (also painted black) to mount to the OEM lower grille. The rods are completely optional, as the splitter is quite strong without them, and the rods are really only aesthetic, anyway.

All of these upgrades are fairly simple, but do take a bit of time and materials to complete. If you are moderately good at mechanical things, you could easily do the upgrades, yourself. I can still provide mounting holes, if you request it, as the support rods and side wings are certainly optional. If you want to paint or dip it yourself, be sure to use adhesive promotor, and then a primer, before applying the paint, or dip.

– We accept Visa/MasterCard/Paypal – Use the contact form below, and be sure to specify which options you would like, and we will send you a Paypal invoice for the total.

*Installation Instructions can be found here.

Wot Box, Black Alumalite Splitter, Wiring

As you can see, our splitters hold up better than your Dart! Here are the results of a minor crash on a Dart with version “S” installed:

With a little creativity (and $40/hour labor charge) we can customize your splitter to match your individual, unique needs! Yoder’s splitter has some custom alumalite wings, carbon fiber short trim, and angled spacer covers:

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DIY – Side Splitters – Alternative to Mopar Side Skirts – Side Diffuser How-to Install

September 8, 2016 ericnyoder 4 Comments

I bought a universal side lip a few months back – it doesn’t really fit the Dart, but I made it work. It had the side wing on it already, so it trumped my idea to match the front splitter wings, as shown in my DIY aggressive front splitter wiki article. I had a hard time getting a hold of it, as it was backordered, and I ended up waiting months for it. It came with some mounting hardware, but didn’t quite work, out of the box and a plug-and-play. First step was to mock it up to the car, and figure out a plan.

My first hurdle was fitting to the front Mopar mud flaps. The angle of the flaps made it difficult to match this up. I tried a few things, but ended up trading the mudflaps for the Rally Armor ones, made for the dart. It fit the aggressive style a bit better. I ended up somewhat selling the Mopar mudflaps.

Here are the (flatter) Rally Armor front mud flaps:

After I pulled off the EZ Lip, I found there were multiple plugged holes under the body. I found plastic inserts to catch a screw and attach to the holes. Found them on ebay, they clicked in, then pre-drilled the holes to line them up. This was easy b/c they were much wider, so it had some play.

I could click them in and rotate 90 degrees to lock them in:

I had to drill the holes, and then cut out a small square from the splitter, in order for it to sit flush with the side of the ride:
Then I applied adhesive promotor (after thoroughly cleaning the surface with acetone) and applied the double-sided adhesive:[

(I later figured out, it was quicker and easier to use self tapping screws, through the holes on the metal mounting bracket. This eliminates the need for extra holes in the product.)

Once I had the positioning perfect, I marked my cuts to angle the front of the lip. IMO, it was the only solid way to link the two together cosmetically. Any other way I tried, looked sloppy. This follows the lines of the car better, and solves the issue of matching the seams on a curved edge.

I did this project on a 90 degree day, and I realized these may sag a little bit. They wouldn’t come loose, but I wanted to make sure they were completely rigid. I took 2 long metal brackets, used for shelf supports, and fitted it underneath the lip. I used self-tapping screws to secure the metal support, as well as the fastened side splitters. I can say, the car has been well over 100 MPH several times since the installation, as well as several hundred highway miles without an issue.

Finally, I used this carbon fiber-looking trim for underneath the front diffuser. I tried it on the sides originally, but it looked so good on the front.

Here, you can see the front and side splitters, as well as how the Rally Armor mudflaps look. I’m lowered, and I may raise the rear mudflaps, just a bit.

Tags: body kit diffuser dodge dart ground effects ground kit side diffuser side lip side skirts side splitter splitter

Categories:

How to Build and Install a Custom Front Wind Splitter / Front Lip / Diffuser / Chin Spoiler

