truck aeroback

[GasSavers_BMac]

Originally Posted by boofighter

that looks really good. i like the smooth flow of the back.
just a thought, have you looked into air bags for the ride height? from what i have read they work well.

Thanks. I think the ride height is a bit high. I like it when I see these rice-burning-idiots taking the suspension out of their vehicles and grounding them out. Even my Soobie has 7.3" ground clearance!

[GasSavers_BMac]

These are the other pics of the cap. The front view allows you to see the taper back.

Since the truck is in the garage and I'll be waiting for the differential to come back, I'll be tweaking other mods. Also be taking measurements to build an air dam

[Hockey4mnhs]

wow that looks awsome. what #'s is that getting you? you have no gasslog and i want to check what your geting!!

[GasSavers_BMac]

Well, no gaslog yet because now I'm doing the rear end. Pinion bearings out.

As far as I can tell, being a windy day, it has netted me 4mpg but that is with Halo plugs and advancing the cam 4 degrees. That windy day shouldn't even be considered a mpg run. I'll do a better one but since the truck is in the garage, it's getting more mods >

[cfg83]

BMac -

Originally Posted by BMac

Ok, Here are the pics of my AeroCap so far. $52 worth of materials.
I plan on modifying it later for easier access to the box.

Just saw this in your garage. Stunning. Good aero and looks cool too!

CarloSW2

[thx138]

Your thoughts. I have an 03 ranger edge with an extended cab,so this thing sits as high as a 4x4. It has the fendered rear box that is inset from the cab. I have a soft tonneau on it. I like the idea in the start of the thread about lifting the front of the tonneau, but understand the viability issue. So I went out to the truck, adjusted the rear mirror, sat low in the seat and marked the point on the rear window where the line of sight was at the top of the tailgate. Based on this measurement, I could raise the front of the tonneau almost half way up the height of the rear window and not lose any visibility. My question would be, does anyone thing there is any benefit in this, or am I wasting my time unless I go for complete smooth flow from the top of the cab to the rear of the bed. The current rear window height is around 20 inches with this vertical surface and I could lower that to about 10.

On a related topic, I am assuming that the rear tailgate area is a big deadzone behind the truck at speed. Would adding some type of diffuser at the top of the tailgate to create some turbulence be of any benefit?

Thanks

[theholycow]

It sounds like it's worth trying.

[Jay2TheRescue]

Yes, it is worth trying, but remember that the airflow will not stay attached beyond an 11 degree angle.

[GasSavers_ccrider]

i have a 2002 2wd 4 cylinder 5 speed toyota tacoma that i am getting around 30 mpg highway that i am thinking of doing this mod to. i am thinking about doing it with the tailgate removed so it will make more of a point at the back of the truck and less turbulance. the sides of the bed would just stick up above the wood creating like a rudder type thing.


i was thinking about making it so that it could be disasembled with a few bolt or screws and layed flat in the bed so i could carry stuff in the truck when needed


anyone have any thoughts on that. any real results on the mpg yet? i dont want to waste a bunch of time if it really dont have any effect.

[GasSavers_ccrider]

i am collecting the material to make an areocap for my truck. i am going to make it out of wood because that is what i am most farmiliar with and i have wood around from the trade i am in.

i have been looking around on this forum and i see that there are a couple of people who have made them in the past. i have a couple of questions for you guys. i see that the guy who made the real nice fiberglass one for a ford f150 is claiming to get 4 mpg more. one thing i was told was to keep the angle around 12 degrees that would be a 9" drop from the cab to the tailgate. my cab is about 20" above the top of the bed so at the tailgate my areo cap would be 11" tall. i noticed on the cap on the ford f150 it seems to be about 5" tall at the rear of the truck. i know the ford has a 8' bed that would give it a little more drop but also i would think that the fords cab is taller than my tacoma. so i would think that aditional cab height would make up for the 8' bed. so i am thinking that the ford cap is more than a 12 degree angle. also i saw phil knox's truck with a areo cap and on his truck the cap goes to the top of the tailgate with no vertical section at the tailgate. so my question is how tall should i make the cap at the tailgate?

also i saw a plex glass areo cap that had a wing that extended a few inches past the the tailgate. also the fiberglass cap on the f150 had a small wing on the back of the cap that extended off the back of the cap. my question is when i am making my wood cap should i extend the plywood on the top of the cap past the tailgate and if so how far past the tailgate