What's the best RV/motorhome aerodynamically?

[freebeard]

If I haven't brought it up earlier in this thread (forgive me if I have) I see the main functions (and system prorities)...

slowmover, you are on a roll (in a couple of ways). I don't venture beyond the forum much, but maybe your posts should be abstracted into the Wiki.

The idea of wanting better FE for a given camper seems good, but what is the purpose for which the camper is used?

In the case of the big tricycle, it would be bug-out vehicle/urban homeless camper/land speed record holder. And yeah, a major focus of the rebody would be thermal performance. White Southern Pine contains waxes that melt and refreeze at room temperature so it acts as thermal mass. Then the insulation is piled on—vacuum microbeads 2-3" thick up[down] to conventional foam up to 5" thick sanded to a compound curve. The fabric would be shrink to fit and then doped.

The MVT trailer is interesting, but that's a lot of struts and cables. I knew a guy in the 60s who had an early 50s GMC panel truck with a skinned tubing rack on the top. It was on rollers so when he was parked it rolled back and made an awning over the rear doors. Something like that could have swing down side panels, &etc.

The need for outdoor rooms -screened -- is almost not optional when one considers RV wear & tear. If one could move some things outside (food prep, some cooking, etc), then all is better; not just as lounging/sleeping area.

Mud room.

Whether one is inspired by the cowboy chuckwagon (see "6666 Ranch") or railroad or construction crews throughout the 20th century one can find examples where re-inventing the wheel isn't needed in how to "see" the economy of a motorhome.

I like the image of wandering RV clans. My fantasy in the 70-80s was a convoy of VW Type II parked in a circle with a big campfire in the middle.

How's this for a prime mover: A de-comissioned fire engine with a military machinist van on the back. The PTO to the pumps could turn a shaft under the floor and belt-drive saws, lathes, trip hammers, whatever; while the van butterflies open with fold-down flooring on the sides. Crafts Faire, here we come!

[slowmover]

I might have summed up better by stating that it is almost impossible for a motorhome to equal a trailer for FE, that the purpose of a motorhome has to be that which a TV - TT [tow vehicle - travel trailer (of any description)] cannot do.

So, yes, a "shop" or other where a truck chassis / drivetrain is necessary. The addition of pumps, motors and other weight-penalty additions so that several vehicles, maybe up to a dozen, can use the facilities offered by a moho.

Screened porch / mud room: good description. Extend it to daytime animal pen (pets) and other peoples children.

freebeard, if you state the number of nights aboard [X] for the number of people [Y] without external inputs you are most of the way there as water + fuel (propane + battery capacity) can be calculated in advance. Then a reasonable distance under best conditions for drivetrain fuel theoretical maximum. (I'd use 500-miles).

Look at Class C motorhome capacities as a starter. The examples above of Rialta, Le Sharo, etc. There is a minimum which some types won't meet a realistic time (at least 3-nights, but a week would be better as the difference between two aboard and four aboard really starts to show up.) A moho for only two is getting extravagant (weight of vehicle[s] to provide shelter, water, etc.

Really, one is really no farther along than with a contractor van and portable toilet + water containers and propane exchange tanks . . in which case, why an expensive moho?

[4] adults, [5] nights and [500] miles seems on first glance enough to design around.

As RV travel is generally in the vicinity of 300-400 miles per day (after a week or so at each camping spot) one can see how these numbers work with each other. Five nights of full independence ought to also meet a reasonable beginning for RV use in the face of disaster, etc.

A trailer is expensive, but a moho is an order of magnitude yet again.

.

[freebeard]

I might have summed up better..[your doing fine].. by stating that it is almost impossible for a motorhome to equal a trailer for FE, that the purpose of a motorhome has to be that which a TV - TT [tow vehicle - travel trailer (of any description)] cannot do.

That's why I added Land Speed Record Holder to the brief. It opens up a lot of wiggle room.

