Add-On Rear Wing

[pastorbrad]

Has anyone done the add-on of the rear wing to an SR5? I got the unit from Spoiler Depot. It looks like a quality piece but the instructions are generic. Any tips or pitfalls? A link to instructions or whatever? Thanks, all.

[Diamond Dog]

I got the same one and had a professional install it. It works great and looks great. I carried some poles on my roof rack and it scratched it all up. However its probably cheaper to by a new wing rather than to repaint.

I think I paid $100 to have it instlalled and the installed said it wasnt that easy to install.

[Toasted Coastie]

if i'm not mistaking, vanityplates has one mounted to his snugtop. It looks sweet, but he says everyone looks at his truck and wants to race him, but he's not scared, his tundra is really fast.

[pastorbrad]

Thanx, guys, great info. This Forum is second only to www.corvetteforum.com for being all purpose excellent!

[Geodude]

I bought one from Spoiler Depot as well. I have an aquaintance who owns a body shop so he painted it and installed it for $100. He said it was a fairly straight forward installation for them, but that it would likely have given me some trouble.

I'm really happy with the look - perfect paint match and looks OEM.

[Diamond Dog]

I think you can get them already painted from Spoiler Depot. Mine came already painted and it matched up great. Saved a lot of hassle.

One thing you have to be careful of on the cheap spoilers is the LED's are not very bright. Mine are very bright!

[TundraTRX]

Other than cosmetic, what is the point of a spoiler? I can see having one on a sports car, but to me it seems pointless and on some pickups it looks trashy and, dare I say, redneck-ish.

[Diamond Dog]

it keeps dirt from accumlating on the rear window as much as it would without a spoiler. It also is brighter than the 3rd brake light with all the LED's on it.

Its not really a "wing" per say. I think it balances out the rear end athetically and makes its so that it doesnt look like a "box" or minivan so much.

[pastorbrad]

it keeps dirt from accumlating on the rear window as much as it would without a spoiler. It also is brighter than the 3rd brake light with all the LED's on it.

Its not really a "wing" per say. I think it balances out the rear end athetically and makes its so that it doesnt look like a "box" or minivan so much.

Actually, I think it looks pretty lame myself, but I wanted it to keep the rear window cleaner in our lovely New England winter weather.

[Agent WD-40]

TundraTRX, I agree with you. On a pickup truck a wing is waaay out of place. Doesn't look good IMO. They don't look bad on the back of the Sequoia which is what most of these people are talking about I believe.

The Dodge SRT-10 Ram is the only turck that I have seen that doesn't look offensive with a spoiler. I still think it would look better without. I would put up with the spoiler because of the 500 HP Viper engine in it though.

Picture:
http://www.autoweek.com/images/articles/100553

**edit** I thought we were allowed to post pictures up to 200x400 directly into the forum?

[TundraTRX]

I just don't think a spoiler was ever meant to be placed anywhere on a pickup, and it only looks good on certain pickups. Like the Dodge SRT-10 RAM Pickup, which can backup the claim to having a spoiler. A spoiler is meant to decrease drag, and increase downforce on the rear of the vehicle. Unless you add a tonneau cover, like a SnugTop hard shell, it isn't going to do jack for you other than make some people think you are a "fast truck." Unless you have the balls and the brass (modifications, hardware, etc.) to back it up, I would not add a spoiler.

[sequoiasoon]

it keeps dirt from accumlating on the rear window as much as it would without a spoiler.

It does help a lot with the dirt accumulating but I also find that the salt road mist builds very quick on the third brake light itself (same as on the tailights).

It also is brighter than the 3rd brake light with all the LED's on it.

This varies depending on the manufacturer. The cheap one I got had to have possibly THE WORST, LED 3rd light on it. I was driving behind my wife and was like WTF, you can barely see this! Then I started looking at all the Sequoia's and realized that even the factory one is pretty poor when compared to other manufacturers 3rd LED's especially in "off angle" (2-3 cars back, 1 lane over). I then started researching more on LED's (especially when I saw how bright and excellent off angle the LED's on our fire trucks, chiefs cars and ambulances were). The "warning" ones have like 140 degree+ viewing angle and MANY other brake light ones are like 20-25 degree (per LED). After some calls to Whelen and other LED companies and a BUNCH of great info, I came across these http://www.superbrightleds.com/leds.htm #RL5-3545.

Some of the things I learned:
The LEDS are measured mcd (millicandela) like candlepower for the LEDS.
Viewing angle as posted in 1/2 angle in the specs (20 degree = 40 degree actual visibility for viewing)
The mcd and viewing angle are inverse proportion. A 3500mcd 45 degree is the same or brighter than a 5000 mcd 30 degree)
The forward voltage needs to be observed so you can put the correct qty together or add correct resistor. To much voltage and it's burnt out right away (might be brighter for a short time though)

So I bought 40 (only needed 36) of these and unsoldered the original ones and put these in its place (that was an interesting project!) The results are EXCELLENT. I now have a 3rd light that is brighter than original Toyota factory (but not blinding) and can be viewed at a 45 degree off angle (1 car back, 1 lane over) and it is as bright as being directly behind it . It now is just as bright as the best ones I saw (Nissan, Infiniti, BMW) but actually has a little better viewing angle.

[pastorbrad]

So I finally got the thing installed. It's a quality made piece but at least this one was nothing at all like the stock unit in terms of hole locations, etc. Frankly, the factory directions for installing their unit seem optimistic about the ease of the task, too! With the help of a local body shop (who let me help the tech as long as I didn't get in his way) we got it done, but we were really making it up as we went along! And it still looks lame, but at least the rear window will stay clearer!