nissan kingcab aerocap

[jerryd]

Your FG problems come from inexperience. Better would be just seal it with epoxy meant for sealing wood then just sanding, painting it.

Next on aero you need smaller LRR tires with more air pressure and lower the whole truck quite a bit would do as much or more increasing mileage as the cap. Then an air dam or belly pan can help.

Wheel wells are your next big mileage stealer which need a lot of work on yours as they are bad. Remove the flares, put rear wheel skirts will give you a 10% mileage increase.

Nice looking and a good start.

[sepp]

i have a new thread on this forum with my second attempt at an improved cap.

can you give me some more details about that epoxy? i was going to buy polyester resin again to do the shapy parts of my new cap, this time to be applied partially on wood and on styrofoam. would epoxy be better, cheaper, more easy? i do need it to be 1mm thick, so it evens out with the alumium plates.

thank you for the other comments, my tires are pretty recent and i don't think i can get much smaller ones without getting new rims aswell.
covering my wheel wells is something i have been thinking, experimenting and working on for a long time and i want to find a solution, the problem is that the wheels stick out of the body, and only the extreme upper part is covered by the fenders, so i can't just slam something on it to close the gaps. i will need to make a complex 3d shaped part.

my first mod was to remove the mud flaps, but a few days later the sides of the pickup were entirely covered with a thick coat of mud (and i don't do offroad or anything) so they are back on unfortunately.

about the height, i actually lifted the pickup! you can't touch the rear height without expensive new parts, but the front can be lowered or lifted by turning a simple bolt underneath the car. and i actually lifted the front so that the chassis is horizontal when there is no load on the rear. otherwise it feels like the entire truck is one big spoiler, creating vacume underneath it.

and i need it to be as high, today i had to take a road where i could hear the rocks and grond flirting with my chassis.

[jerryd]

Hi,
Comments interspaced.

Originally Posted by sepp

i have a new thread on this forum with my second attempt at an improved cap.

can you give me some more details about that epoxy? i was going to buy polyester resin again to do the shapy parts of my new cap, this time to be applied partially on wood and on styrofoam. would epoxy be better, cheaper, more easy? i do need it to be 1mm thick, so it evens out with the alumium plates.

JD There are 1,000's of epoxies. A good hard one like WEST System or other found in boat stores are places you can find them. Polyester will melt Styrofoam anyway. It can be thickened with talc, micro-balloons, ect. Each epoxy works at different speeds, temps usually about 60F or supply heat to cure as it doesn't dry.
Or probably as good a wood sealer from a paint store. Secret is a tight wood grain that's well dried. You'd need layer to get to 1mil.
They make bendy plywood call Hoop plywood you can get from places like Aircraft Spruce, better cabinet suppliers could be better than finishing off Styro/FG. Can bend in a 6" radius. Are you US or UK?
You might try thicker ply and use less framing. Sign board is good because it doesn't crack/check.


thank you for the other comments, my tires are pretty recent and i don't think i can get much smaller ones without getting new rims aswell.

Smaller rims are cheap at your local U-pull it and can make a big improvement with LRR tires. Maybe at next tire replacement or find a new Nissan owner who wants to trade stock ones for yours.


covering my wheel wells is something i have been thinking, experimenting and working on for a long time and i want to find a solution, the problem is that the wheels stick out of the body, and only the extreme upper part is covered by the fenders, so i can't just slam something on it to close the gaps. i will need to make a complex 3d shaped part.

my first mod was to remove the mud flaps, but a few days later the sides of the pickup were entirely covered with a thick coat of mud (and i don't do offroad or anything) so they are back on unfortunately.

JD This would be solved most likely with different rims with a better offset so the tires are inside the body then the skirts can be flush. Maybe your rims can be turned 180Deg?

about the height, i actually lifted the pickup! you can't touch the rear height without expensive new parts, but the front can be lowered or lifted by turning a simple bolt underneath the car. and i actually lifted the front so that the chassis is horizontal when there is no load on the rear. otherwise it feels like the entire truck is one big spoiler, creating vacuum underneath it.

JD But you'd alway be going down hill !! ;^P Since you can't lower then a body pan is useful.

and i need it to be as high, today i had to take a road where i could hear the rocks and ground flirting with my chassis.

JD That's a rough road,

Jerry Dycus

[winkosmosis]

I don't understand why people say a vehicle needs to be low. It doesn't matter how much air is moving under the vehicle. What matters is the drag on the parts hanging down. If the body directs air under the car and compresses it, more height would reduce drag.

Someone posted an study or something a while back about height of the vehicle, and it addressed the myth of distance from the ground and drag.

The only bad part about lifting is exposing more suspension and tires to the airstream.

[sepp]

thats my thought aswell, but no matter how high or low your body is, your rear axle will always be at the same height unless you have independant wheel suspension.