95 F150 and Uhaul trailer drive across USA

[oldtamiyaphile]

Originally Posted by Frank Lee

That cap in the background... it's already made. Often there are plenty of them to be found on Craigslist free.

It's big, thirsty, and un-aero.

If you're towing an enclosed trailer (or one with a tall load), a square cap is better than an 'aero' type. Adding a deflector to kick air up to the roof height of the trailer is better still.

[Frank Lee]

My point was there are many caps readily available for cheap or even free that are already built- no need to cobble anything together. And they are big and square.

[Oceanic815]

Originally Posted by redpoint5

I'd prefer to fly down, then rent a diesel moving truck to load everything, and drive that back. Or, is there something special about the truck that it needs to go too?

Renting a truck will run roughly $2k to make the drive; the Ford is at no cost, well maintained with a low 78k on it, full maintenance history, and has been garaged since new... the only thing wrong with it is the tinting has turned a shade of purple over the years and the fact that it is still a full size truck with a V8.

Regarding low cost or free pickup toppers/canopys, I have been searching the Dallas CL for a few weeks now with nothing suitable (however, if there are any Dallas ecomodders which wish to donate a fitting canopy, I can be there the evening of August 31st to pick it up ). Should one not be found it looks like the route of the DIY tonneau lashed to the bed.

[Poodwaddle]

For each MPG you gain for 2000 miles you will save $15+-. If you manage to gain 3MPG you will save about $50. Is there any cost of material? Is there any value for your labor? If you had a greater distance or if you will use the rig in the future this would make more sense.

[Xist]

We can chip in and get you a roll of duct tape!

[Oceanic815]

Originally Posted by Poodwaddle

For each MPG you gain for 2000 miles you will save $15+-. If you manage to gain 3MPG you will save about $50. Is there any cost of material? Is there any value for your labor? If you had a greater distance or if you will use the rig in the future this would make more sense.

Materials are at no cost; it is leftover from dad's woodworking days and there's an entire 1-car garage sized room full of organized lumber of various sizes on shelves and racks.

Stopped at the local u-haul dealer today to get a good visualization of the size of a 6x12 trailer; it will be about the same height as the F150's 5'10"-6' height so maybe a tonneau isn't the best option and grabbing a box of 3" deck screws in addition to the free lumber and chipboard at my disposal is. The only limitation I have is time which will be only a few hours as originally posted. It doesn't have to be pretty, only has to work.

The tongue of the trailer is about 6 feet in length so building a canopy that extends maybe 3' off the back of the truck's 7' bed would be a starting point? There would be a gap but it will allow articulation of the trailer for any situation on the road.

Regarding future use of the truck, it will be replacing the Comanche as the occasionally-used load hauler, as it is simply old and small and parts can be challenging to source at times from the doors back. Try pricing out a tail light for one of these Jeeps- ouch.

[Oceanic815]

Originally Posted by Xist

We can chip in and get you a roll of duct tape!

We will have a roll of white gorilla tape on hand for front-end gap sealing.

Which reminds me, it has contoured running boards which will need to smoothed over where the steps are for ingress/egress.

[Poodwaddle]

I think you don't have to cover much of the gap between the truck and trailer. I towed a teardrop trailer behind a '99 Montero (both fully loaded) and barely felt the weight (except up hills) I figure the reason was that the teardrop trailer actually helped the montero close the air behind and the size of the two were fairly even. You probably can't do much to fair the tail of the U Haul but the truck could have a topper slightly higher and wider than the trailer. I suppose that the air leaving the back of the topper would follow much the same pattern as the aero template (teardrop) as it attempts to close behind the truck. So as long as the trailer fits just inside this closing air it would ride smoothly in the wake...and then create it's own horrible drag behind it. So if you draw the aerodynamic template over the topper and raise it to cover the gap you can imagine how the air would flow. A larger image would help, but this little sketch looks like raising the topper about 8 inches or so above the height of the trailer would be about right. A flat plywood roof would suffice. I don't think you gain much by curving the topper. You will gain a tiny bit by smoothing the plywood and painting.

Note that my image is not intended to suggest that this is a perfect aerodynamic shape, merely show the path of air leaving the truck topper to meet up with the upper edge of the trailer.

[mwilliamshs]

I think if you're gonna keep the truck a while, which I would and it appears you will, you'll have eco-modding thoughts about it in the future and if you're contemplating a temporary shell now, you'll do so again. It makes sense to invest in a permanent shell now and let the trip start paying back that investment in fuel savings. Having a shell is very handy, even more so if it's a cheap utility type that you just clamp down when needed and leave on sawhorses the rest of the time.

Camper Shell (Topper) $60

Dallas Craigslist, it's sitting on a longbed old body style F150 in the pics

[seifrob]

So,
How did it go?