Buy a new 5th wheel, ripe project for a boat tail

[aerohead]

Yep,you can see how the Motor Chief figured that one out

Goodyear/Zeppelin used a double-ender

Union Pacific

This self-propelled railcar by Dr.Oskar G. Tietgens of Westinghouse was credited with Cd 0.08.The hashed lines to the right indicate boat-tailing

FUJI Heavy Industries' Subaru registered Cd 0.088 for this shape

[mwilliamshs]

Originally Posted by aerostealth

9100 lbs is the empty weight. The hitch weight is 1500 lbs. It tows this fine. The truck is rated up to 11300 lbs.

Is it a regular cab? Does it have the Max Trailer Towing Package? What axle gears does it have?

Originally Posted by aerostealth

...The frontal area is basically 97 sq ft...

Your truck has a Frontal Area Limitation of 60 sq. ft. if equipped with the Max Trailer Towing Package or Heavy Duty Payload Package and only 36 sq. ft. without them.

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by mwilliamshs

Is it a regular cab? Does it have the Max Trailer Towing Package? What axle gears does it have?



Your truck has a Frontal Area Limitation of 60 sq. ft. if equipped with the Max Trailer Towing Package or Heavy Duty Payload Package and only 36 sq. ft. without them.

Wow,this is news!
You're the first to mention this information.The Ford dealer and Camping World never said a thing to AeroStealth about aerodynamics,only weight.
The F-150 itself has 36-sq-ft of frontal area.It is the double cab with 6' bed and towing package.

[mwilliamshs]

Originally Posted by aerohead

Wow,this is news!
You're the first to mention this information...

A salesman was either ill-informed or withheld information that might've impacted a sale?!

https://www.ford.com/resources/ford/...F150_Sep11.pdf

That's the 2014 Ford F-150 Pickup Trailer Towing Selector. Frontal Area is on page 3.

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by mwilliamshs

A salesman was either ill-informed or withheld information that might've impacted a sale?!

https://www.ford.com/resources/ford/...F150_Sep11.pdf

That's the 2014 Ford F-150 Pickup Trailer Towing Selector. Frontal Area is on page 3.

Thank you very much! John's getting ready for a big family reunion,so it may be awhile before he catches up.
Car dealers,you gotta love
em!
It looks like the Prowler 5th-wheel isn't 'hurting' the truck,but 9.3 ave. mpg is a bit of a hit,mileage-wise.He's seen double-digit mpg,depending on grades/winds.
The Prowler has a semi-bulbous nose and 'Don Bur' descending roofline,and is fully belly-panned.
We'll have to wait 'til his boat tail is finished and tested to see what benefit that's gonna give him.
But it looks like Ford would prefer he streamline the 97-sq-ft,to a degree that its drag doesn't exceed that of a garden-variety 60-sq-footer.
Thanks again for the eagle-eye!

[mwilliamshs]

Originally Posted by aerohead

... towing package.

Do you mean a hitch or an actual equipment package? It matters. Lots and lots of folks these days refer to a hitch and trailer light wiring as having a towing package but in most cases the two differ significantly.

[freebeard]

mwilliamshs -- Thanks for spotlighting the additional data points. I haven't see it, the download crash my browser.

But I look forward to aerohead cross-referencing it to Jaray and Hucho; to generalize it to non-Ford situations.

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by mwilliamshs

Do you mean a hitch or an actual equipment package? It matters. Lots and lots of folks these days refer to a hitch and trailer light wiring as having a towing package but in most cases the two differ significantly.

It's appears to be an OEM equipment package rated to pull 11,000-lbs.
They did all the wiring,provided for trailer brakes 'n such.There's an auxiliary transmission cooler and heavy duty cooling system.The brakes will stop John's 15,000 lbs no problem,with zero trailer brakes.It has full-synthetic lubes all around.
With the turbos,the torque curve is really flat,if you spank the go-pedal,she just pulls away like Teflon'd lightning,empty or loaded.
John has the auto-slider 5th-wheel hitch and capture-plate adapter.

[mwilliamshs]

Sounds like the Max Trailer Towing Package. As long it has 3.73 gears (axle code 26, B6, or L6) it should be good for 11,300 lbs and 60 sq ft of frontal area so long as it has a 16,600 GCWR sticker in the door jamb. Keep in mind tow capacity is based on GCWR which is based on GVWR and that assumes an empty truck.

16,600 - 5,254 (Ford's published curb weight for 2014 4x2 3.5L F150 CrewCab) = 11,346. So in order to tow at maximum ratings the driver needs to weigh 46 lbs or less and drive an otherwise unloaded truck without accessories.

I have seen frontal area limitations used to deny warranty claims more than once, just fyi. More for automatic transmission failure than anything else but at least one rear axle failure as well.

[Hersbird]

The frontal aera limit is a bit general. I would figure the 60 sqft limit would be based on a towing a cargo container brick. Also that would be at interstate speeds. That 60 sqft limit is also on the f250 diesels. To be an accurate measure of the load on the drivetrain they would have to calculate a combination of speed, frontal aera and Cd.

Oh and what about headwind/tailwind? 60 sqft in a 40 mph headwind is different then 60 sqft with a tailwind. Dodge doesn't seem to list these restrictions on their 1500-3500 trucks. Seems like Ford just looking for an excuse to deny warranty claims.

My new 5000 pound camper has a frontal aera of 74 square feet not counting awnings and A/C unit so probably 76 Sqft. So a 1500 Ram is good to go but I guess I need a F-350 diesel in the Ford world.

Edit: I just saw the 60 sq ft Ford limit is f-150-f550 so I guess I need an f-650 if they even make it LOL!