truck tailgate mods

[radioranger]

I saw an article that showed a folding rear door cover on a big semi that brought the airflow in after the end of the trailer, question , has any one tried to add a extension to the top of the tailgate lip to effectively slowly bring the air back further before it mixes with the other turbulent air from under the truck I thought of this also because Chevy claims their new tailgate spoiler increases mileage,, the top plastic piece screwed to the tailgate has a flat extended surface, why not stretch it back a foot more or whatever will work , same thing under the rear bumper , add a piece of material to extend the airflow further back any ideas seems like an easy mod, or a flat bed cover could stretch back past the gate.

[Frank Lee]

It's worth further investigation.

[Sven7]

I like this idea... kind of a Bonneville LSR kind of thing. Why not throw a piece of plywood over the whole bed and just let it hang out a bit? You'd have to watch for vortexes though. Maybe some vertical stabilizer fins on the extension would help.

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by radioranger

I saw an article that showed a folding rear door cover on a big semi that brought the airflow in after the end of the trailer, question , has any one tried to add a extension to the top of the tailgate lip to effectively slowly bring the air back further before it mixes with the other turbulent air from under the truck I thought of this also because Chevy claims their new tailgate spoiler increases mileage,, the top plastic piece screwed to the tailgate has a flat extended surface, why not stretch it back a foot more or whatever will work , same thing under the rear bumper , add a piece of material to extend the airflow further back any ideas seems like an easy mod, or a flat bed cover could stretch back past the gate.

The above company won a phase I & II Small Business Innovation Research grant from From DARPA to develop the same sort of thing for 18-wheelers.
They created flat panels which extend straight back,top,sides,and bottom,which capture a locked vortex against the outer face of which the outer flow field skips over,as inside a pickup bed with the gate up.
I did a model study of it and it looked good in the little wind tunnel for what it is.
There would be a very high confidence of success when applied to pickups.
The gap-filler portion of my trailer project is very similar.When closed in to form a short boat-tail they absolutely work.

[bondo]

Radioranger,

It appears GM was issued a patent on January 25, 2011 for the very thing you are talking about, U.S. Patent #7,874,610

link below

Patent Images

The view the above at United States Patent and Trademark Office you will have to download the software to see the images of the patent document. It is free.

Here is a better link at google patents:


http://www.google.nl/patents/US7874610


Bondo

[Diesel_Dave]

I've considered the idea before, that is the foldable boat tail adapted to a pickup. That GM concept looks slightly different.

Bondo, don't you have a cargo carrier "boat tail"?

I actually saw one of the sem devices this morning. He passed me on the highway and I saw the back. It looked like it was one of the foldable tails--except it was folded up. Of course, I had to catch up for a closer examination. The brand said "Trailer Tail". And I had to go about 70 mph in the 55 mph zone the catch up to the guy. Guess the driver didn't get the memo about saving fuel.

[radioranger]

Hey thanks for the positive input , just bought another Ranger today so will be able to mod away the 88 , a perfect box truck if there ever was one !! the other idea I accidentally tried but forgot to confirm is why not carry an upside down rowboat on the back of the truck with the nose of the boat hanging over the gate area?

[Diesel_Dave]

Originally Posted by radioranger

the other idea I accidentally tried but forgot to confirm is why not carry an upside down rowboat on the back of the truck with the nose of the boat hanging over the gate area?

I'm pretty sure that I saw a picture of one of Phil Knox's (aerohead) truck where he did exactly that.

[Diesel_Dave]

Here it is:

[radioranger]

good photo , I was thinking of having the front of the boat facing the rear , I will probably try it come spring , right now the boat is under cover, plus my boat is 12 ft long and the bed 6 ft so have to rig a mount, good thing is you'll just look like a normal red neck fisherman instead of one of those radical ecomodder guys,, guilty as charged !! plus you can always go fishing !