Commercially produced aerodynamic pickup bed cap

[tomi_k]

Thanks, freebeard ! Didn't know how that those pic links work....

For the tufts - No, that pic is before the tuft test....

[tomi_k]

This is first tuft test...

[tomi_k]

Toyota Tundra 2011, 5.7litre (4x4): EPA (hwy) - 13.84liters / 100km (16.99mpg)

-Standard setup (no caps, no tonneau cover or any other mods): 13.8-14.2 liters / 100km, target speed of 110km/h.

-Today's best so far (with the cap and the rear box (already modified from the above pic)) : 11.20liters / 100km (21mpg), close to 200km ride, target speed of 110km/h.

[freebeard]

That's a respectable improvement. How do you plan to finish it? Paint? Vinyl wrap? Female mold?

The next opportunity might be from the rear axle to the rear bumper. Any plans there?

[Piotrsko]

Hmmmm. Impressive flow across the top, might he want a fence of some sort along the top crease to keep the side flow from mixing? And vortice generators ahead of the tail lights.

[tomi_k]

11.20liters / 100km record was achieved with fins on both sides of the tail box (not above picture)... it was a "quick" hack but basic idea was to reduce "vortices" around the tail lights as seen on earlier tuft tests...

Prior above, the previous record was hovering around 11.7-12.2liters / 100km (2 x 200km driving distance, comparable to current record as weather keeps changing now drastically)...

[tomi_k]

Freebeard : Plan was to use that as a fiber glass plug but we will see how it goes... reason for not "sealing" the surface yet is purely to see if other mods needs to be made.... and first want to finalize the tail box a bit more... its gone through changes and now already making revision 3.0 of it.... lol

For the bottom side - yes, ideas / plans are there but haven't had a chance to look into details how the actual bottom of the truck looks like... have been there million times but not for this purposes... but yes, it's coming stay tuned...

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by tomi_k

This is first tuft test...

* side flank flow seeking lower pressure above roofline, as would be expected, but gentle intersections, no tuft 'flight', no obvious flow reversion, and probably zero attached vortex pair.
* adding side fairings, with Plexiglass fairings over the taillight lenses to the tail lid tail, which integrate around the top and bottom box radii surrounding the taillights would kill the separation bubbles, for a little additional drag reduction.
* a plan-taper tail section under the tailgate, even at the bottom with the diffuser upslope would optimize the whole kit.
Nice clean separation! The atmosphere thanks you and so do I. It'll be cool to see the underbody done up.
BamZipPow's Toyota T-100 diffuser section's attachment included the rear axle itself, and floated up and down with the suspension travel, simplifying gap issues for the belly pan. He's got a thread for it somewhere here at the Forum. If you haven't seen it, it 's worth a look.
Nice work!

[freebeard]

It's worth a look:
ecomodder.com/forum/google_search_results.php?q=BamZipPow%27s+Toyota+T-100 About 448 results (0.39 seconds)

ecomodder.com: Reddit has a little freakout over Bam Zip Pow's aero pickup & boat tail trailer

It would cost a whole lot more and be a ton more work to lower the truck 4" than the method I'm using now. At least I can return my truck back to full stock in about an hour. Can't say or do that with a lowered truck.

I'm not sure if I'm the only one using a dropped belly pan system. It looks that way so far...trail blazer!

ecomodder.com: T-100 belly pan... This one would be interesting except that the pictures were hosted off-site and are now missing. /ecomodder.com: Partial rear wheel skirts/deflectors? (Always post from Ecomodder albums). There is a similar post at Post #24.

[tomi_k]

Thanks to all for compliments and encouraging words... Head is full of ideas and there are more ideas than time to complete them, at the moment, but I tackle all big topics first... one by one....
Comments like this encourages a newbie like myself to keep going and trying harder... Lots of questions ahead so be warned.... lol.

And thank you for sharing additional links which most likely would have missed - appreciated !