4 mpg gain from mod for slide in camper (pickup truck) - Fuel Economy, Hypermiling, EcoModding News and Forum

electric_ride · 12-13-2010, 03:59 AM

I was not a camper fan AT ALL!!! I mean come on those things are heavy and suck the crap out of your mpg's.

Well my uncle is getting in bad health and he is my last living relative that helped to raise me while my dad was overseas . So if he asks something of me I am gonna do almost anything I can to help him or grant him his wish. This wish was for me to go to LA and go fishing with him . Well BP has everything where we were heading tied up .

So I had to buy a camper or a trailer .

Trailers are taxed extra along with having to be plated so I was like NOPE NOT GONNA HAPPEN. So my choice became a slide in camper but I knew it was gonna KILL my mpg's . So I came up with a GREAT mod .

My truck is a ex cab . So I simply blocked the underside of the camper with a air mattress then boxed the sides in with Plexiglas so I could see out my side windows . The only downside is you can't open you rear doors .

Blocking the underside stops air from coming in and acting as a parachute against the rear of the cab and the front of the camper . I used the Plexiglas from the rear of my front door to the front of the camper to smooth out air flow. I sealed all air gaps with duct tape .

This worked GREAT for about 400 miles when for some reason the air mattress blew and destroyed almost all of my project . Let it be known this will not stop me I will do it again and I will modify my design so this will not happen again . After this event my gas mileage dropped 4 mpg's .

I had to hurry to put this all together and had the camper bought and modded within 1.5 weeks of buying it . Then I was off to LA . Also I now found out IN has changed the law on the extra taxes on trailers . So I have bought two pop ups and am going to make them into one larger one I just have to figure out the best design for airflow over the front of this thing the rest I am good on . Any help one this one would be GREATLY appreciated .

Any comments on the camper project as well I am open to also .

MetroMPG · 12-13-2010, 09:13 AM

So it was something like this?

4 mpg is serious savings on a pickup. Nice work.

electric_ride · 12-13-2010, 12:13 PM

That is exactly how I did it thank you for the pic . I was really bummed when the mattress blew . I also used FRP to fill in the bigger gaps and drilled and screwed them to the Plexiglas . That did survive the blow . LOL So I am actually thinking of redesigning it with FRP .It is flexible ,can be reinforced with aluminum angle and it doesn't blow up . LOL One more note my slide in is also a pop up . I am thinking of attaching air foil to camper because I don't want any holes in the truck .

NachtRitter · 12-13-2010, 04:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

So it was something like this?

4 mpg is serious savings on a pickup. Nice work.

Thank you for the picture!! I was having a really hard time imagining where the mattress went...

aerohead · 12-13-2010, 06:49 PM

If you can find my thread 'Full-Boat-tail - Trailer for T-100" there may be some stuff you could use.
The trick is ( if you can ) to create an aerodynamic 'singularity',truck and trailer assuming a single streamlined form.
P.S. If you hang the air mattress out the back of the empty pickup 4-feet you get 4-mpg also.

04_Sentra · 12-13-2010, 10:02 PM

I was definitely confused about the air mattress.

How did the camper + air mattress mod mileage compare to stock pickup mileage?

slowmover · 12-13-2010, 10:15 PM

Pictures sure would be a help.

If I were cash strapped I'd go for an ALASKAN pop-up bed camper. (This is but one version)

Otherwise, an AVION as capacities, aero, weight and build quality are second to none.

There's a thread on RV.net in the truck camper sub-forum about building a v-shaped deflector that attaches to the underside of the camper above the truck roof.

A trailer is still the way to go, IMO. A CASITA would be the default, fairly cheap new trailer (though small). I'd rather have a tandem axle 20-25" Avion, Silver Streak, Streamline or (last place) Airstream as the best long-term livable trailer. Plenty of good used ones, and will take some work to update. Still would likely be cheaper than buying, modding two pop-ups. RV's have a way of getting expensive in a hurry. The Airstream resto guys do beautiful work, but the number and types of systems on board make the work harder than it appears. (I got close to 16 mpg with my 34' Silver Streak behind my truck).

'60's Streamline Duke

'80's 20' Silver Streak

If it's about pure fuel mileage behind a small pickup I'd nominate KamperBob's small 5'er as a likely winner. You really should search out his posts and threads on that subject. His site also has great pics and his mods to the unit appear outstanding. Questions about livability can also be answered.

Looking forward to more.

.

vacationtime247 · 12-24-2010, 01:59 AM

Have had a pop up, a truck slide in camper, a pull behind camper and a diesel RV. Best one by far was the 1987 Ford E-350 6.9 idi Diesel with a C6 Tranny. It was about the size of a small to medium box truck. Might be the way to go. Mileage wasn't terrible either! Get one of those and a tow dolly. Tow a small car behind. Once at your destination, live in the RV, drive the car. Know I spent more in fuel towing a camper with a truck than I did with the RV. And the RV was bigger inside!
With your current set up, could you fill the air mattress with packing peanuts to help absorb shock and sway? Then, fill it with some Great Stuff expanding foam. Nifty idea with the plexiglass. Sure that helps tremendously to deflect air smoothly.
Pat yourself on the back. You're a good person to help your uncle the way your are!
VT247