Boat tail project based on a single wheel trailer...

[deejaaa]

Originally Posted by BamZipPow

.....I did have one person in Kemah tell me point blank that it's impossible fer me to git better gas mileage towing a trailer...even after he walked around the rig and asked me fer my MPG numbers. I was set to put down some serious money but I could tell it would've been a dead end. Even with my numbers, he didn't want to believe it. He said that the added weight/mass/rolling resistance that any reduced drag would be negated because of the extra weight/mass/rolling resistance. He just didn't want to know and couldn't break his trailer paradigm........

should have asked him if he still believed the earth was flat.

[aerohead]

I talked with a salesman who drives a RAM with cylinder deactivation.He said that on a trip out east,that when descending into the Chattanooga,Tennessee river valley,that the computer was indicating 112-mpg.
We never know about where numbers come from.

[deejaaa]

Originally Posted by aerohead

I talked with a salesman who drives a RAM with cylinder deactivation.He said that on a trip out east,that when descending into the Chattanooga,Tennessee river valley,that the computer was indicating 112-mpg.
We never know about where numbers come from.

was he using that as a selling point? if that were said to me, i would have responded, i have got 999.9 in the Jetta, while descending, and engine off....

[BamZipPow]

Pulled the remainder bits of the under belly pan off of Dark Aero and painted the topside galvanized steel flat black. Hopefully the flat black paint will keep the amount of reflections off of the rear canopy window to a minimum.

Going with a light load in Dark Aero. I've pulled the 60lb sand ballast out fer now. The air bag spring will be set at 35psi and the air shocks will be set at 45psi. Rear tire is set at 60psi. Hoping fer a smooth ride from here to Cassville, MO.

Will meet up with Aerohead in the morning fer a quick breakfast and chit chat. I'll probably scare most of the locals again along the way since this will be a daytime drive.

[BamZipPow]

Got an early morning start and noticed that my indicated mileage wasn't anywhere close to what I normally saw when I was driving this route away from home. My indicated MPG was in the low 20's.

After about 130 miles, we had to make a pit stop and I gave the rig a good look around just to make sure something wasn't out of place. I then realized that I had just recently replaced the battery which reset the fuel trim maps and that the ECU was relearning the trims. Leaving out of the rest stop to Denton my indicated MPG was right at 26.2mpg. After a nice visit with Aerohead, we continued on to my first and only fuel stop in Checotah, OK. Hand calculated mileage was 26.75mpg at 65mph!! Wowsers! I believe this is the best mileage with Dark Aero attached fer this run out of the 2 previous runs. I don't know what I ended up on back end of my trip as I didn't git a chance to refuel yet but I know it should be above my previous runs to Roaring River.

There were at least 40 snappers along the way. One was a Sheriff's patrol...guess he'll have something to boast with his buddies.

[BamZipPow]

Last year's July 4th run to Roaring River was 25.53mpg and Christmas' run was 25.14mpg.

[aerohead]

If we use the crude delta-Cd/delta-mpg relationship of 5.5% mpg/per 10% drag reduction we're talking,below Cd 0.12.
And this is ignoring any weight gain from the 'naked' T-100,and presuming that you're using the AC about the same way as with the baseline,same kinda travel routes.
It makes perfect sense that mpg would be improved pulling the Shadow.
I like it! (hey Guinness Book,are you guys paying any attention?)

[BamZipPow]

I did run two treatments of BG Products 44k through the fuel system prior to the replacement of the battery and subsequent resetting of the fuel trims. Maybe this had a significant factor in the increase.

[BamZipPow]

Gitting a warm welcome here in Cassville, MO. All of the folks approaching me about the rig are genuinely interested in the rig and most of them guess it's fer aerodynamics. Making some influence and impact one city at a time.

I'll see how well my mileage holds up on Sunday when we pack out of here. Looking fer some interesting numbers...

[BamZipPow]

Noticed the single wheel was contacting the Coroplast floor upon returning from the Missouri/Kansas trip. This photo is with no load in Dark Aero.


Upon further investigation, I found that the extended length of the spring housing added extra leverage to add stress to the 3/8" thick steel support plate which subsequently bent from the constant pounding.


I will have to pull the wheel assembly off and have it straightened and git some supports welded underneath the plate to give it more strength. I could also pull the original rubber puck out and have the air spring bag moved closer to the spindle and swap the rubber puck to the front. This means I could also have the extension cut down some, too.