One wheel trailer as an aero mod??

[luvit]

bah. i tow things all the time. with a double hitch, lightweight trailer on caster, i can't imagine any front wheel drive being affected.

now, a rear wheel drive in the winter or heavy rain may = issues.
anyone would probably remove the trailer just because the car straddles slush and the trailer caster would be in slush 100% of the time.

[Christ]

I tow... lots of things that I probably shouldn't. With vehicles that aren't meant for it.

There's alot to be said for a properly balanced load, I can say that much. A 2.2L I4 5 speed S10 wouldn't tow 7,000 lbs if it wasn't balanced properly. At least it wouldn't be happy about it.

[aerohead]

The trailer pictured is beautifully executed but has very little going for it aerodynamically, as far as drag goes.
I was very encouraged by my trailer and will re-visit it one day.
If you have access to Hucho's work,you'll notice that the tow-vehicle/trailer gap is up to 20% of the drag ( 10% mpg ) and well worth killing.
I've no solution except for the movable gap-fillers.
Bob's comment on oversteer should be taken very seriously,as safety is paramount over all other considerations.
With respect to having a wheel,well,for me,if I'm going to add structure,then I want some synergy.Any support wheel can allow the car to be emptied into the trailer,for extra elbow room.I can sleep in mine.
I'm still crunching numbers on the "Viking" boat tail trailer.In a nutshell,allowing for the winter temps,elevation change over the test course,and added weight,with the gap,the truck/trailer combo has Cd 0.15.
If and when I can repair the damage and fab the gap-fillers,the Cd could go as low as 0.12.Even lower if I will "finish" the T-100.
I'm very confident that the trailer is already demonstrating a net gain in mpg compared to the "naked" T-100.
I believe you will have zero regrets if you pursue this target.

[01FordCrew]

just reading the Post about one wheel trailer aero Mod and thought i'd weigh in with My experience; I traveled to California from just above minnesota with my 07 Sienna. worst MPG 12. 5 best 20.5 us MPG. with Box on the roof and until that awful MPG With 4 Bikes on a rack Behind( approx.3rd tank). Putting the Bikes in the van helped not get 12.5 again. I put a 8' 1 wheel trailer Behind the van with a plywood Box that followed the van's taper, Put the roof Box, Bikes, 2 Kids Kayaks, etc in the trailer and re-turned home. worst MPG U.s.20.9, Best 25.5. I came home with more weight than I came down with and My mpG was improved! I drove through colder weather on the way Back along with snow. highway speeds were similar. Yes! you do deal with oversteer! It still was not as Bad as My 01 forus with a Bad rear alignment. speed was around 65 to 70 Mph. I did some coast down tests with it behind My02 Ford E 350 1st with van loaded with equivical weight to the trailer, and then with weight removed and trailer added to account for inertia and gained More than 2 seconds of coast from 100 kph to 80kph. the trailer shape has not Been Modified from the shape to match the Sienna to match the ford. There is no filler between the van and the trailer, though I Brought the Box as close to the Van as I could without having it hit the Van going through a dip. I also had air Bags on the rear of the Van Both ways to accomodate My Load. All that to say, it works! Yes I would do it again though it is More comfortable with a bigger vehicle. Trailer weight loaded was around 800 Lbs. van was also loaded to the Max; which helped handle the trailer. I want to Modify it to work Behind My Bluebird Bus conversion now.

[freebeard]

Did you notice that the last post from 2010 was last Thanked in 2016? Zombie threads, risen from the past, are cool.

Do you have a picture of your tapered box? Is it suitable for the Bluebird or are you going to scale it up?

I modeled this for a smaller van, but it would benefit from a road wheel or wheelie bar which would make it a trailer.

[01FordCrew]

I know the thead was old but thought I'd see who would respond. I would like to upload a picture but I was having trouble getting it to load. I was going to reshape the Box to fit the Bluebird. I've done some preliminary Mockups But want to figure out a parallel link system to keep the top out of the Bus when going through dips. do you have any recommendations on the Best taper? I saw your van Model and was wondering if curving to point or a sharp Kammback cut off was Better

[freebeard]

The post should look like [I*G]http://x[/IMG] with a valid URL. Where are you sourcing the image from? You might see if you can create an album in your User Profile and pull from there.

A four-bar hitch and single wheel may have unanticipated dynamics. Or not....

At the rear, in order: full boat tail, bobbed boat tail, boxed cavity, separation edges. There is endless debate about the relative merits. Adding length has costs associated.

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by 01FordCrew

I know the thead was old but thought I'd see who would respond. I would like to upload a picture but I was having trouble getting it to load. I was going to reshape the Box to fit the Bluebird. I've done some preliminary Mockups But want to figure out a parallel link system to keep the top out of the Bus when going through dips. do you have any recommendations on the Best taper? I saw your van Model and was wondering if curving to point or a sharp Kammback cut off was Better

1) I'd have you do a search for US Patent 8590961, by Breidenbach. I has no compound surfaces, would be relatively easy to fabricate, and it's been wind tunnel tested. A delta Cd= 29%.
2) The other is, US Patent 2,737,411, by R.B. Potter, August 21, 1952. It's more organic and 'proper'. It's an inflatable boat-tail. And could be sewn and inflated with a 12-VDC blower. I've tested them. They're very lightweight, take up little space when deflated. Any gear-drive sewing machine would be adequate. Rip-stop Nylon.