Quote:
Originally Posted by bikeprof
As you know, the trailer is 8O% of the combination. LOTS of damage to the air is created by the tail end, so..., if we were to improve the tail end and create flowing instead of waterfalling, then the FUEL(in this case, FUEL/Diesel) economy would be GREAT!
I'm not going into description but many items can be done to improve the air CHAOS out of the back end.
I drove a truck,(owned few trucks), and I would try to keep the Diesel MPG's at about 7.57+(real figures) to an all time high(3 trips loaded), at 9.40 !
Mind you, '00 Freightliner Century/500 Cummins/10SP & 48' Flatbed spread, net combination lbs: 32,000+/- ~78,500 loaded
Without any MODS 'cept the nut behind the wheel.
Good stuff can come out of want and some technology :-)))))
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Boat-tailing has been promoted since the US Civil War
It gets revisited from time to time,but $-trillions are already invested in what is commonly seen.
Capitalists want at least 12-years to modify the portfolios,milking existing investments for all they can get.
It may take Wal Mart to affect a real change.They own their fleet.It's a large fleet.And they'd make free money as some point after amortization,which could lead to ever lower prices,or ever larger profits to shareholders,or some of both.
As Hucho said the the 1980s,low drag is not a question of technical feasibility but rather the decision-makers choice of what to build.
Many would be frightened at the spectre of a design revolution vs slow,incremental change.Grand gestures are hard to pull off in the marketplace.
Even Daimler-Benz shareholders won't want the new Freightliner to obsolete their current product offerings.