Front skirt idea

[ShadeTreeMech]

I have an idea for a front wheel skirt that would likely work really well.

Build a skirt that fits in the fender opening exactly. Hang the bracing for the skirt from a pivot at the top of the fender opening so the skirt is able to mimic the turning motions of the wheel. Build a swing arm on the frame of the skirt which would link to the steering mechanism so that the skirt will steer like the wheel, and effectively stay out of the way. On the inside of the skirt build a semispherical extension that will keep the skirt shielded from high speed air for the common degrees of turning; it wouldn't be necessary for the extremes of turning necessary for parking, only for the 10 to 15 degrees needed for driving.

What I'm imagining is somewhat like the front fenders that were mounted to the plymouth prowler, which are really mounted to the suspension, but have it modified to be able to work inside of the fender, and of course adding the skirts.

[NeilBlanchard]

You have just about read my mind! The only difference between your description and my concept was that I was imagining a hinge in place of the pivot, so that only the part that needs to stick out, would move; leaving the other portion sitting flush.

[SvdM]

I imagine a vertical hinge for this design with its 10° turning play. I imagine though that this 10° play will result in the flap being delayed in closing and returning to its zero position so some sort of slight spring tension would be needed in both directions with perhaps a detent [ballbearing and spring] on the zero position to guarantee the accuracy of the zero position... does my method sound too complicated?

[NeilBlanchard]

One point that has not been mentioned: at highway speeds, the wheels only have to be turned a small angle, and there should be enough space to do this *without* moving the skirts.

[Daox]

I moved these posts to clean up the Dolphin thread and give this idea its own attention.

[azaviator]

I'm not sure that I have the ability required to fabricate something of this nature, but I can tell you I WILL be watching this thread VERY closely...

[ShadeTreeMech]

goodness, I think I actually had a good idea! Didn't think I had started a thread on it....thanks Daox.

As much as I like the idea of a front wheel skirt, I don't like what I've seen in the way of being actually put on a car. I want it to look good. Piwoslaw had the right idea when he modded his car; make it look factory. Not being familiar with his model of car, I had no idea looking at the thumbnail of his car that it wasn't stock!

I'm thinking the easiest way is to get a trailer fender that would fit over my tires and use that as a foundation to build onto. My major concern is combining the steering aspect with suspension flex, but attaching it to the fender as well and having an allowance for the wheel to move up and down "should" be doable.

[NachtRitter]

The skirts XJGuy found on production busses (in this thread: Front skirts in production)look very interesting... figuring out the mechanism they use would probably be very enlightening!