Wheel skirts = increased heat? - Fuel Economy, Hypermiling, EcoModding News and Forum

capnbass91 · 05-06-2011, 11:57 PM

I plan on putting wheel skirts on my car, my dad says that this would cause the tires/(mainly) brakes to get too hot? I can understand how they might get a little hotter cuz there's reduced airflow to cool them, but would they get dangerously hot? This ever happen to anyone?

vskid3 · 05-07-2011, 12:19 AM

My dad said the same thing. As long as you aren't driving like you're doing autocross, you should be fine.

cfg83 · 05-07-2011, 12:24 AM

capnbass91 -

I will say no because older cars with older tire technology didn't have this problem (right?!?!?!?) :

And you can get aftemarket wheel skirts for retro-designs like the PT Cruiser :

Also, if you drive the way we do, the goal is to reduce your brake usage, further cooling them off.

CarloSW2

capnbass91 · 05-07-2011, 02:46 AM

Yeah that's what I was thinking!

Good point with the older cars, like a 40s/50s Cadillac.

NeilBlanchard · 05-07-2011, 07:38 AM

My brake wear is much lower now that I am ecodriving. If you got hot brakes, you are not doing it right...

Ryland · 05-07-2011, 07:57 AM

Next time you are on the interstate pull off on a rest stop and see how hot your brakes are, you've come to a stop at that point and there is no air flow over them, it is situations like that where they are going to get the hottest unless you drive down long mouton passes.
But my point is, alot of the time you are using your brakes and stopping and not going again for a bit, even at a stop light you are stopping for a minute or so with no air flow at all and altho it would be nice to get ride of the air movement around your tires all together it is not going to happen.

Varn · 05-07-2011, 08:57 AM

Increased heat, yes. Shortened brake life, probably, depending on where you live and how you drive. Decreased safety, depends if your brakes are worn. Does it offset the gain in fuel?

Piwoslaw · 05-07-2011, 12:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by capnbass91

I plan on putting wheel skirts on my car, my dad says that this would cause the tires/(mainly) brakes to get too hot? I can understand how they might get a little hotter cuz there's reduced airflow to cool them, but would they get dangerously hot?

I heard the same from my dad-in-law when I first put my skirts on.
And from my brother-in-law, who is a mechanic. Since then he's been telling me that all of my brake problems are from lack of use

The only time my brakes overheated was when my handbrake froze (-20°C/-4F°) and stuck for 30km. When I got home the rear pads were worn down and the discs were blue. This was before I installed rear skirts.

hoopty_yo · 05-09-2011, 02:37 AM

I'll agree. Probably won't see much heat difference on the rear. Rear brakes don't do a lot of the braking force on a FWD car, therefore don't heat up nearly as fast as the fronts can. (Weight bias to the front) There's a reason the master cylinder is seperated into diagonal circuits (LF/RR & RF/LR). If you should lose front brakes, there isn't a lot of hope for stopping you with the rears only.
So...I could see front skirts creating a cooling issue, probably not so much with the rear, as long as you drive in a sane fashion.

lunarhighway · 05-09-2011, 05:16 AM

i don't think this is ever gonna be an issue unless you live in the hills or something, (and than propper braking techiques should be used anyway to prevent overheating)

if you think break cooling will be an ussue why not install louvres on the wheel skirt... with the attached flow going over these vents i'd suck the hot air right out, you could even have a naca intake in the front of the skirt and louvres in the back..(that's added drag again, but in the end still better than an open wheel well) or just have a partial wheel skirt that covers the top halve of the tire...