What is the purpose of the small flaps just forward of front tires?

[L Martin]

What is the purpose of the small flaps that extend below and at the rear of the front bumper just in front of the front tires? I frequently drag them on curbs when I park. I think I can unbolt and remove them. I don’t see that they serve any purpose. Maybe a minuscule effect on mileage?

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[Daverick]

They are called spats and they're to improve fuel economy.
If you end up removing the spats on the rear wheels let me know- I'm looking for a rear driver-side replacement.

 

[L Martin]

They are called spats and they're to improve fuel economy.
If you end up removing the spats on the rear wheels let me know- I'm looking for a rear driver-side replacement.

Thanks! I’ll probably remove just those in front of the front tires.

 

[L Martin]

Those on the Mav front end seem to extend way further down than those on most other vehicles.

 

[Luckyaf]

What is the purpose of the small flaps that extend below and at the rear of the front bumper just in front of the front tires? I frequently drag them on curbs when I park. I think I can unbolt and remove them. I don’t see that they serve any purpose. Maybe a minuscule effect on mileage?

One of the first things I done was remove those front flaps. My personal opinion was it made the truck look way to low. I saw no affect on gas mileage, they are just junk hanging down.

 

[Edge Haley]

Just an opinion but every "little" "do dat" contributing to MPG savings and adds up to significant gains in fuel efficiency or performance. Spinning wheels are always the single most wind drag on all vehicles.

One fellow on this site, white XL, did a lengthy write-up of how he lost 4-5 MPG when he switched to significantly wider tires. Tires stuck out from the fender wells. People that raised their suspension just 1 inch also reported losing 1, 2 and 3 mpg. These little changes to Ford's design add up.

Porsche started putting front flaps (air deflectors) under front bumpers and flaps under front tires for wind and rain damping on all their cars 10-15 yrs ago and published the fuel savings & engineering data that many other car manufacturers have followed. Porsche does extensive wind tunnel studies to see what works and doesn't work. They put the under body covers under their cars 15 yrs ago and it significant blocks wind resistance and added down force. So does every Maverick, to save mpg. Indy cars have front wheel air deflectors for performance and MPG, not for looks.

People made fun of the Porsche 930 (aka - 911 Turbo Sport) for years about the funny looking rear "whale tail".... The 930 manual list the down force spec as follows to increase handling down force of the 930 whale tail. Postive and negative wind force can have different affects on handling and mpg.

60 mph - 90 lbs
80 mph - 110 lbs
120 mph - 240 lbs
180 mph - 290 lbs of down force on rear wheels to improve handling.

I bought the Maverick the first week it was released, strictly for it's fuel efficiency and low price...the Maverick is never going to be a speed demon...I'm looking for all these "do dats" to help gain just a few more MPG, they each are accumulative in improving MPG. 5,000 miles now and still 43 mpg, started using hybrid coach display and have bumped up to 47.2 MPG in last fill-up. It's your truck, do as you like, but frankly most people never even notice the front wheel air deflectors.

Higher speeds have a increased benefit of wind deflection. The number one detriment to a vehicle's drag are all four wheels spinning air turbulence, especially the front tires.

 

[Dawgonit]

I personaly don't drive very much highway and I can't see it making any real difference at all below highway speeds so I will probably remove mine.

 

[Hoagus]

One of the first things I done was remove those front flaps. My personal opinion was it made the truck look way to low. I saw no affect on gas mileage, they are just junk hanging down.

Given the price point they were aiming for, I’d imagine they do provide a measurable benefit, most likely to the mpg. Otherwise, why would they include them if it could save a little money to omit them?

 

[CLH917]

Remove them. Looks better!

 

[Bob The Builder]

I don't like them because I have to get down on my hands and knees to wash them, then dry them then put armor all on them. Three trips to the ground every time to save .0000000001 MPG. I just love it so.

 

[Efab]

Remove them. Looks better!

easy to remove? Just remove the screws and comes out?

 

[CLH917]

easy to remove? Just remove the screws and comes out?

Yes

 

[Luckyaf]

Given the price point they were aiming for, I’d imagine they do provide a measurable benefit, most likely to the mpg. Otherwise, why would they include them if it could save a little money to omit them?

Measurable as in nano grams lmao, if your hurting that bad for a sliver of a splash of gasoline definitely leave the ugly curb grabbers on.

 

[Edge Haley]

Just an opinion but every "little" "do dat" contributing to MPG savings and adds up to significant gains in fuel efficiency or performance. The 5.5% is compounded with wider tires.

One fellow on this site, white XL, did a lengthy write-up of how he lost 4-5 MPG when he switched to significantly wider tires. Tire stuck out from the fender wells. People that raised their suspension also reported losing 1 or 2 mpg.

Porsche started putting front flaps (air deflectors) under front bumpers and flaps under front tires for wind and rain damping on all their cars 10-15 yrs ago and published the fuel savings data that many other car manufacturers have followed. Porsche does extensive wind tunnel studies to see what works and doesn't work. They put the under body covers under their cars 15 yrs ago and significant block wind resistance. So does every Maverick, to save mpg. Indy cars have front wheel air deflectors for performance and MPG, not for looks.

I bought the Maverick the first week it was released, strictly for it's fuel efficiency and low price...the Maverick is never going to be a speed demon...I'm looking for all these "do dat" to help gain just a few more MPG. 6,000 miles now and still 43 mpg. It's your truck, do as you like, but frankly most people never even notice the front wheel air deflectors.

Curiosity got the best of me, so looked up the purpose of front tire deflectors:
(Makes sense to me) The 5.5% shown below is significantly compounded with wider or more aggressive tread pattern tires outside of the wheel well. The technical article is below.

Big portion of car's drag come from tires. More aerodynamic the basic car is the bigger the portion of overall drag is from wheels. If cars drag coefficient Cd is 0,216 its wheel drag can be 0,04 to up to 0,07. In percentages that is 18,5 to 32% of total drag of the vehicle. Drag comes because the wheels rotate, and it makes air twist and turn in uncontrolled way creating vortices. Main purpose of these deflectors is to direct the air so it won't hit the rotating tires surface. In general, the bigger the deflector the less drag will come from tires, but it's not all that simple.

Your whole car ground clearance has effect to optimal size and the size of your tires and how your front bumper is shaped. Basic dimensioning of these flat deflectors are that optimal size is around 100mm ground clearance +-20mm. Rear deflectors are usually about 20-40mm less. Usually, these deflectors are about 100mm inwards from cars outer edge like in the case in this aerodynamic study. These kinds of straight flaps can lower your cars drag coefficient easily 5,5 %. You can see more details in this Chalmers university study from ÖMER FARUK CAVUSOGLU 2017 concerning these straight flaps.

Edited: 10/14/2025 - I just installed new Michelin Defender tires 400 miles ago and lost almost 2 mpg. Can easily see the added tread depth and pattern was the cause, weight of tire was 1 LB per tire more.

 

[Hoagus]

Measurable as in nano grams lmao, if your hurting that bad for a sliver of a splash of gasoline definitely leave the ugly curb grabbers on.

We’re talking about a company trying to make a +40 mpg truck on a very slim budget. They have engineers and other smart people.

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