Commercially produced aerodynamic pickup bed cap

[Hermie]

The airflow will still be highly turbulent and circulate behind it.

If you've ever laid in the back of a truck while it's moving, you'll learn the airflow. In the bed, air flows towards the cab.

I've heard mention that simply removing the tailgate has no effect on MPGs.

I'd like to see the study for myself.

[bluetwo]

I'd like to see it too, and know more about areodynamics at highway speeds. It's too bad there aren't a lot more people into saving money this way and making trucks cut through the air better.

I'm really more about trying to make my Civic more economical but it wouldn't hurt for those times when I have to use the truck.

[bondo]

Smoke test in Mooresville A2 wind tunnel. Smoke shows clean separation of air without a spoiler. This is the same wind tunnel Leer tested their tonneau cover in. I learned that the baseline Cd number was the same for Leer's F-150 as it was for the F-150 we tested the aerodynamic cap on.

When the results of the wind tunnel tests were compared, from the same tunnel and same baseline number, the aerodynamic cap proved to be twice as effective in reducing the aerodynamic drag of the F-150 pickup truck over the reduction in Cd gained from the Leer bed cover.

I have a new 2009 F-150 in my shop now. I can't wait to get the next generation aero cap finished and on the truck for road tests. 25 mpg highway may not be out of the question.

Bondo

[bluetwo]

^^^ That's awesome! To think you could take something that is a total turd on FE and make it so much better, even though 25 isn't good to a lot of people, I know it's not always that easy to get even with a smaller truck.

Thanks!

[SVOboy]

Gonna talk to dealerships about marketing these things on the spot?

[Chris D.]

these done yet? me wanty..

[cerondipity]

Brett- your design is nice for the weekend warrior but (I hate to say this) will not cut it for the construction worker who uses his truck for full time income. Two design points are missing.

[Chris D.]

Originally Posted by cerondipity

Brett- your design is nice for the weekend warrior but (I hate to say this) will not cut it for the construction worker who uses his truck for full time income. Two design points are missing.

what two design points are you talking about?
I highly doubt someone thats into construction would want an
areo type shell due to the lack of space to store tools for work..

about the only thing I can think of would be flush mounted
windows insted of ones with a frame to smooth the look out..

[bluetwo]

Originally Posted by cerondipity

Brett- your design is nice for the weekend warrior but (I hate to say this) will not cut it for the construction worker who uses his truck for full time income. Two design points are missing.

That's ok though, at least where I'm from, because even though it sometimes seems like 7 out of 10 vehicles are trucks very, very, very few of them use thier truck regularly, like construction workers do. It's sad that so many people have trucks and only use them once or twice a year for the bed or for towing and the rest of the year it's just a commuter "car".

I know with me it would be great though because I do use my truck to tow and haul quite a bit more than that and in fact when I travel I use my truck because it's newer and doesn't (hopefully) have the potential reliability issues of my 10 year old Civic.

[NeilBlanchard]

Hi,

Have you looked earlier in the thread? The cap "expands" up for when you need the room underneath it.