Full-boat-tail trailer with gap-fillers for Toyota T-100 pickup

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by aerohead

brucey,I think it was basically chronic fatigue and worrying more about respecting others vacation schedules and deadlines,than "finishing" the project and insisting that I do some sort of "shakedown" run before departure.
When the new wheels went on,I was probably thinking that they might have to come back off for some other procedure.The lug bolts never got torqued.
Since the wheels were spin-balanced they might have held on as long as they did, do to the minimum of vibration.
Lucky for me that it came apart at 63-mph rather than the 80-mph I'd intended for the next day.I'd made a number of excursions up 70-mph on the way to Odessa and she went like a rocket.
I would like at some point,to pull the rig across El Mirage Dry Lake at one of the California Timing Assoc. events leading up to Speed Week at Bonneville.
I believe the trailer will allow the truck to achieve 138-mph and 34.6 mpg during warmer weather.
This would mean that the truck would get better mpg WITH the trailer,than without.There is an extreme amount of good science to support the notion.
As I've mentioned elsewhere,pulling the trailer in winter temps(for Texas),and at 63-mph,I'm getting about 13-mpg better than Mythbuster's pair of F-150s running bone-stock at 55-mph.I'm okay with that.

P.S.I would like to reiterate, that the T-100 with it's aero-package,pulling the trailer,with an overall weight penalty of 1000-pounds,in winter driving,and at a higher speed,is returning 4-mpg higher than the same truck when it was new and in standard form in the summer.
That will keep me in the game.

[itsmedc]

Apologies for resurrecting an older thread.
One thing I "discovered" after losing the lug bolts and wheel on a pop-up camper I was pulling is that little trailer lug bolts are supposed to use a thread locker chemical (like loctite blue). The ones at the camper dealer actually come pre-treated with a dry form of loctite on the bolt. That is in addition to being properly torqued to a fairly high number. Mine were supposed to be 85 lb ft and that is with the thread locker treatment.

[Grim]

Having lost a wheel that I torqued properly with a torque wrench I later found it was my own stupidity that I didn't clean the mating surface on the hub.

There was surface rust on the face of the brake drom and when I changed the wheel to a different style the rust was under the mating surface of the new wheel. It powdered causing a loss of torque on the lug nuts as I was driving. Lost the 35 inch wheel 95lb wheel assembly on a 6,000lb jacked up K5 Jimmy at 60mph. The wheel rolled down through the median through oncoming traffic hit a curb that launched it about 20ft in the air and when it came back down it slammed into the passenger side door of a Ford ranger that was stopped at the cross street. Thankfully nobody was injured but it did $1800 damage to a truck with $2000 fair market value.

Wire brush wheel on the drill would have prevented it.

Cool read

I have a little 4x6 enclosed cargo trailer that I camp out of I am trying to figure out how to stream line behind both my 4runner and my Previa and a lot of ideas that you have posted will help. The roof height is dead even with the 4Runner when hitched so I have that going for me. The Previa is close to the same overall hight.

It is raised so I can pull it off road but I think an adjustable tongue so I can pull it up tight to the trucks on the hwy and some sort of boat tail on the rear door will help. Maybe a Kamm style tail on the trucks to take up some of the gap.
Look forward to the next updates.

[4536]

Aerohead:
Wow, glad you and the trailer survived. Hope you have the energy to complete the project with the gap fillers as it is a great looking trailer and already a success.

I'm into a similar project and can't tell you how much your posts on this and other threads have ment to me. I'm fairly new to the website and will post some info on my project when I figure out the appropriate way to do that.

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by 4536

Aerohead:
Wow, glad you and the trailer survived. Hope you have the energy to complete the project with the gap fillers as it is a great looking trailer and already a success.

I'm into a similar project and can't tell you how much your posts on this and other threads have ment to me. I'm fairly new to the website and will post some info on my project when I figure out the appropriate way to do that.

