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Originally Posted by kach22i
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1. this is the boat tail in its embryonic state.It's only for road trips.
2. this tail,with additional mods is what I ran at Bonneville.It was missing the Plex' tail light covers but did have the completed fenestrations which box in the sides,morphing to the side contour of the truck bed.Also there is a top 'stinger' which completes 'poco loco',the Chrysler Marine' boat hull-derived aeroshell.And I should mention that poco loco finally received fairings on each side to integrate to the cab sides and kill the turbulence in those pockets.Also,There is a backwards-facing airtight Plexiglass backlight.
3. I remove the tailgate for the install as a weight-saving measure,and it rests on the bumper top with steel strap attachments at top,is through-bolted in the bumper,pop-riveted to the box sides through aluminum sheet,and screw-attached where the tails belly integrates into the trucks diffuser.
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I've never done a build thread.
*It's designed to Mair's specifications for boat tails,initiating its contour on top right at the tailgate since the box has no curvature do to the box rails.
*The sides continue the existing curvature provided from Toyota which begin around halfway over the rear wheels.
*The bottom projects along the upward 2.5-degree diffuser angle.
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*The superstructure is 3/4-inch (19mm) exterior grade plywood (sides and floor,diffuser and fenestration stringers).Glued and screwed.
*Major skin area is 1/8-inch Luan plywood attached with drywall screws
*Integration into box contour,above and below the tailights, is with open-cell Styrofoam with blocking coats of Elmer's yellow construction glue,sealed with Minwax polyurethane spar varnish,and primed/top-coated with Auto Zone's and O'Reilley's rattle-can gray primer and acrylic lacquer.
*The diffuser area is sheet aluminum,screwed to the plywood.
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*On the Bonneville trip she helped with 32-mpg at up to 75-mph.
*The last 1,200-miles were at 65-mph and I think (would need to verify) I was seeing 36-37-mpg.
*I've never seen over 39-mpg.
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I have an 18-inch stinger to add to the tail which I'll run next year at the A-2 Tunnel and in between with the road testing.This added length will take me to the 'phantom-tail' territory.
I'd hoped to have it for Bonneville but just couldn't get it completed enough for the trip.These projects take hundreds of man-hours.Some are over 800-hours so far.And they look like ---t.
