Hi ecomodder world, thanks to all again for the input on trailer design
. I just though I’d let you know my final choice and reasons. I say final because the Harbor Freight Trailer is built and painted. And today I spend a couple hours of quality time at Home Depot. I’m ready to cut wood tomorrow.
1. I did bring the rear up to match the aero shape and also the initial round down in the front.
2. I did taper inward the front. Where I began the taper inward at the front I went with straight sections to minimize work. The taper forward serves two purposes. First it allows tight turn radius of with the Matrix giving about +/- 60 deg swing without binding. Next it fills in some of the space between the Matrix and trailer. Hoping this gives a smother transition to the air.
3. I didn’t aero wing shape the sides in plan view. While I understand there is increased drag with straight sides there were several overriding factors. First is the great increase in built complexity and therefor time and money. No real increase functionality in the interior space. Next the added width causes questionable rearward visibility and would need mirror extensions. Overall trailer width would have been about 5’ 3” the Matrix is 5’ 1”. And finally and possibly most important the rear couple feet of the trailer would not be visible at all due to the inward taper. I worried greatly over the fact that my wife will be the prime driver and judging the length would be difficult.
4. I did not radius the edges. Difficulty and time again.
5. I did stretch the overall length from 8’ to 12’. This give a better aero shape and gives valuable interior volume. While the departure angle of the trailer dropped from 20deg to 15deg this this is functionally alright. The departure angle of the cars hitch is about 15deg which means this is the overall max anyway.
Ed
