Angled tonneau cover questions

[gone9]

Originally Posted by elhigh

Somebody getting 40mpg or more might sneer at 0.76mpg improvement (generally nobody on this site, of course - we regard a win as a win no matter how small), or just disregard it as a small enough improvement that it might just be within the margin of error. But when your baseline results are in the teens, it's pretty big.

Im basing my improvement assumptions off of Big Dave mostly to be honest.

He saw 3/4 of gallon mpg improvement with airdam, possibly .5mpg improvement with mirror delete/folding. I don't know if you seen the 2008-2010 mirrors on super duties they are HUGE! when I wired them in it helped immensely with visibility though lol....

So If I could squeeze a solid 1mpg off of air dam and folding mirrors in (maybe adding angled deflector) then 1mpg from tonneau cover, possibly 2 off an angled cover that would bring my 17.7 current best to a whopping 20.7 lol....

for me though diesel is $3.29-2.59 on average a gallon with my 13-isk k commute.

17.7mpg=2423.73 annual fuel cost

20.7=2072.4 annual fuel cost

Those are very simple calculations but I could save more as the diesel tax is going to increase three more times until 2020 lol. I have plans to move back to Idaho within a few years but for now this gives me something else to work on.

p.s. Anyone experience with turbo modifications on a powerstroke not for power but for fuel economy? My current GTP38 is stock but I bought what is called the wicked wheel 2 compressor wheel. I tow a lot and I get what called turbo shudder and it can cause damage overtime. A few companies came out with a new wheel, different fins, aluminum and it equates to:

5-6more psi boost, smoother/quicker response, and a little less egt's esp when I delete my EBPV valve on the turbo and add the high flow outlet. It causes very bad mpg in the winter for me

[freebeard]

p.s. Anyone experience with turbo modifications on a powerstroke not for power but for fuel economy?

Fuel Economy, Hypermiling, EcoModding News and Forum - EcoModder.com - View Profile: gumby79

About gumby79

Location
Butte, Montana

1st gen cummins 91.5 dodge d250 ,16cm turbo housing ehxsost manafulld wrap, Aero Tonto
best tank: distance 649gps mi 24.04 mpg 27.011usg
Best mpg : 29.3mpg 97mi 3.311usg 7/27/16

[gone9]

Originally Posted by freebeard

Fuel Economy, Hypermiling, EcoModding News and Forum - EcoModder.com - View Profile: gumby79

Awesome, sent him a pm. Tonneau cover should be here today and im going to stop by the body shop. ALSO.... I have some very heavy duty running boards that I feel would make excellent wheel skirt mounts. These arnt the normal two bracket/tube type. they completely cover the gap between the bottom of cab, 4 angled mounts with lights and for reasons I wont mention out of respect for someone over 350lbs... I know they hold up very well.

I don't feel I'll look into a skirt yet but I feel my trucks running boards would make a perfect mounting place if I ever got that interested. The offroad/hunting use of my truck is already making me work on some sort or semi quick mount system for an airdam etc...

[freebeard]

I'm thinking of a mandible (jaw) that hinges at the top front of the wheel wells and in the raised (off-road) position uncovers a winch.

[gone9]

Originally Posted by freebeard

I'm thinking of a mandible (jaw) that hinges at the top front of the wheel wells and in the raised (off-road) position uncovers a winch.

I like the idea. Im hoping to get my truck back tomorrow if not early next week. Then I can put a few tanks of fuel through to get my new base line and then I'll have almost a 2000 mile road trip to test the tonneau cover.

the test isn't perfect but I stop at the same gas stations there/back because im OCD and the military gave me some good landnav experience so I know about my max range, and the dead zones (those signs stating 100+miles no gas station) lol.

I'll be going from little north of bay area in CA to about 30 minutes south of the Canadian boarder in northern Idaho.

Thank you all for your input as well. When I take a new hobby I ted to go all in and I have to scale back when life reminds me I have an actual job

[Big Dave]

I've been off this board for too long.

I had a 23 degree aerocap and while it may not have been optimum, it was damn effective. +3MPG over and open bed. Completely impractical: Limited bed storage and I couldn't see jack through it. But I gave it 3 years' try and it did work.

I replaced it with a hard tonneau. Not as effective for MPG +1-1.5 MPG over an open bed. But I had good visibility and easy access to the bed. Bad news: A strong wind got under it and I wound up chasing it through a muddy cornfield. C-clamps are not enough. Bolt it down to your bed or you will eventuall have to chase it.

What I'm thinking now is a hybrid. Put a ril wedge under the tonneau to raise it up to about a third the way up the rear window. No magic angle, just the height that doesn't impede my rear view. Obviously some sort of closure on the front to keep rain out. (I like dry cargo) this ought to give you about a 8 degree slope.

Follow up with something like Bondo's Drag Shield. That should give you aerodynamic performance closely approximating a optimized aeroshell but retain visibility.

I now have an ace body man to go to, so I'm not a bit squeamish about drilling or welding to my bodywork. Keep in mind, automobiles are built with mechanical fasteners and welding for a reason. Never underestimate the power of the wind to rip up sheet goods.

