Well, for my first post on this forum I figured I'd jump in head first with an idea I've been toying around with for some time.
My good friend drives over a hundred miles on an average work day, moving from jobsites to scrap yards and back again. He currently drives a 2001 Toyota Tacoma 4x2 Manual pickup single cab, with the smaller engine. His mileage sucks, and me being the local mechanic to all my friends, have made various suggestions to improve his efficiency. Easy things like replacing the fuel filter, the spark plugs, the air filter, cleaning his MAF, checking tire pressure, ect. This has netted him about 3 - 4 MPG increase combined with the "new" driving habits I have taught him.
We have been discussing ways of further increasing his mileage and I've come up with some ideas. Obviously, the majority of efficiency loss on this vehicle is from the horrific aerodynamics. Some ideas for helping this have included a suspension drop to bring the vehicle down lower, along with various body modifications... from simple to rather complex.
The simple things, shaving antennii, badges, smooth hubcaps, mirrors and the like are self explanitory, but we have been thinking of some major projects like a tapered bed-cover (but he needs it to be able to open because, it is in fact a truck and he needs the bed, but never really fills the bed up past the edges), a front air dam, underbody panels, wheel spoilers, smoother the rear bumpers, and connecting the cab to the bed.
Some of this we have been thinking would be best done in fiberglass, namely the front bumper and the bed topper, but for the rest we have been thinking about ABS plastis or even vinyl for things like the cab to bed transition.
Here is my cheap attempt at a photoshop of the ideas we have been discussing.
I was wondering if anyone had any input on what sort of improvements we would gain from this. The vehicle MUST remain useful as a beast of burden
, so no wheel well covers as the truck will travel through construction sites.
-Cheers, Justin