So, yes, a "shop" or other where a truck chassis / drivetrain is necessary. The addition of pumps, motors and other weight-penalty additions so that several vehicles, maybe up to a dozen, can use the facilities offered by a moho.
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Screened porch / mud room: good description. Extend it to daytime animal pen (pets) and other peoples children.
[]
freebeard, if you state the number of nights aboard [X] for the number of people [Y] without external inputs you are most of the way there as water + fuel (propane + battery capacity) can be calculated in advance. Then a reasonable distance under best conditions for drivetrain fuel theoretical maximum. (I'd use 500-miles).

I'd be interested in a rule of thumb for fresh/gray/black water vs road gas vs home power. It would probably be of a form [x]days X [y]miles X [z]fudge factor.

Look at Class C motorhome capacities as a starter. The examples above of Rialta, Le Sharo, etc. There is a minimum which some types won't meet a realistic time (at least 3-nights, but a week would be better as the difference between two aboard and four aboard really starts to show up.) A moho for only two is getting extravagant (weight of vehicle[s] to provide shelter, water, etc.

Really, one is really no farther along than with a contractor van and portable toilet + water containers and propane exchange tanks . . in which case, why an expensive moho?
[ ]
[4] adults, [5] nights and [500] miles seems on first glance enough to design around.

As RV travel is generally in the vicinity of 300-400 miles per day (after a week or so at each camping spot) one can see how these numbers work with each other. Five nights of full independence ought to also meet a reasonable beginning for RV use in the face of disaster, etc.

Months of full independence?

In an earlier post you name-checked Bluebird. Decades ago now, in Bluegene, OR there was a school bus named Fort Home. The roof and windows had been removed from the last 6', giving it sort of a poop deck, with nice wooden door.

So how about short bus, third axle where the front bumper used to be to carry the weight of an elliptical dome—and a boattail that folds out into a screened porch. Don't get me started on the 55-gal. composting toilet trailer (the trick is you can spin the drum when it is horizontal, for mixing).

[slowmover]

Months of full independence?

Snowbirds around Quartzsite, AZ take this pretty far. How to empty sewer tandks (see "blueboy"), and how to refill fresh water tanks; all on BLM land with next to no monthly fees.

Depending mainly on fresh water capacity, three weeks for two people is do-able with conventional RVs (probably 70-gls aboard). After this one runs into adding weight that conflicts with mobility.

A motorhome is handicapped by all of this . . how to go to town to get potable water, for instance? With a trailer, one just takes the TV [tow vehicle] and refills a big bladder.

.

[freebeard]

Slab City - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

...all on BLM land...

School bus with the front bumper extended to make room for a crankshaft driven wood chipper; chips are blown through a duct to a hopper at the rear roof; 18"x7' alcohol still in one rear corner that feeds the fuel tank. Park next to a slash pile in the woods until the tank is full.

[kach22i]

I spotted a Vixen today................cool.
Automobile 2 - Odds And Ends Photos by kach22i | Photobucket

[Dawie]

Looks like adding a boat-tail may have good effect on that design...

[Miller88]

Originally Posted by wagonman76

Yes, the entire 455 Olds V8 and transaxle setup from the Toronado/Eldorado.

There have gotta be a lot of possibilities for swaps. I'm sure there's something more efficient these days that could be swapped in.

I'm a bit late here, but my parents had a 455/3 speed Toronado. It got 9MPG. Didn't mater how hard or light you drove it. 9MPG.

[Frank Lee]

The GMC motorcoaches get 9!

[gone-ot]

The most aerodynamically economical motorhomes are the "parked" ones that aren't "pushing" ANY air (wink,wink).

Drove a Condor van (390 Ford industrial enginge & auto trans) from Yuma, AZ, to Fayetteville, NC, in early 1973, it got 6 miles per gallon...of course, it ALSO had a combined 300 gallon fuel tank system (shared with onboard Onan ICE power plant). 300 gallons of gasoline is almost a TON of weight (~1850 lbs)!