Commercially produced aerodynamic pickup bed cap

[Valhalla]

Does anyone know what became of this project?

I've tried contacting Brett a couple different ways, but haven't gotten a response.

SP

[round.boater]

He got his patent, and is still trying to get one of the big manufacturers to pick up the project. He doesn't spend much time on Ecomodder any more, after getting frustrated at the choice of home page stories, but I think can still be reached through the contact info on his web page:
Home - Aerolid

Not clear to my why he doesn't sell the thing on looks alone. The number of people who tell me my truck looks like the old Off-Road arcade game, and how cool that is, way outnumbers the ones who like the gas savings. Throw in the slednecks and dirt bikers who like the removable roof portion to haul their toys, and it's the perfect truck accessory.

[aerohead]

Before Bondo got away from one of his stints here in the Denton area,my workmate Steve happened to get behind him heading south on I-35 towards Dallas.
Steve called that evening and could hardly contain his excitement after seeing Bondo's cap and swore that he'd be getting one for his Tundra.Steve is an AOPA guy and understood the drag implications immediately.
It was tough breaking the news that it was a prototype and only for F-150s at the moment,and he'd have to wait.
Brett's a fine sculptor and master modeller and you would think that folks would easily part with some of their cash to possess such a finely crafted cap.
With proven wind tunnel performance and peerless execution she's the 'benchmark.'
Glad you got to get one.

[Valhalla]

Sent him a message through his web site a couple days ago, but have gotten no response.

I'm sure there are unknown circumstances, but it's a shame that he's got such a great looking product but hasn't been able to get it to market.

SP

[ron]

I need one of those for a dodge 3/4 long bed

[ECONORAM]

Wow. Finally got through the entire thread. Several I'd like to quote/respond to, but I'll just limit my thoughts. Kudos to bondo and everyone who's out there on Ecomodder sharing info and pushing the FE envelope. **My wife still cringes every time I strap something else to my truck in my continuing efforts to squeeze out more MPG.

@bondo (if you check in), for visibility, maybe a split window of 2 or 3 would work better than a wide single. It would allow the strengthening bands to remain between the window panes... And maybe some side panels, as mentioned pages ago, that hinge at the top to allow access into the bed... Greatly appreciate the ability to expand the topper at the back. I was also going to suggest the flashing red LED sign with current MPG.
Better yet, a payback schedule might help in the marketing department. That was my line of thought as I started hatching my small biz idea. Most mods that people make to their trucks are not those that pay them back...

edit: added an MS Excel sheet I put together. One tab compares MPH vs MPG so you can see fuel flows (good for me while I sort out my VSS issues) and the other shows costs vs MPG and range. Can use to compute payback miles...

edit 2: Peragon makes an aluminum tonneau cover: http://www.peragon.com/ Might be worth asking if they could do an aluminum aero-cap.

[nmz787]

kickstarter.com
indiegogo.com

there's no reason putting this on either of those two sites wouldn't raise funding to get medium or large scale manufacturing going. Probably enough work that this guy could quit his other job that takes him out of state (I might have read that in a 4 or 5 year old post)

[ME_Andy]

I was just looking at this... It's a shame the Aerocap hasn't made it to market yet. Maybe now's the time, what with the new fuel-efficient F-150 rolling out?

2 simple suggestions (even though activity has slowed down in the past couple years)...

1. Kickstarter
2. Leave a link to your website on all of your posts.

And why isn't this project featured on the homepage?

[freebeard]

From Bondo's Profile page:

Last Post: Good read yaw. (yaw effect on aerodynamic performance) 06-24-2014 01:37 PM

Maybe he would respond to a PM.

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by davidgrey50

Took me a while, but I've found a picture of a Ford show car I remember from an old Road & Track - 1965 Galaxie 'Magic-Cruiser. Still looks great, and still makes sense.The link is http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b3...CCRUISER-1.jpg

If we inverted the roof,you might imagine an active diffuser section which could lower only for highway use,when the SAE departure angle wasn't necessary.
GM use a version on their 'EPCOT' car exhibit at Epcot Center,Orlando,Florida in the 1980s.
The smoke-flow under the 'Spirit of Ecomodder.com' revealed some 'nervous' airflow under its diffuser,something an active diffuser could 'fix.'