jeep liberty/trailer project

[morpheous71]

Hopefully this works and I can post some pic's with this thread.
I'm new to the forum. Driving a 2002 jeep liberty with a 3.7L gas engine, recently had new 2003 engine put into it which had 160000KM on it, my last engine had 211098 before the oil pump went and I screwed the engine up. I own the vehicle outright and don't want to sell it because I love the ride but it's killing me on fuel costs, last year I put about approx. 40000k on it and pumped $7439 in fuel into her. I'm currently getting;

10.75mpg or 26.27L per 100KM with the trailer
and
12.98mpg or 21.74L per 100KM without the trailer

I have just recently come into this website and have learned alot already through reading, so I am hoping I can use some of these techniques to improve my performance on this rig. I think I will be making up some wheel covers, pulling the mudguards, covering the running lights, foglights and the grille to start. I like the idea of the airdam but wonder if the bellypan idea is the better way to go, or do I do both. I am also wondering about the trailer and what I can do to improve how the two vehicles run together. What can I do to the back of the jeep, should I get the trailer closer to the jeep and should I start modding out the trailer and how??? Lots of questions, obviously many of the answers will be out there on the forum already so I'll keep reading. In the meantime any assistance is most welcome. Here's a pic of the set-up I'm running.
Dam it, how do you post pic's on this system? Looks like I need to post them first on some website, what a pain.

[euromodder]

Originally Posted by morpheous71

don't want to sell it because I love the ride but it's killing me on fuel costs

You can reduce it's fuel consumption, but it's never going to return great fuel economy.

If you start modding it, decide wether you want the mods to be reversible or not. If not, potential resale value will go down if you ever change your mind about selling it.

I have just recently come into this website and have learned alot already through reading, so I am hoping I can use some of these techniques to improve my performance on this rig.

Start adjusting your driving - it's the cheapest mod

I think I will be making up some wheel covers, pulling the mudguards, covering the running lights, foglights and the grille to start.

They're called low hanging fruit here, so pick 'm

I like the idea of the airdam but wonder if the bellypan idea is the better way to go, or do I do both.

Do the airdam if you're short on time, do both when you have the time to do a belly pan.

An airdam doesn't keep air from going under the car, it just reduces the amount, so it still pays to smooth the underside.

should I get the trailer closer to the jeep and should I start modding out the trailer and how???

Closing the gap helps, but it obviously has its practical limitations.

Same as the car essentially ...
Deflectors (little air dams) in front of the wheels, covering the wheels.
Smoothing the underside - any sides - if necessary .

Look for Phil Knox's and BamZipPow's aeromodded trucks to get some ideas as to what you can do too.

Dam it, how do you post pic's on this system? Looks like I need to post them first on some website, what a pain.

You can make albums with pics on ecomodder, then refer to them - you may need to have a minimal number of posts for that though (5 or 10).

[euromodder]

PS : what's the situation with LPG in Canada ?
If it's cheaper than gas, you might consider a conversion with that kind of mileage.

[morpheous71]

Got the folder to work, now can I actaully post to the thread?
Not sure about LPG, something I'll look into.
Thanks for the link to BamZip's modded trucks. I love the idea of the dams and skirts but I hate the shabby look they give the vehicle, who's making these with professional looking results?

[BamZipPow]

Originally Posted by morpheous71

Got the folder to work, now can I actaully post to the thread?
Not sure about LPG, something I'll look into.
Thanks for the link to BamZip's modded trucks. I love the idea of the dams and skirts but I hate the shabby look they give the vehicle, who's making these with professional looking results?

I thought I did pretty good with my dropped/extended air dam...

Well...I'm not gonna go fer a finished look if it doesn't pan out. R&D (on a limited budget) is hard when you don't have someone sponsoring you and yer quest. Appearance doesn't bother me at all...it's all about the performance. I can clean it up once I git my skills and data down.

If you were to price out all the coroplast I've used...it would be well into the 100's of dollars. Luckily I got most of mine during the last election...

I would estimate that I've put over $300 in materials alone into my aero mods. Most of the cost is in the frames and fasteners. I only had to buy two sheets of coroplast...the rest have been free.

My aero mods will eventually git cleaned up...some day.

[BamZipPow]

See...it doesn't look too bad.

[euromodder]

You've linked to the album's URL with an [IMAGE] tag, rather than to the actual image's URL.

Originally Posted by morpheous71

Got the folder to work, now can I actaully post to the thread?

The link to the album is in your post - only it doesn't show because of the image tags around it.

I love the idea of the dams and skirts but I hate the shabby look they give the vehicle, who's making these with professional looking results?

Dunno if they're being made for your vehicle.
An airdam maybe.
Commercially available aerodynamic add-ons are usually cosmetic tuning parts that don't really improve the aerodynamics of the car.

Most folks here want to make their own parts to keep costs down and put the returns in their own pockets rather than those of an auto parts manufacturer

Some want and get cleaner results than others.
If you paint it black, it'll look less obtrusive on the bottom of your vehicle.

[KamperBob]

Just going from the one pic quoted by Euromodder it looks to me like your trailer is not taller or wider that the Jeep so frontal area not increased. There is a large gap between the two. You could add a lightweight fairing to the front of the trailer and/or divider board up over the ball to mute cross winds bleeding over and contributing to wake.

The blunt rear without tapering isn't helping. It's possible to build out the sides to swallow the fender with tapering to the top for smooth transition and angling to the rear for clean separation. Above the fenders would add some frontal area but the Cd reduction may be worth it. Again, shadowed behind the Jeep it may not be much overall Af increase.

Good luck!

[DonR]

Next time you put a motor in it, get a 2.8l diesel.

If the trailer is taller than the Jeep, you could make a long "deflector" (sheet metal or plastic) that mounts to the roof rack to ease the transition from vehicle to trailer. Unfortunately, it is a little more difficult & unsightly to add one of these to the sides.

Don

[euromodder]

Originally Posted by KamperBob

The blunt rear without tapering isn't helping.

It's probably the worst area, as bluntness on the front isn't that bad for aero.

Bulging the front would help though, as would a vertical divider plate along the centerline.
(Don't use a half-round fairing on the rear though.)

It's possible to build out the sides to swallow the fender with tapering to the top for smooth transition and angling to the rear for clean separation.

Yep, bulge on the front of the fenders, covering their sides, and tapering as slowly as possible on the rear of the fenders.


Adding slightly angled plates to the rear of the trailer would also help to reduce the wake area - and cut down the drag.



See
Semi-truck Boat Tail Improves Fuel Efficiency 7.5% | Watts Up With That?
and
Platform for Aerodynamic Road Transport
(take a look at applications -> cab and container)