I just got back from Colorado and am not too impressed with my mileage pulling my toy hauler. I am looking to do something besides have the flat front of my trailer hanging out in the wind.

I looked at wind deflectors and some people say it only moves the bugline up but man it has to be better than the huge parachute I have behind me. Ialso looked at the nose cone and have emails out to them about their products.

Does anyone have any real world data about these?

Hub

 

A toyhauler is the least aerodynamic RV out there. That big door on the back acts as a big suction cup while you are rolling down the highway. If it is a TT it will be worse than a 5er. Save you money on the wind deflector. I can't speak for the nose cone, but I doubt it would save you enough money to pay for itself. How fast are you pulling it?

 

i agree with save your money. i tow a 30' warrior and get 8.5 at 75. if there was anything out there that helped you would see it on everything. i was thinking about trying the air tabs but i hear they don't work. if you find something that works let us know. thanks.

 

I pulled it 65mph and got 9 mpg there and about 11mpg back. this is what it looks like.



a bubble will cost about $550, which these days is less than 4 tanks of fuel.

I read a website from a guy who had a jayflight that made a nosecone and improved his milage by 30%.

Nosecone has a 10% increase gurantee. I am seeing more and more of them on the road especially on wells cargo enclosed trailers.


Hub

 

Slow down.
I haul a great aerodynamic brick called a truck camper.
If I keep my speed to around 62 mph and 1,750 rpm I can get up to 19 mpg. If the boost goes over 10 psi you are pushing it to hard.

I've also had 9.5 mpg by running 75 mph with a nasty wind. I ran around 22 psi boost the entire (mostly freeway) trip.

Wings only work if they are within a few feet of the front of the brick.

 

If you get a tall cap on the back of your truck it would deflect 80% of the air
that's hitting the trailer.

 

I don't think that 3 MPH will make a huge diference in my mileage. I tow right around 67 according to my spedo with is 65 on my GPS. I rarley pull my trailer at full highway speeds (70-75mph) because it makes a real difference in mileage.

My thinking is that with a bubble on the front to would have a better chance of spliting the wind instead of just plowing it. There has to be some validity to these, at least in concept, because Semi trucks have the to delect wind around the flat front trailer.

Hub

 

One of the guy's I work with put a large wind fairing mounted to a home made frame that bolts to the bed rails right behind the cab. The base of the wind deflector sits 2" above the roof line, and 2" behind the cab. He says it takes about 1/2 hour to install, and he leaves it on only during his tow season. I have gone camping with him and when he rolls into the campground there is never any bugs on the front of his t/t, yet the front of my 5ver is always covered. He also said it improved his fuel economy by 2+ mpg without changing his driving habits. He never goes faster that 60mph anyway.

I average 11-14 mpg hauling my 14k 5ver, (65-67 mph)
I am surprised your fuel economy is that bad.


http://rvtravel.com/blog/rvnow/2007/...t-or-dont.html

scroll down to the Ford, that is the style he has.

Hope this helps,


Tim

 

I've seen a few units with a wing mounted on the rear of a cap (topper, canopy, etc.)

 

The trick is to find the sweet spots where the truck cruises along at minimum fuel. Changing my mph by 3 can do the same with my mpg. I watch the boost gauge and pyro to tell me the RFG is slipping, too. (Right Foot Governor)

 

I drove over the road transport for a lot of years. In the 80s when fuel got expensive the trucking companys started using deflectors on the tractors and some used nose cones on the trailers. The nose cones seemed to prove to be the best at the time. When pulling a trailer with a nose cone into a headwind it made the difference of one gear higher. Guess what Im trying to say is I vote for the cone. Once its on thats it, not like a deflector where you would have to take it off when not pulling. Anyway, theres my two cents worth....