Long distance commuter, Arizona

[adam728]

Hello to all. New guy here, lurked around a bit and decided to join.

As part of my job I'm on the road all the time, commute between 160 and 200 miles round trip each day, depending which customer location I need to be at. Fortunately work provides the car and reimburses gas, but unfortunately that means a lot of possible mods are out of the question.

My personal ride is about as bad as it gets when it comes to gas mileage, a Jeep Wrangler. Shaped like a log cabin, rediculasly heavy for a small vehicle, and equiped with a fantastic 3 speed automatic, gas mileage is simply "yes, it has gas mileage". Throw in the fact that most of the time I have a 5 x 8 enclosed trailer behind it and things just get worse. I long for the days of my 30 mpg 4 banger S-10!!!

For future improvements I just plan to drive the company car smarter, and do a few things to the Jeep.

• ScanGauge II will be coming soon, I was planning on picking up a code reader soon, and a birthday is coming up, so why not get something a little better?
• I'm also looking to do a front skid plate that might help mileage some, but more or less to protect my power steering box. Most TJ's run just a small skid for the steering box, but Cherokee's and Land Rovers often use larger skids that span the front end, providing some protection for the higher up steering components. It can only help keep some air from going underneath the Jeep.
• Big thing I need to do is GET A SMALLER TRAILER! The parachute I drag around now kills it, looking to build a small single-rail bike trailer. Thought about a hitch carrier, but not too fond of hanging 230 lbs off the back of a short wheel base, even with my airbags.

So anyway, I'm here to cruise, it's interesting seeing all the mods that some of you have done.

Check out those awesome areodynamics!

[trikkonceptz]

Welcome, and you know today as I was drafting a lawn service trailer I was thinking about making enclosed trailers more FE. Here are some radical ideas to have some fun with.

-Build a nose on the trailer to curve the wind around that front.
-Mold the forward edge of the fender into the trailer, for smoother air flow
-Increase trailer tire psi to max
-Build a skirt for the wheel well
-Build a large boat tail for the trailer hinged on one side so you can still access the main door to load and unload

Sorry to jack your thread, but you gave me flashbacks of this morning ...

Again welcome ..

[adam728]

Originally Posted by trikkonceptz

Welcome, and you know today as I was drafting a lawn service trailer I was thinking about making enclosed trailers more FE. Here are some radical ideas to have some fun with.

-Build a nose on the trailer to curve the wind around that front.
-Mold the forward edge of the fender into the trailer, for smoother air flow
-Increase trailer tire psi to max
-Build a skirt for the wheel well
-Build a large boat tail for the trailer hinged on one side so you can still access the main door to load and unload

Sorry to jack your thread, but you gave me flashbacks of this morning ...

Again welcome ..

Already have doodled up pictures of the bold items, just never built any of it. A small (light) single rail trailer is more what I need though. That way for longe trips we can take my girl friend's 07 Passat. I wouldn't mind towing 350 lbs behind it, but trying to tow 1000lbs + (even if aero) isn't something I'm interested in trying.