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

[slowmover]

Yup, we be a long way from beginning.

I'll bet it's great to drive, now!

IMO, time to play with tire pressures. The, "maximize the contact patch width & length versus reduced RR", as driver ought to be able to better decipher crosswind effects from road surface irregularities.

Whatever will reduce steering wheel twitches is gold. (Corrections per 100-miles being a measurable FE reducer per Cummins). On my last tractor, going from 110-psi to 100-psi was big in ride quality, and bigger in being able to "let go" of the steering wheel. On my CTD Dodge, 5-psi over Load & Pressure Table values -- solo or towing -- means less wheel twitch. Better ride, and directional stability less affected by crosswinds.

Had gotten the "noise" out of the system (truck with 35' trailer;,combined length 63') in using a virtual pivot projection hitch (trailer could not move unless turn initiated by truck); what remained was movement of truck body versus suspension. Added rear anti roll bar and upsized front bar.

Still could use a Panhard Rod, and age/miles means new bed and cab bushings would help. Same for steering compon by wear.

But tire pressure is a way of balancing its FE possibilities against need to reduce vibrations transmitted to driver to maintain fine motor skills on those 300+ mile days.

Summation is that by reducing tire pressure from high to lower is to reduc their noise to listen for other "noise in the system" (what causes higher effort or sustained effort by driver).

[BamZipPow]

Yes, driving with Dark Aero attached is a much better experience!

I still have tuning to accomplish with the air shocks and load distribution. I think my truck tire pressures are at 30psi across the board and 60psi on Dark Aero. Stock pressure is listed as 26psi front and 29psi rear fer the truck. Air bag spring is at 30psi. Air shocks are at 100psi.

I haven't noticed any steering wheel inputs from Dark Aero except in strong cross winds. I haven't played with the current hitch setup enough to notice anything just yet. I can say that I'm not tired from driving the rig as one would expect towing a normal trailer setup. This setup rides really smooth!

I will have to try out differing tire pressures at some point and see how that fares out.

[freebeard]

X5. You must like it.

OTOH, the settings you have previously tuned in are simply rigidified. So you're probably in the ballpark already.

Strong cross winds better or worse?

[BamZipPow]

Originally Posted by freebeard

X5. You must like it.

OTOH, the settings you have previously tuned in are simply rigidified. So you're probably in the ballpark already.

Strong cross winds better or worse?

To me, it's all about having fun and learning something new everyday.

Previous to the latest upgrade, it was pretty bad in strong crosswinds. It was to the point where I had to slow down just to make sure I would still be in control of my direction of travel.

[slowmover]

It's that increase in sail area aft of rear axle. A lever.

Different tires with stronger sidewalls are a normal change for those towing with half tons on "P" tires. The change to "LT" means lower ride quality for a given pressure vs load scenario, but all are happier. (The other change is to go to short sidewall tires with a bigger tread patch.)

It'll search and find any slack or slop in the steering system from the driver out to the wheels. Adjusting alignment for quick return to center may help some. Feeling it come on us the thing. When it's a surprise, there can be a long list of non-steering components as well.

IMO, a focus on the rear axle and springs is the place to start. Fir, if something moves back there it has a whipctack effect on the front. (And all these comments are in thinking about a high Miles vehicle).

[BamZipPow]

I do have Roadmaster Active Suspension springs installed. I believe they do help out in a tremendous way in stabilizing the rear end.

[BamZipPow]

These look like an interesting set fer $30 to put on the swivel wheel housing and minimize the bouncing a little more. I'll have to figure out where to mount them.
Adjustable Shock Absorbers (sold as a pair) — 13 1/4in. Length | Shocks| Northern Tool + Equipment

Seems that these aren't gonna work. These are just tubes with coil springs on the outside.

[BamZipPow]

Playing around with different air pressures:

Air shocks at 50psi feels a whole lot better compared to the experimental 100psi I had been running around with.
Air bag spring at 28psi seems about right with 60lbs of sand ballast on top of the swivel point.

I've moved the attachment point fer the upper gap covers from the aero cap to the upper canopy. Hopefully this will reduce the number of steps to attach/detach Dark Aero. Eventually, the upper gap covers will be intergrated into the upper canopy in a future build. I have to install some extra bracing so the leading edge of the upper gap covers will closely match up with the back edge of the aero cap.

Slowly working on building the new wheel pant shape from Foamular. I don't think it will be done before I set out on my Thanksgiving run up North to Nebraska.

[BamZipPow]

Got the new Foamular based wheel pant built and installed. Still needs work but it's a start.

[aerohead]

Bam,she looks great!