Commercially produced aerodynamic pickup bed cap

[bondo]

Welcome to ecomodder windrider919.

You make a world of sense in your post. I have been mainly working at finding capital or selling the idea to an existing manufacturer. I have not considered taking deposits on orders and filling them as they come. It does make sense.

My biggest hurdle is it is just me building them. I would have to hire someone to help me. To lift one of these units on and off of a pickup bed by yourself is difficult, not to mention to do the fiberglass layup singlehandedly. However, taking deposits would allow me to have the money to hire some help.

A fiberglass fabrication company here in Arkansas presently has my molds. They are doing a cost study by making a few parts. If they agree to do the fiberglass fabrication for me that would help greatly. If they decline, there is a shop in Texas I am in communication with. I think they would be a better fit.

I will soon have the tooling for the 2009 F-150 done. Then I will start a contract with one of my clients for a few months in addition to having a job in house presently which I have to joggle my time between doing the Aerolid tooling and the paying contract job. You know how that is doing contract work yourself, you can't pass up any work. But, to get the Aerolid going, your suggested approach to getting if off the ground makes perfect sense. Having sales figures and positive feedback from people who buy one, like round.boater, may well be the enticement I have been lacking to get the attention of a major manufacturer of truck caps who could produce the product in volume and provide the all important marketing.

Thanks again for your common sense advice windrider.

Neil, I have a patent pending which I filed in latter 2007 with some good solid claims. I was suprised to see that there was no prior art in existing patents which might block allowance of these claims.

Have a good weekend,

Bondo

[Big Dave]

Hang in there, Brett. Life rewards persistence.

How different is a F-150 from a Super Duty in terms of bed configuration and cab hight above the bed rail. My Super Duty is 24 inches above the bed rail.

[Dieselman]

Originally Posted by bondo

Neil, I have a patent pending which I filed in latter 2007 with some good solid claims. I was suprised to see that there was no prior art in existing patents which might block allowance of these claims.

I'm surpriese there isn't a patent already on this (if it's allowed as a concept) as I've already seen a pickup with a very similar hardtop installed a few times recently.

I'm sure there is a market, just advertise and see, if only on ebay for starters.

[Bicycle Bob]

On average, it takes $14 million in gross annual sales to support the legal work on one patent. When he invented the Dune Buggy, Bruce Myers got both patent and copyright, and got busy producing. Two years later, when he started to get caught up on the orders, he noticed that he only had 15% of the market. Fiberglass is notoriously easy to copy. So he called the lawyers to see what they could do, and went broke. James Lancaster has a nice essay urging inventors to concentrate on either leading the market, or publishing everything in hopes of being offered a salary to shut up. The new laws about "first to file" spoil the second option, but getting to market first is still a good plan. Some people will always want the latest and best, and others will prefer to patronize the originator. The rest of the money goes to the sharks, but one can still make a living while they try to make a killing.

[bondo]

Hey Big Dave,

Looks like my cab height is about 22 inches above the bed rail. The width of the bed, just behind the cab is about 73 inches. Lenght of bed from just behind cab to end of tailgate at center line is about 83 inches.

The Super Dutys are just bigger trucks. They have to move alot more air too. I am very suprised at the good fuel economy the the new 2009 F-150 is getting, about 20 mpg with no lid! I still think 25 mpg may be reached after installation of the aerodynamic cap.

Yes Bicycle Bob fiberglass is very easy to copy. Most people who design a body or shape out of fiberglass file for a Design Patent. I hope the Utility Patent I have filed for should allow some legal protection. In addition to the aerodynamic shape of the top increasing fuel efficiency of the host truck, my patent includes the pop up camper aspect of the product also.

Bondo

[smt0954]

Bondo:
email me offline
i'm here in central arkansas
would like meet and greet
might be able to help you financially
Steve T

[Trojan00]

Bondo,

I have read most of this tread - there is a lot of great stuff being said and your product ROCKS!!

I live on the East Coast now, but just coming from the West Coast, I truely think your product would sell like hotcakes out there.

I am one of those that has a truck to pull our 28' Airstream for road trips, an infrequent large Home Depot run, and just in case I need to move one of my bikes. I really only use it to commute when it rains and when the wife says that she worries about me driving the motorcycle into work. Put me on your list of orders and let me know when I can put down a deposit for a Chevy regular bed Areolid.

Cheers,

Trojan00

[bondo]

There are some great folks who hang out here and they have alot of knowledge between them to boot.

Thanks for the interest in the Aerolid and I will let you know when a GMC/Chevy Truck Aerolid is available. There may be some capital avialable in the near future and we will definitely be tooling up for the Chevy regular bed.

Thanks again,

Bondo

[Frank Lee]

Hot Rod magazine online links to this thread!

HOT ROD Fuel Economy | Editorials Blog & Discussions at Hot Rod Magazine

[bondo]

Thanks Frank Lee for posting the link to the Hot Rod Magazine blog. It is good to see even Hot Rod Magazine is thinking about fuel efficiency.

Here are some pictures of my 2009 F-150 with an Aerolid re-tooled to fit it. Just finished it yesterday. Can't wait to do some road testing. Round.boater is knocking on 25 mpg with his Aeroild. I would love to post some MPG figures in the same range with the 2009 F-150.

Bondo