Another truck aero cap idea...

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Here's a close up of my seal which I made from the inner liner extra by folding it into pleats.


I also replaced the front hatch pivot bolts with a pair of hitch pins. No tools needed to remove the hatch now.

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During the drive, the folded rain channel pulled out and the exterior Tyvek covering slightly inflates during the drive. I knew this would happen but had to experiment to see if it really would.

I know how to fix this by doing the same thing as the top hatch panel...wrap it like a Christmas present! I'll be able to then tape in a rain channel and secure it to the main rail.

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Made a few more changes...

Reinstalled the old J channels just in case my folded seals don't hold up.

Moved the gas struts from the rear to the middle as this will allow more clearance in the back.






Spliced the rear window halves together and added magnets to keep the window opened when the hatch is open or closed on the tail gate to keep it from flying open while driving.

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Finally got some time to work on the aero cap, so I Christmas wrapped the side panels the way it should've been when I started the new refit.

I also added in some rear supports on the side panels where they extend past the tailgate.

Now when I need to make a change to the side panels, it will be rather easy to pull the panel, make the mods, and reinstall...just like the front fenders.

I ended up painting the side panels black but left the top hatch white.

I finally installed some front supports fer the front edge of the side panels. It now matches up nicely with the trailing part of the front access covers.

I flattened out the center front edge of the hatch just a little bit and screwed it down so it won't have a tendency to lift up at speed now. At 110mph (verified with two GPS units and not the speedometer), it did lift up just enough to flutter a little bit. I'll probably add some aluminum flashing on the front edge to keep the upper access door from wearing into the hatch Tyvek cover.

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What my aero cap and trailer looks like from above...


The trailer was detached from truck as I was in the middle of painting the aero cap side panels black. I only had the left side done when this shot was taken. The hatch is in the up position.

[jedi_sol]

LOL, i've also tried looking for my car on google satellite view over the years

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Working on better support fer the truck/trailer gap covers...



Building a template fer the 3'x6' (4 each) acrylic sheets I got fer free!




Tomorrow will be a big day to git the gap covers started (and hopefully done). I will have to revamp the trailer swing doors a little to accommodate the clear gap covers as well.

I did notice that the new horizontal extensions seemed to allow the truck to coast much easier this time around.

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Finally got to cutting out the gap cover panels...28" x 35".

Had a crazy idea I want to try instead of putting the cover at the end of the tail light. I want to try placing the cover along side the bedside so it will have a better aerodynamic shape. It will be attached to the main bed rail with hinges as well as the supporting cover off of the aero cap sides. I know I need to install a bottom rail so I can lock the cover down from swinging open while I'm driving...probably similar to my front gap covers. I'll try to shape the panel with my heat gun so it will better match the contours of the bedside.

A quick mock up with tape...

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Trying to come up with a method to support the gap cover as well as making it easy to install/remove. I'm thinking of using some slotted angle and mounting the hinges on that. I should be able to bolt the setup to my main bed rail fer easy installation/removal using 2 bolts per side. The hinges will allow me to lift the cover up so I can gain access to the back of the truck.

I can re-shape the slotted angle to fit the bed rail angle and keep the rest of the slotted angle at it's normal 90° angle.

I will probably have to reinforce the gap cover's bottom edge so it will follow the contour. Shelving rails to the rescue!

I will probably use eye bolts to secure the bottom of the gap cover similar to the method I use fer the aero cap front gap covers. It's been working well there...

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A quick fab of the rails...




A quick mock up of the gap cover on the right side...