Aerodynamic mod to improve fuel economy

Hey guys, been thinking about making some removable panels to hopefully improve the fuel economy of my truck. made a rough sketch of my idea. here is kinda what im going for.

its a bit rough but let me explain. there would be 2 panels on hinges that could fold down to create a more aerodynamic shape. and fold up when not needed to rest on top of the topper. maybe some side panels too but not sure yet. let me know what you think or if this is a stupid idea.

 

The ecomodder forum would have a lot of input for you on this.

Long story short, if you do a lot of highway driving, And don't mind your truck looking unconventional, 10-20% gains in mpg are achievable.

Just doing a kammi back on the back of the camper the sides sloping in and the top sloping down a bit can have a decent effect. Simi trailers have panels for that.

Also aeroshell toppers are a thing.

 

It’s a truck, you’ll go from 22 mpg to 22.1 mpg.

 

Feels good to laugh



TY

 

While you're add it, add a convex plexiglass layer from the front of your hood to the top of the cab. Give it that full teardrop shape

As a side note, I've long wanted to build a flat undercarriage from the front bumper up to the carrier bearing and see what effects it gives me on handling and fuel economy. As for the back, you want as much turbulence as possible so a vacuum doesn't form, which is why tonneau covers don't help any, but a camper shell does. ie: you want a mostly flat rear with curved edges in the absence of a taper.

Your drawing reminds me of the semi-truck rear aero addons, which do yield a 10-15% increase in fuel economy when used with sideskirts, IIRC. Personally I have a tendency to believe there are more improvements that can be made to the rear half of these trucks than the front, but improvements can be made all over, and it would have been much better that these improvements came from the factory.

 

A downward curved wing on the back top edge of shell will help break the vacuum formed behind the truck . Like this one.

 

What do you haul that you need a truck??

Downsize to a motorcycle ??

 

You're about to go down a rabbit hole:
https://ecomodder.com/forum/showthr...-top-aerodynamic-camper-shell-99-a-23152.html
https://ecomodder.com/forum/showthread.php/new-aeroshell-lessons-learned-9772-2.html
https://ecomodder.com/forum/showthread.php/1st-gen-toyota-tundra-aeroshell-build-34179.html

 

Like, are you serious?

Truckers use those aero shields on their trailers because they drive literally millions of miles. The few extra hundred pounds doesn't make a difference when you weight 80,000 pounds.

Put that kinda of stuff on a pickup truck and the weight will be much more noticible.

Best fuel economy mod:


Or just drive 5mph slower; you'll get easily 2x better mileage than any sort of gizmo you can add to your truck to make it more "aero".

 

That will also create lift and drag, creating the unknown of if you're even creating a net positive.

 

Even a purpose built spoiler doesn't really start working (down force) until you're doing 120+

So while you're technically correct, the amount of lift you'd get is going to be within the noise.

 

I glanced at a couple of those. It should be noted that any non-ideal angles due to the short bed length can be rectified by using vortex generators, or as one comment mentioned, following the ideal angle and cutting a flat face short.

More like 60-80mph for large wings, but true enough, but any fuel economy improvement is noise margin as well. IMO there's really nothing you can do on the top side of an SUV to make it better. Aero camper shell on a truck though could definitely yield improvements.

 

Learning how to drive efficiently is the only economically feasible thing to do.

 

It would only yield improvements compared to a similarly weighted square shaped shell. I'm not sure you'd see overall improvements compared to just an empty stock bed.

The added weight is going to be enough to counteract any small improvement in aerodynamics.

The other thing to consider is that while a tear drop shell or other aero improvements will be more efficient, it also makes your truck a lot less useful, and pretty much defeats the purpose of having a pickup truck. At that point, you have a car with big tires.

As I said, just slow down a few mph, that's free.

 

Yep.

Pretend you have an egg on the gas pedal.

 

Or better yet, put an egg on it lol. That'll teach ya quick

 

The amount of money and time you'd spend trying to make your 4x4 pickup truck more aero, only to squeeze another 0.5% efficiency, you could have bought a mid 90's Honda civic.

That's an instant 40mpg's.

 

I personally have noticed better fuel economy when I have a canoe on the roof. Not sure if it's an aero effect or just me subconsciously driving more carefully but it looks cool and it seems to work. Parking garages might be a problem however.

 

I say go for it. Do some research and give it a try.

I travel a ton in my 4runner, so I can understand wanting to squeeze out a few extra MPG.

I recall someone gained like 4 MPG by building a custom cap for their full-size. Don't listen to the negative Nellies!