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Originally Posted by CFECO
Has anyone thought about, or aero-tested a pick-up truck which has been raised, with tire fairings? My thought, since we cannot lower the vehicle ALL the way to the ground where there would be 0 flow under the truck, if it was raised with a belly pan and rounded front bumper we could allow the air to flow under more freely. The Aptera does this. From the side, picture an aircraft wing. Just a thought...
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If you can gain access to one of Hucho's books,he's got some data on ground-effect,and the relationship between ground proximity and drag coefficient.
With a pickup,your going to be in a dark zone,data wise,as very little is done in wind tunnels with respect to off road vehicles.
*Raising the truck will degrade its fineness-ratio ( length/height) and typically this will increase drag.( strike - 1 )
*as mentioned,your adding frontal area ( strike- 2)
*in low drag vehicles,even with full belly pans,active suspension is used to lower the vehicle at speed to lower frontal area and Cd. ( strike-3 )
* in low drag vehicles,in addition to lowering,an active airdam is lowered to block off as much air from beneath the vehicle as possible. ( strike-4 )
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*Western Washington University's Viking series of cars used a 'raised' floor with inverted airfoil section.These cars did not demonstrate remarkably low drag. ( strike - 5 )
* Raising the truck raises the center-of-gravity and can seriously affect stability ( roll-over ) (strike-6 )[ If your not killed outright,you may be spending the rest of your life in a wheelchair].
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We have a raised Toyota pickup out here where I live.It can no longer negotiate an uphill grade without losing speed and forcing a downshift,something that was not an issue at the lower height.
* to mitigate this we're planning a full-depth wrap-around airdam,as low as the lowest suspension member.
* grille-block
* the original truck cap will be re-installed
* fairings for the tire faces are planned
* maybe trailing fairings for the tires as well
* probably no belly pan 'til we see what the other mods do.
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I would recommend that you leave the height as is and go after your other mods.Safety first!
