[JSH]

Originally Posted by interestingstuff

So, currently I'm researching wheels, hub covers and other components. Both Accuride and Alcoa produce aluminum wheels good for this sort of heavy duty truck. Apparently they have some benefits besides just weight, including extending the life of your tires, and reducing maintenance needs vs steel wheels. I've got some issues I need to solve there, so once I can afford it I will consider aluminum wheels. I'm not sure if I'll be able to find a solution that will also allow for a moon style disc wheel hubcap. Just some interesting links for reference: https://www.todaystrucking.com/showd...-steel-wheels/ https://www.arconic.com/alcoawheels/...heavy-duty.asp https://www.accuridewheelendsolutions.com/

I worked for Alcoa when they first came out with aluminum wheels paired with Michelin super singles. They tested them on our fleet and if I'm remembering correctly replacing 8 dualies with 8 super singles was good for about a 3 - 4% improvement in fuel economy. You save about 400 lbs per axle and the cost is about the same as dually. (The tires are twice as expensive but you only need half as many)


For aero mods, I second the skirts and tail. Anything you can do on a trailer you can do on a truck. Depending on your usage you can reduce the frontal area and reduce drag by dropping the box. Likely your box has a 6 to 12 inch spacer to raise the box to the level of a standard loading dock. If you aren't going to load from a dock you can remove the spacer. You will need to cut and tub the floor of the box for tire clearance. UHaul does this to lower the loading height and improve fuel economy