Aerodynamic fun

Today i decided to play with some VGs to improve the aerodynamic of my truck ,first did a run at highway speed (70mph ) in both direction on cruze control taking care of doing the same type of acceleration ,deceleration ,ect ,then took 15 min to stick all the VGs ( everyting was measured beforehand ) then did the same run again (29 km = 18 miles) (70 mph ) and the result was before 10.8L/100km = 21.8 mpg and after 10.3L/100km = 22.8 mpg so give or take 1 mpg improvement so not a bad mod if you can deal with the small tab sticking out at the rear of your rig ,now the VGs used ,top Airtabs used in the truck industrie and side homemade aluminum (2 in long by .5 high ) all stuck there using 2 side tape (for trim) and removable if experience failed

 

Interesting! How do you know where to place the fins?

 

I'd gladly sacrifice 1 MPG to avoid that look.


To each their own though, fun experiment if anything

 

I work in the aircraft industries but they are not used for the same purpose on aircraft they are used to make the laminar flow stick to the wings to reduce stall speed i did not invent anyting they have been used in the truck trailer aerodynamics see Airtabs web site as for knowing were to put them a little guestimating

 

I would take a 10 mpg hit to not have fins all over my truck.

 

Same for spoiler the size of a picknic table on a sport car

 

that's pretty neat.

 

And still kind of cheap mod ,the Airtabs are like $2.75 ea and the rest is some aluminium T angle

 

All that effort for 1 mpg?

You really do work in the aircraft industry....

 

Yes i do aircraft propeller overhaul mostly and pilot , but not that much of a effort maybe 1hr total

 

1hr for a 4-5% improvement in mileage? Not friggin bad at all.

 

Toyota did install some VGs on the truck already on the rear light ,mirror ,ect

 

I've thought about putting some small vortex generators or trip dots on the front OEM rack bar to reduce the turbulence/noise when the cross bars are deployed. The bungee cord trick helped somewhat, but there's gotta be a more elegant solution. The most elegant solution, of course, would have been for Toyota to design a roof rack that didn't make that noise starting at 40 mph. But, oh well...

 

If it got me +1 mpg for a strip across the back of the cab I would chosen those over the chin spoiler. I'm 6'-2" and still need a step ladder to wash the roof. Meaning I am not seeing the top of the roof very often.

 

Shit if this really adds 1mpg i'd get 25-26mpg consistently and maybe reach 28-29 on highway driving like a old lady.

 

Put 350 of them all over the truck, might not need fuel at all.

 

If your truck's sheetmetal looked like the surface of a golf ball, you would see even bigger improvements. You go first, though.

 

Hey we could put a few of them on the lower control arms to eliminate the howling noise FTW.

 

OP = 30 pound cranium... love it