08-20-2011, 01:57 PM
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#1 (permalink)
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Master EcoModder
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1/2-tonneau/1/2-aero-shell
One of the members asked about this.I'd never submitted it and there are no photos of it in the archives so I decided to do an independent thread for it.
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Before I did the aero-shell,and while John Gilkison still owned the T-100 I had one of those 'what if' moments,wondering what would happen if you combined GM's patented 1/2-tonneau with 1/2 of an aero-shell.
I talked with Gilkison over the phone and he relayed some measurement data from the truck.
He was already running a 1/2-tonneau so I merely constructed a blister which embodied only the back half of an aero-shell.
When it was complete,I strapped it to the hood of the CRX and drove it north to Ten Killer Lake in Oklahoma where he was vacationing.
We screw-attached it from below,caulked the seam,and that was it.
While John drove,I busied myself in the bed of the truck with a ski-pole tuft wand,watching the airflow as we circled the lake boundary.Flow was good.
The bummer was that he had not considered rear vision and it definitely created a blind spot.( Later when Bob Parsons did his Chevy truck we held the height at 'mirror line of sight' height ).
After some good swimming I departed.
After the drive home,dodging a tornado on I-40,John reported a definite mpg increase.And after suffering about a year with the blind-spot the blister was retired to the landfill.
John said it was good for 8% mpg HWY.That would be a 16% drag reduction,or Cd 0.37 for the truck,down from Cd 0.44.
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I located the photos this morning and Al says he can get them scanned today,so I'll post those asap.
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Today
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08-20-2011, 03:42 PM
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#2 (permalink)
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Master EcoModder
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Sounds interesting..............waiting for those photos.  |
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08-20-2011, 10:05 PM
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#3 (permalink)
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Master EcoModder
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Thanks for this thread. And Ten Killer is a beautiful place.
__________________
 2004.0 7,360-lb DODGE Ram QC/LB 2500 2WD/6-speed Cummins 305/555 ISB. Stock, except LEER bed topper and twin muffler exhaust. 180,000 miles at 4,625-hrs @ 39 mph. 15-cpm solo, 25-cpm towing. (22-mpg avg past 37k)
Fuel Log
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08-27-2011, 04:07 PM
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#4 (permalink)
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Master EcoModder
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photos doubtful today
Two Saturdays in a row Al is swamped.Store closes in 55-minutes. Doesn't look good as far as photos go.  |
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09-03-2011, 04:37 PM
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#5 (permalink)
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Master EcoModder
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Photos
Here are 3-views of the critter:
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09-03-2011, 06:22 PM
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#6 (permalink)
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EcoModding Lurker
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Interesting! It sure seems to aid with visibility compared to a full aero cover.
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09-19-2011, 11:20 PM
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#7 (permalink)
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Master EcoModder
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visibility
Quote:
Originally Posted by dkruitz
Interesting! It sure seems to aid with visibility compared to a full aero cover.
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Gilkison never overcame the issue of direct rear vision.Backup cameras would help today,but they were barely on the market at that time.
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