I'm not sure how the trailer will play out utility wise.It could do as telescoping travel trailer for a young couple as this is how I'll use mine ( minus the 'young').
The idea is more for an EV range-extender,which would lower drag such that the tow vehicle wold see a 'gain' just by pulling it,then,with either extra batteries,or an on-board gen-set,the trailer could export power forward to extend the range of a plug-in electric vehicle pulling it.Making out of town excursions possible maybe for the first time.
I have such limited data from the attempted test but considering the weight,weather and velocity,without the gap-fillers,the truck/trailer appears to have a composite drag coefficient on the order of 0.15.No change to frontal area.The drag reduction is overshadowing the drag increase due to the extra axle set;it'e rolling resistance and mass.
The gap-fillers should push that to Cd 0.12 territory,and with that,I really do believe it will make a 'showing' at the pump.
When I made my emergency trip to Phoenix I monitored my mileage for the same upleg as with the trailer,and came in within 1-mpg.If the gap-fillers cut drag the 20% as Hucho's book suggests they will,it looks like it will be a no-brainer to get better mpg with the trailer than without ( highway only of course ).
Keep us posted on your progress.I don't think you'll regret the project.
A real world vehicle with the Cd of GM's Sunraycer should be pretty humiliating to the average gas pump.

[nayeliesuncle]

Do salt racers also lock tite their lugnuts?

[slowmover]

Lug nuts should be torqued to spec prior to each days departure. One should also note stud stretch. There are no recommendations of any additives/lubricants to studs, but that they be clean, rust-free and with threads in best condition. I keep a dedicated torque wrench for trailers (and with other tools).

This is such a cool thread . . . I feel the OP's disappointment personally so much was I excited at reading it. I believe that the future holds a great deal of room for economical travel. Our economy, climate change, you-name-it. There are already a great number of people "on the road" for reasons personal & business . . it will only increase. As fuel prices go up -- again -- this topic will have real resonance.

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by slowmover

Lug nuts should be torqued to spec prior to each days departure. One should also note stud stretch. There are no recommendations of any additives/lubricants to studs, but that they be clean, rust-free and with threads in best condition. I keep a dedicated torque wrench for trailers (and with other tools).

This is such a cool thread . . . I feel the OP's disappointment personally so much was I excited at reading it. I believe that the future holds a great deal of room for economical travel. Our economy, climate change, you-name-it. There are already a great number of people "on the road" for reasons personal & business . . it will only increase. As fuel prices go up -- again -- this topic will have real resonance.

slowmover,it looks like your Dodge could go to 32-mpg over a weekend if we had a 'kit' for it.She has essentially the same starting point as the T-100 for highway duty.
Don't know what the auto makers will do for new 2016 CAFE 'CITY' standards for trucks,but it looks like the HWY numbers could easily be pushed up with 'styling.'
Thanks for data!

[aerohead]

4536 asked about progress on the 'transition' panels and I said I'd do an update here,just to keep everything together.
And first,an apology because I'm making stuff up as I go and a long way from intelligible photos.
The plan for the invention as of right now:
My college Rawleigh Record Ace 10-speed has been offered to the gods of low drag and is being harvested for components.
I sectioned the forward frame and will attach the front fork,reversed,at the nose,secured at the spare tire mount and below,capturing the hub,minus spokes.
The fork tube and short sections of the frame,with original weatherized bearing set projects 'forward' and will be modified to accept and hold a rectangular,reinforced square-section welded steel yoke which pivots at same center as fork tube,not quite the width of the void it occupies.
The 4 gap-filler panels attach to,and swing from this yoke with simple hinge/clevis-pin/and retainer clip,creating the aerodynamic transition from tow vehicle to trailer which produces the low drag singularity.
Each panel has a guide roller which rides close to the prismatic face of the trailer.
In a turn,the affected trailer face facet makes contact with the panel roller,forcing the panel to pivot and displace,while simultaneously,the yoke itself is pivoting to clear the tow vehicle rear by use of a similar roller system at the yoke face.
During backing,the events play out in reverse.
The side panels can displace only horizontally.
The upper and lower panel can displace only vertically.
A short section of resilient foam projects forward along the perimeter of the yoke to close the vehicle/trailer gap and provide a deformable barrier for times when the road surface demands that axles must be displaced vertically ( railroad tracks,driveway ramps,etc.),pivoting the trailer.
The upper and lower panels are held by cable/pulley/weight as in a vintage double-hung window.
The side panels are also held by cable/pulley/weight.
Anytime the combination is in line,gravity forces the panels close to the trailer face.
Springs were considered due to weight savings,but they can break,gravity can't.
The side panels are configured such that a fenestration is maintained to the rear,allowing following motorists to see the tow vehicle tailights,signals,stoplights,as well as those of the trailer itself.
I wasn't even going to look at the trailer 'til next winter.Heat index has been near or over 100 F for weeks now.I won't look for much progress,but I'll throw some hours at it through the summer.

[KamperBob]

Phil, I totally missed this thread previously. It sucks that after pouring hundreds of hours into the trailer it was damaged like that. I hope the rebuild brings infinitely more gratification.

Cheers
KB