Aeromodding a 2021 Freightliner Cascadia

[j-c-c]

Originally Posted by redpoint5

This is among the common internet fallacies, that accident insurance doesn't cover accidents.

I'll say something like I wired in my own outlet, and someone will say if my house burns down insurance won't cover it. That's precisely what insurance covers. If someone falls asleep smoking a cigarette and their house burns down, insurance covers it. Insurance covers accidents.

What insurance doesn't cover is intentional destruction. Douse the house in gasoline and light a match, and they aren't covering it.

Any OTR driver knows removing mirrors is flat out dangerous, If truck owner doesn't know about it, you are right his insurance will cover the accident, driver will be quickly out of a job, and looking at convincing a jury he doesn't warrant jail time if the accident causes injury.

The suggestion on max tire pressure is the biggest bang for buck after lowering speed.

Has OP calculated actual fuel costs savings to help verify what expenditures are worth investment costs, or is this just some wild fun experiment? If this owner operator is in for the long term, then it makes more sense of course. I'm not seeing it as a viable cost benefit project personally, other than the two solutions mentioned above.

That one air trick in an earlier reply showed a drawing of momentum trailer flap, it is not intuitive how that reduces drag IMO, anybody care to explain or tested it?

Please note, I have been adding/custom building aero tricks on my many commercial trucks since the gas crisis in 1974, most helped some, first one raised mileage from 5.6 to 7.8 mpg, I have been hooked ever since.

[Bigrigdave]

Absolutely just a wild experiment. I was able to take my 1986 Mercedes 300sdl from roughly 20 mpg to 38.8 a few years ago.

I then ran it on used engine oil, hydraulic fluid... Whatever I could get for free.

Flow below claims you can gain up to 2.23% with their tandem drive treatment kit, pictured in the attached image.

I modified my mudflaps to version 2.3 also pictured.

My partial bellypan did take me for a curve, I assumed the lip on the underside of the bumper were straight. I could possibly tidy it up a bit, but it seems to have tucked the bottom of the bumper up ever so slightly.

[Bigrigdave]

So, I removed my mudflap attachments for some ABA testing, down 1.1 to 1.4 mpg. I've been running Texas to Alabama for the past few weeks so pretty consistent routes.

May very well be 10-15 degrees cooler and more crosswinds but I don't like the numbers so version 3.0 it is.

I'll get some better photos in the morning.

I did remove the aluminum angle, it did some cool things in the rain but I don't think there was a positive drag reduction.

[freebeard]

I'll get some better photos in the morning.

That might help. ...to explain whether it's down from 2.5 to 1.4mpg , or down from the 8mpg in #1 to ~6.75.

j-c-c -- I posted the pic at #3. That's the only place I've ever seen the high-momentum mud flap. Were I to speculate, it would run along the lines of a mudflap that curves forward at the outer edges to capture the wake off the tires and then collimate it into a central jet.

collimate
kŏl′ə-māt″
transitive verb

• To make parallel; line up.
• To adjust the line of sight of (an optical device).
• To render parallel to a certain line or direction; to bring into the same line, as the axes of telescopes, etc.; to render parallel, as rays of light.

[JSH]

Originally Posted by Bigrigdave

Absolutely just a wild experiment. I was able to take my 1986 Mercedes 300sdl from roughly 20 mpg to 38.8 a few years ago.

I then ran it on used engine oil, hydraulic fluid... Whatever I could get for free.

Flow below claims you can gain up to 2.23% with their tandem drive treatment kit, pictured in the attached image.

I modified my mudflaps to version 2.3 also pictured.

My partial bellypan did take me for a curve, I assumed the lip on the underside of the bumper were straight. I could possibly tidy it up a bit, but it seems to have tucked the bottom of the bumper up ever so slightly.

FlowBelow's claims are real but the Frieghtliner version are better.

Send me your truck number and I'll look up your spec and give you some ideas. (white sticker on the frame rail visible though the driver size front wheel well)

[Bigrigdave]

I've been hard at work lately, seeing some much better numbers, just want to gather some hard evidence.

I guess my biggest upgrade has to be my wheel covers. $200, should be pretty quick to see an roi. The next cheapest option is 400+ and made of plastic.

On my third or fourth version of front tire spats? Maybe they're more of a tire dam. I utilize factory fasteners to mount things so without a super complex bracket, I've come up with a curved piece that seems to work best and doesn't look as out of place as the shark tooth 1.0 version.

So the skirts are about two weeks old and between all my mods, driving a lot more at 60-62 vs 65 and doing a lot more coasting, I seem to be up into the 11s with an empty trailer. This used to only be attainable with no trailer.

I will update next week or two once I have some more data

[Bigrigdave]

With the skirts half finished and the original tire spats, the black cut off triangles from the previous post, I did pull my highest weekly average.

I also was loaded much lighter than usual. 20k in the box vs the usual 38-44k. Which is why I'm waiting for more data and more loads to get some comparable data.

Last week's average 7.69 mpg
Previous week 6.2mpg
Previous best 7.2mpg
I believe that was the week I went home which included a 500 mile trip into Florida and 150 miles home without a trailer.

[redpoint5]

What, no roadwarrior spikes on the lugnuts? How about a windshield visor and dual exhaust stacks soaring into the sky?

[freebeard]

Baby Moons on the front?

[Bigrigdave]

Free beard, I'm gonna scoop a set of these

They fill the gap between the inside diameter of the rim and the face of the oil fill in the hub.
I don't imagine they'll make a measurable difference but I need to be able to inspect my wheel studs and nuts along with hub oil level.

I assume you mean these beauties


I just need that peace of mind that my steer wheels are sorted at a glance.

Red. I don't need regular trucker accessories to show the world my inadequacy.