advice and opinions required

[chefdave]

Hi
been looking at my motorhome from the front to see how to tidy up aero flow. have slready done some but need to do more. have a issue with below rad grille. as i have front indicators in bumper i still need these visable. on photo indicators are not showing up but are just below bull bar. how to blend from bull bar down to front air dam. 2 options are use polycarbonate or sheet metal and move indicators to sheet metal and blend in. any other ideas or advice welcome
thanks
dave

[ksa8907]

Most members here block behind the grill opening to make it more visually appealing.

In my opinion, as long as you have the grill blocked a reasonable amount and you're not overheating, I would spend my time at the rear of the vehicle. The low pressure zone at the rear is the majority of your aero drag.

Since you asked about the front, I would build fender flares to direct air over your wheel openings, rather than hitting the back of the opening, and build an air dam to reduce air under the vehicle.

[kach22i]

Originally Posted by ksa8907

........I would spend my time at the rear of the vehicle.

I agree.

Please post a full side view of your camper chefdave, and maybe a rear view.

[RedDevil]

Does it really need the bull bar?
Much better areo without it, and it saves a bit of weight.

[chefdave]

Hi red devil
strangley enough the bull bars are known for decreasing front drag. i picked up 1mpg or 6.5% improvement. also the angle of the board defects air upwards and leaves a dead spot of air on bonnet and use my wipers on intermitten when i would use continus wipe and less dirt on it. Found out about dead air spot when wiper arm fell off at 50mph and nevered moved until i picked it up off bonnet and air flow through vent is very poor unless using fan before it was more than adaquate so that is staying. bull bar in front of headlights will be filled/covered with polycarbonate/lexan. Side view hopefull sdded which i will cover rear arches and copy moon discs for rear wheels. Side skirts are going to be fitted

[chefdave]

hopefully you can see a side photo

[kach22i]

Holly cow, it's quite the heifer ain't she? Beautiful in her own way - I guess.

I'm not sure where to start, it's looking like an all or nothing proposition.

How much time and money are you willing to put into this?

Is resale and taking off the mods later part of the plan?

I think there are similar threads, please do a search for them. I'd hate to repeat the efforts of others.

[chefdave]

Kach22
Some interesting points you have brought up. all my mods to date can be removed with little or no trace. i will be in for the long haul with it. if i go to sell it who would want a 3 ton motorhome woth a petrol v6 and auto box. also believe there are only 4 in uk. try pricing one for sale ?????. What i was asking advice on how to make the front more aero clean and best way of blending everything in. as far as know there is no threads on aero mods using bull bar. if there is please direct me. weight balance is 70% rear and 30% front, bull bars help address the bais to the front. weight stripping has started removed more 4% of total weight with another estimated 1-2%. Rear is going to have a short version of boat tail. (will use 1-2 foot of total length) due to huge rear over hang and heavy rear weight bias.

[RedDevil]

Wow!
I see now. The bull bar helps create a stagnant bubble of air ahead of the car.
The vertical bars prevent the air from moving sideways, and that's what you want because the bubble needs to be as big as possible to move the air up and over the top as much as possible.
Still, is it worthwhile to put a lot of effort into ecomodding this? It will not be your DD commuter to work, I hope? So how many miles per year are you going to put into this?

I can see why it is called Dolphin btw; the resemblance is stunning.

[kach22i]

You can try a NASA/Dryden truck/Van tail.
Automobile 2 - Odds And Ends Photos by kach22i | Photobucket



............or go completely off the beaten path and start cutting some of that mass off the end.

Automobile 2 - Odds And Ends Photos by kach22i | Photobucket


Exactly how crazy do you feel?

Inspiration for the above can be found below:
http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...gle-27922.html