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Old 02-14-2014, 10:38 PM   #147 (permalink)
American Viking
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Location: NJ, for a little bit longer..
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Dad's Jetta - '05 Volkswagen Jetta 2.5l package one
90 day: 23.23 mpg (US)

Black Cherry - '01 Honda VFR800fi
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Quote:
Originally Posted by aerohead View Post
Some thoughts about the photo:
*As low a body as you can stand.
That's why I was thinking of developing a two wheel inline chassis, so that I could cantilever the Channels to either side and keep it as low as possible.

Quote:
Originally Posted by aerohead View Post
*The roof moves away (hinged or parallelogram)for loading/unloading,then lowers and latches for road.
*The roof has 2-blisters (ala Abarth roof) to minimize frontal area,just clearing the bikes when latched.
I thought about the two curve roof similar to a zagato design, split down the middle so that each bike could be accessed separately

Quote:
Originally Posted by aerohead View Post
*Bulbous nose
Well the shape would have to have some compound curves to handle both the two curve roof and a bullet nose. I was thinking of trying to keep it squared below the trunk level and only rounding the portions above the Jetta's trunk.

Quote:
Originally Posted by aerohead View Post
*Sideways canoe fairings over the fenders
If I go with the inline swiveling wheels, then I won't need the side fairing and also won't have to worry about the track. The current trailer can weave if the road is very badly rutted, So I had give some thought to narrowing the trailer. I can't go much more narrow for tire track than inline.

Quote:
Originally Posted by aerohead View Post
*bellypan if you're so inclined
That's definitely a thought.

Quote:
Originally Posted by aerohead View Post
*Any plan-taper that you can get away with on the upper body,above the fender elevation.
Well the only way I see to have a taper is to either narrow the heck out of the current trailer, or build an inline design.

Quote:
Originally Posted by aerohead View Post
*If the back of the Jetta has the Kamm type roofline,it would help kick the air over the trailer.

*If the Jetta is a notchback type car,you might make a faux-Kamm device to kill some of the void between car and trailer.
I plan on filling the space between the trunk of the Jetta and the nose of the trailer as much as possible, that's also driving me to think swiveling inline. The Jetta does not have Kamm rear as you can see here.



The more I think about this the more I come back to building a fixed mount swiveling trailer and here are some other reasons.
1. fixing the swiveling trailer to the Jetta's Bosal hitch will eliminate issues with the long gooseneck tongue on my current trailer. I won't have to cut corners off the trailer and reposition the hitch to close the gap between the car and the trailer.
2. I won't have to figure out how to narrow the trailers wheel track.
3. I won't have to deal with the ramp/gate.
4. With the near vertical opening of the Jetta trunk, I should still be able to access the trunk with the trailer hitched.
5. the trailers overall deck structure will not be need to be as long as the current one.

Off to burn a few hours on AutoCAD.
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Black Cherry (no epa ratings)


Dad's Taxi


The Lead Sled (EV conversion coming soon)
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