June 1, 2016 ericnyoder 1 Comment

Custom DIY Front Splitter / Chin Spoiler / Front Lip / Ground Effects

The Mopar lip kit is fine for most people, in fact, it looks quite nice. The problem I had is the cost, and the fact that everyone has that one option. I have done a ton of research on splitters, lips, spoilers, etc., but I am in no way a car, or racing expert. Use my instructions as a guide – then put your own flavor on it. Not everyone will like this style, but you can see what I struggled with, and why I made the decisions I did. I hope you like it, but if you don’t, you can build yours any way you want.Before you ask, a front splitter is designed to produce extra downforce at high speeds to the front wheels for better handling and traction. These are often used in conjunction with rear spoilers in race cars, and won’t have much of an impact on driving below 80 MPH. They usually fill the bottom portion of the car from just ahead of the front wheels to a few inches beyond the front of the car. Oh, and they also look freakin’ baddass!Typically, a front splitter should fill in the entire space in front of the wheels, and should not have any spaces or openings. My Dart has the Aero package, which means it is already covered under the entire bottom. It also means the aero panels protrude down past the fascia. If you put a flat piece of material under the whole thing, it can’t touch the sides b/c the oil drain area sticks down too far. A splitter should also be flat if possible, so I omitted the center area in the splitter, and left it as is. This also reduced the weight of my entire splitter to less than 3 lbs.Now the question everyone asks (go ahead): What’s it made out of? Alumalite. “Alumalite is a strong, aluminum composite panel made of with a high density corrugated polyallomer (CPA) core that will not swell, corrode, rot, wick water, or delaminate even under prolonged water exposure. Factory-baked polyester painted aluminum faces add high gloss brilliance and rigidity.”There are many ways to do this, and the cheapest would be plywood, and then covered in polyurethane resin to make it waterproof. The problem with this is weight. ABS plastic is also pretty expensive, and also heavy. I looked up what the professional racers use, and most of them are using some form of alumalite. It is incredibly strong and lightweight. It can also be bent, if needed, and is completely waterproof. The best way to describe it is two, thin aluminum sheets, separated by a corrugated material.

So then I researched, “Who else would use Alumalite,” and I found they use it to make signs! I reached out to some local sign companies and confirmed this. All you have to do is ask them for scraps. I needed something that was at least 72” x 26” – I ended up finding a piece for the price of a 12-Pack of Anti-Hero IPA (although he is my buddy, and did the graphics for Dartlene Orangina)

The first thing I needed was a template, and a way to line things up. The easiest way to do this was to start with the Mopar Front lip. When tracing the lip, you have to be careful, and take into account the 7/8″ rise in the middle of the fascia. If you press the lip flat and trace it, along with the holes, once you hold your trace up to the car, you will find the outer edges and holes are too wide. Be careful to trace the piece while keeping it’s shape, holding the edges up.

I followed the front angles of the car, but I wanted a little more aggressive appearance. I also knew that I wanted to wrap the thing in carbon fiber, and if you’ve done any wrapping, you’ll know how difficult it is to wrap around a curved edge. If you want to try this method, you’d have to cut along the top edge, and use a separate piece for the front / bottom. I used cardboard to create my original template, so I could mess with it, as well as hold it up to the car for rough placement. I was concerned the cardboard would bend, but the final material would not, so I also had to keep in mind the upward arch in the middle if it is attached flush to the fascia.

Now that I had my template, I dry fitted it to the car to make sure. Then I traced it onto the alumalite, and cut the front shape and the inner circle, leaving a bit extra on the inside, which could be trimmed. As it was, I had to adjust the holes a little bit after the final cut, as I was using the same holes to secure the aero panel and the Mopar front lip, if you had one. The 4 screws in the rear connected perfectly to the cut splitter, but it had to bend up too much in the middle to work, so I needed spacers. I took some brass tubing I had lying around, and cut it into (4) 7/8” pieces. Then I sanded and painted them black. Washers were used above and below the splitter and spacers, and I found some wood screws that matched the thread of those metal clips in the aero panels. Lock washers were put on the very bottom to secure it.This is without the spacers:

Spacers:

Underneath the spacers:

Then I wrapped the splitter, easily terminating the ends of the wrap on the bottom, as no one can see that, unless the car is on a lift. For extra credit, I guess you could wrap or paint the bottom, too.

Rough mockup:

After I had the flat shape, I added my side fins, using simple nut and bolt connections on either side. I lined up the outside to the shape of the car, and the back to the wheel well. I originally was going to bend the alumalite into the fins, but I wanted something that looked a little better and wasn’t as thick. The edge of alumalite looks a like cardboard, so it needs to be covered, wrapped, or filled in. I found some thin aluminum and could easily cut and bend it as needed. Then I simply drilled a couple of holes in the new “L” shaped wings, and bolted from underneath. Shazam!

I mounted the splitter using the 8 holes in the bottom fascia that connects the aero panel. The rear 4 were factory screws, into the factory holes, and the front 8 were factory holes, with longer, wood screws that matched the thread size. I later painted the silver bolts black, as well.

Finally, the last step was the rods. I already had replaced the grilles with mesh that had medium sized holes. I painted a couple washers black, and used them in front and behind the grille to secure it, and then bolted it to the splitter. I was able to do all of this without removing the fascia, but it was a bit tricky squeezing in and securing the nut on the backside. They are adjustable, so you can make them ultra-secure. I’m not saying you should stand on this thing, but it is very secure, and has lasted, so far!