BTW, my air dam is entering its tenth year of service and shows no damage. It still looks weird and still works like a champ. The material - 3/8" ripstop conveyor belt is expensive, a real bearcat to fabricate, and nearly indestructible.

My next frontier: Mooneyes and rear fender skirts.

[gone9]

thanks for stopping by, seeing pictures of the big air dam on truck got me to do some googleing until I found you had been all over the place lol. I even found an old truck trend article where they showed some inner workings to your aeroshel and stuff.

So far I've narrowed it down to this: (mostly because of how often I use my truck)

1. flat full bed foldable tonneau cover for now: I have 2k miles of testing coming up. should be here today actually. plus the wife already bought it for me lol...

2. After Christmas: I'll fab a frame and either soft/hard top that I can raise to mid level of the cab if need for an angled tonneau cover. it seems a good mix of increase economy, usability, and work etc...

3. air dam. A buddy has access to belt (He told me his brother makes them for a living lol).

*did you have to do any crazy fab work to get the belt to hold onto your bumper? I've had mine off and its flimsy at best. I would thinking large washers and maybe welding a couple small pieces of angle iron to give the washer/bolts something to hang and cling too on the inside etc.


forgive my paint drawings. I learn/explain best visually lol.

[freebeard]

Big Dave will know more, but I'd expect the problem to be drilling holes in the material.

You might do better using a tubular punch.

[Big Dave]

If you know somebody that makes conveyor belt for a living, he will have a 15 ton press and some round dies. Much, much easier than drilling and looks nicer, too.

I didn't do any fancy fab. Made a template. Drilled the bumper and welded nuts on the back. Use SS fender washers and capscrews, and tighten then down death for tight.

My dam clears grade by seven inches in front of tires and ten inches above grade between the suspension. Less and she drags - particularly when braking.

[gumby79]

The success of the 1/2 tanto has led to the fat tail gate and duck but shape at the top of the gate. I noticed this after building myAero Tonto . And more recently seen explanations of what the aero designers were thinking, wind tunnel smoke show of the effect done by ford. The fat gate gave the air a place to reattach brief but enough to shrink the size of the hole in the back of the donut .you tube ford pick up . They widened and extended the 3rd brake light with a slight down angle to aim the air at this small patch of flat real estate. This is making it more difficult for toper/ tonneau cover manufacturers as the pice is no longer square ( curved doors are harder)and the flat space swings in a compound arc.

The pouch at the top of the gate is to turn the up draft(upper circulation bubble) to the rear sooner . Reducing the rooster tail effects protrusion above the tail gate. On my build the rooster tail is 100' behind the truck , with the exception of 2 strips from the tires. Then it fans out . An oddity is that the dust stays close to the ground(5-10') even at speeds of 70mph on dirt.
Apon closer inspection you'll notice that the back of the tonto extends 8" past the tail gate. Without interfering with tailgate use.
I was looking at garage door bottom seal as a flexable cab gap seal , but need some of that clear protective stuff the dealers install to prevent rust. Thies rubber seals slide into a bendable Al track. This was one of the findings, seal the cab to bed gap. The top edge is more important than the sides. Ford is using a labyrinth seal on the bed sides to alow movement without contact. This was also my finding at Darco tapeing my gap and cap gaps ( shrink wrap is under enough tension to Taco The Birdcage frame, as there is bias in the X Vs Y shrenk rate of this particular product that i didn't account for) -.037 Cd
The cap was good for -0.101Cd by it self. Air dam 5.5"in front of the tires and 3.5 in the center , was +0.017 ( bad). According to Darco + 12lbs of rear lift is generated @200mph with the cap. I had an incadent were I didn't latch the cap and drove miles till I finaly saw a car behind me in the center mirror.thinking to my self bright lights havent bothered me sence I put on the cap. "THE CAP. THE CAP IT IS OPEN " floting 10" off the tailgate. This was V1 25lbs this is how much air is travling up the back of the tail gate.

Boost at low Rpm aka cruse freeway.
For low rpm boost you need a small exhaust houaing or over fueling you can guess witch one we vote for. Small turbo. When in direct drive on the freeway /towing this will increase EGT and over speed /boost the turbo. So in order to get the best of both worlds the manufacturers have gone to VGT turbines Ive seen theas set up with a spring gate , just put a stop to prevent the spring from closing to far. The other alternative is aDiverter valve. This works by diverting all exhaust through 1 passage increcing the velocity of the exhaust stream giving it more Force against the wheel. This happens till the preset of 20psi(adjustable) were it opens both to sides progressively . Eg an hx 40 16cm becomds a n hx 40 8cm under 20psi. Im' thinking of using a With an additional adapter plate or T4 manifold this can be used on a T3 housing . Were as on a ford Im not fimilur with the up pipe set up, its doable.
Glad you are taking time to test a V1 V2 V2.1 if you can live with mirrors only as I do run the tonneau cover to just below the top of the cab. Slide it rear word( distance depends on your tail gate clearance and preference) add a sizeable gap filler to soffen the suddeness of the flat roof to 12° down. Your idea will work how well depends how far you are willing/can go.
An alternative to the 1/3 + wing is 1/3 + Bonneville spoiler -gurny flap. At both the cab and tail gate.