In respect for
http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...-cab-3996.html I felt a separate thread was appropriate for this topic.
Quote:
Originally Posted by kach22i
I saw in another forum where the leading edge was not flush/sealed and the owner was not happy with the results. Everyone in that forum pointed out the flaw.
Could you just leave the glass lid open and have that act as a RV deflector?
Slide Hitch/Short Cap
 |
Indeed! Originally the hatch doubled as a deflector.
Albeit limited functionality. The gas struts held it up fully sitting still. On the open highway the wind had it pushed down to a pretty low angle. While putzing along back roads at lower speeds it stayed angled up enough to deflect bugs noticeably. Rigid supports could have been interesting. (shrug)
I should mention that while aerodynamics is important it is not always top priority. For me safety and usability of the vehicle come first. Then I aim to get high bang for the buck. If starting from scratch building a truck bed and/or trailer I would no doubt end up with something
very different.
That background may help explain the method to my madness. Here's a bit of relevant geometry that seems worth mentioning. My truck bed is 6.5' long with the trailer hitch pivot point in the middle. The bed area breaks down roughly into thirds. The short cap closes the front 2' of the box. The leading edge of the trailer overhangs the rear third of the bed.
Normally with this rig the gap between truck cab and trailer nose would be about 4' so the short cap cuts that in half. The middle third is mechanically open for articulation but that gap is partially filled with a generator cantilevered off the nose of the trailer over the hitch point so it more or less pivots on itself as the trailer turns. As such the gap between truck and trailer is now down to inches.
My motivation for a cab deflector on top of the short cap is manifold. I'd like to blow more bugs around the trailer. When driving in rain I'd like less spray to hit the generator directly. It may not do a lot of good aero wise but it could do a little and should not do any harm.
In keeping with RVer's Rule #1 -- that every item serves at least two purposes -- my cab deflector project has at least two phases. Initially, I plan to just install a fiberglass deflector like
this. Eventually, replace the fiberglass sheet with a solar panel.