BIGDAN65

I have a v nose 6x12 tamdem axle, it pulls great (like it has a choice) where i got mine from the v nose was not much more and you get a good bit of room in the trailer with it

Chazmanian

The truck came with the towing mirrors and the first owner swapped them out for the lil' ones...He actually attempted to build his own power wagon as he had the flares and the unpainted front valance thing. By the time I got hold of him he had sold the flares and mirrors on E-Bay although he did have the original silver valance which looked like crap and
I tossed it.


I think I found my new trailer today!~

Black 2006 Interstate with 500 miles on it. Very slick has toolboxes in the front of the vee. 18 footer 20 total feet with the vee. Its very nice and of good quality.

MoparNut

That looks like a nice trailer. Mine is a 22' +2.5' V, I use it to haul a 3800lb car and I get 11-12 mpg at 65-70 mph. How much weight do you put in the trailer? Your cummins will definitely pull better than your previous trucks but mileage won't be a lot better, just a little. I've also hauled this car on a 18' flat bed trailer and got 14mpg.

Chazmanian

I load up with about 40 5 gallon cans of striping paint @ 70#'s per can so....2800#'s of paint plus three striping machines at 250#'s each and some assorted paraphenalia....

4000 Pounds of stuff. Trailer wieghs 2200 Pounds. I swear I will be very dissapointed if I get 11 MPG....Arrrgh.

My prior attempts at pulling a 100 Pound cargo trailer with 1500 pounds of stuff netted me 9-10 MPG going 75+ non-stop with the AC a blastin'.

I almost didnt even bother posting this issue her in the first place but figured since we all have Cummins powered trucks we must be pulling something right? Excellent advice so far Gents I thank y'all for the insight!!

HOHN

Something to think about:

The V-nose will do little to nothing for aerodynamics, if you think it will reduce drag. It MAY help with stability as far as tracking straight, but don't expect any mpg help at all from a V-front.

The design and marketing of a V-front trailer was by someone who knew very little about aerodynamics. The kind of person who drives with the tailgate down to save fuel.

The V-front also reduces useable space inside the trailer, because a given footprint will have less cu ft inside the trailer.

I'd highly recommend a flat front trailer, and if MPG is a concern, you need to address the REAR of the trailer-- aerdynamicists will tell you that the tail end matters far more than the leading edge.

Think of a teardrop-- blunt nose, sharp tail. That's the most aerodynamic shape. Water takes that shape in freefall because it's the "path of least resistance" so to speak.

So, how do you address the tail's aerodynamics? Well, look for rounded corners or something like an Airstream profile on the rear end-- the front doesn't matter much

Ideally, there would be some kind of teardrop appendage you could hang off the rear of the trailer. Aside from being ugly and a begging a 3-stooges type accident, it WOULD work.

That's why the BEST solution in terms of effectiveness and practicality is the installation of AIRTABS. Plain and simple, they work-- they reduce drag, increase stability and should enhance MPG-- but I can't say by how much.

*I make no money off recommending Airtabs-- I've just seen many people happy with them*

jmo

MoparNut

I depends on the length of the V. A short V like my trailer and the one he's looking at actually use the length of the tongue to build the V, which would not be used on a flat front. A 16' flat nose would be less sq. ft. than a 16' V nose because the V is added to the 16' box.

MLRey

You might want to check out Carson Trailers (www.carsontrailer.com) they make a variety of nice trailers and they have dealers in CO and most of the western states. I also really doubt you will see much mpg improvement with a v-nose trailer. The truck is already pushing the air out of the way so the shape of the front of the trailer isn't a big factor for drag unless it's a really tall trailer.

truckjunkie

Chazmanian -

Doing the kind of work you're doing, one of the steel trailers from WW Trailers might be the ticket. They're a bit more expensive, but the steel ones are built like freakin' tanks.

http://www.wwtrailer.com/

They're on eBay once in a while - I saw a 16 footer go for around $5K a while back. ON EDIT - here's a 5x10 for $2400... http://cgi.ebay.com/Cargo-Trailer-5x...QQcmdZViewItem

Being that you have a 'real' truck to pull it with, I don't think you'll mind the extra weight of a steel trailer.

Chazmanian

Thanks Guys!


This board is an awesome resource!! You guys know yer' stuff here.

Cost of 2005 Cummins powered Ram=23.6K
Cost of Edge Juice W/Attitude=$450.00

Cost of the excellent advice and suggestions on the DTR forum= Priceless!!!

welndmn

How did you get involved with striping?
I have often thought about that out here.

Chazmanian

I started with just a few little local jobs...Then I did a big retail store for a buddy. Next thing I knew I was striping 100+ large retail stores a year. Its seasonal....I only run my striping crew 4 months out of the year. I plow snow for 6 months and run a crew of phone book delivery guys off the back of my truck for the off months.

I'm actually contracted each year to stripe X amount of big stores all over the western half of our fine country.