Go Back   EcoModder Forum > EcoModding > Aerodynamics
Register Now
 Register Now
 

Reply  Post New Thread
 
Submit Tools LinkBack Thread Tools
Old 07-24-2008, 12:48 PM   #21 (permalink)
Coasting Down the Peak
 
skyl4rk's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: M I C H I G A N
Posts: 514

Toyauto Pickup - '94 Toyota Pickup 2WD
90 day: 36.32 mpg (US)

Versa Base - '09 Versa Sedan 1.6 Base
Team Nissan
90 day: 41.69 mpg (US)
Thanks: 27
Thanked 42 Times in 35 Posts


Aero pickup bed plus rounded tail

__________________
Nissan Versa Aeromods
  Reply With Quote
Alt Today
Popular topics

Other popular topics in this forum...

   
Old 07-24-2008, 04:15 PM   #22 (permalink)
Master EcoModder
 
aerohead's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Sanger,Texas,U.S.A.
Posts: 15,861
Thanks: 23,922
Thanked 7,207 Times in 4,640 Posts
basic re- design

Quote:
Originally Posted by extragoode View Post
What exactly is meant by basic redesign? Buy a car?
You have to put the research in context of the state-of-the-art in pickup design at the time the paper was published(1988).You could take a current production truck and aero-mod it to get a 20% drag reduction,or the carmakers could design more aerodynamically efficient production pickups with 20% less drag.
That's the context.
__________________
Photobucket album: http://s1271.photobucket.com/albums/jj622/aerohead2/
  Reply With Quote
Old 07-24-2008, 07:43 PM   #23 (permalink)
EcoModding Lurker
 
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Motor City
Posts: 89
Thanks: 0
Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by skyl4rk View Post

Aero pickup bed plus rounded tail
Looks like a K-back would do better than the curved back...
  Reply With Quote
Old 07-25-2008, 09:59 AM   #24 (permalink)
EcoModding Apprentice
 
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Des Moines, IA
Posts: 154

Nerdcycle - '81 Honda CM400E
Motorcycle
90 day: 61.16 mpg (US)

Trouble - '06 Kawasaki Ninja
90 day: 74.69 mpg (US)

Edna - '13 Nissan LEAF SV
Last 3: 126.4 mpg (US)

Tank - '20 Ford Expedition Limited
Last 3: 17.4 mpg (US)
Thanks: 0
Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by aerohead View Post
You have to put the research in context of the state-of-the-art in pickup design at the time the paper was published(1988).You could take a current production truck and aero-mod it to get a 20% drag reduction,or the carmakers could design more aerodynamically efficient production pickups with 20% less drag.
That's the context.
So trucks have been redesigned (comparing an '88 tacoma to a '08 tacoma) for the better and it might be a 20% improvement, but are the auto makers still "redesigning" pickups or is the best option now just an aeroshell?
__________________

  Reply With Quote
Old 07-25-2008, 02:47 PM   #25 (permalink)
Master EcoModder
 
aerohead's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Sanger,Texas,U.S.A.
Posts: 15,861
Thanks: 23,922
Thanked 7,207 Times in 4,640 Posts
K-Back

Quote:
Originally Posted by garys_1k View Post
Looks like a K-back would do better than the curved back...
The K-back yielded Kamm Cd0.37 on the Mercedes chassis.I prefer Cd0.32.
__________________
Photobucket album: http://s1271.photobucket.com/albums/jj622/aerohead2/
  Reply With Quote
Old 07-25-2008, 03:02 PM   #26 (permalink)
Master EcoModder
 
aerohead's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Sanger,Texas,U.S.A.
Posts: 15,861
Thanks: 23,922
Thanked 7,207 Times in 4,640 Posts
20%

Quote:
Originally Posted by extragoode View Post
So trucks have been redesigned (comparing an '88 tacoma to a '08 tacoma) for the better and it might be a 20% improvement, but are the auto makers still "redesigning" pickups or is the best option now just an aeroshell?
I don't think "Tacoma" existed in 1988.I think Toyota just called their pickup a Truck.A friend has a '93 Toyota,and it's architecture is very similar to the T-100,which is rated by Toyota at Cd0.44.---------------------------GM dropped the Cd on the S-10,from 0.485 to 0.42 in it's last incarnation ( about a 13.5% drop) I don't know what the older Toyota was.------------------------------ I think the spirit of the "re-design" comment,is that for existing technology of the day,and given what was understood about pickup aero,that a new softened model could easily pull off a Cd which was 20% less than models of that day (1988).I did a 74% reduction with the T-100.
__________________
Photobucket album: http://s1271.photobucket.com/albums/jj622/aerohead2/
  Reply With Quote
Old 09-02-2008, 04:49 PM   #27 (permalink)
EcoModding Lurker
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Ottawa, Canada
Posts: 10
Thanks: 0
Thanked 3 Times in 2 Posts
Tailgate up or down

The answer is simple. Keep your tailgate up. I did a series of wind tunnel tests on full-sized pickups in the 30-ft-wide, 30-ft-high test section of the NRC Low Speed Wind tunnel in Ottawa, Canada to investigate this issue. The results almost always showed that the tailgate up was best. With an 8-ft box, having the tailgate down or off decreased the drag coefficient (CD) by about 0.003 in a CD 0f 0.50. With the shorter boxes found with crew and extended cabs (6 ft & 4.5 ft), the drag coefficient was increased by up to 0.025 when the tailgate was of and a little less with it down. Adding a mesh tailgate instead of a solid one increased the CD by another 0.025, to a total of 0.05 above tailgate up. I would expect that any similarly porous tailgate would also increase drag. Since the gain of 0.003 is extremely small, it would not seem worth doing considering the loss of utility. Putting the tailgate down is a real loser since it is unsafe to following traffic and increases drag.

There you have it: keep your tailgate up.

  Reply With Quote
Reply  Post New Thread


Thread Tools


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Report: Improving the Aero Characteristics of a Dodge Ram Pickup Truck MetroMPG Aerodynamics 36 08-05-2013 11:25 PM
SAE report: Pickup Truck tailgate aerodynamics... better up, down, or off? MetroMPG Aerodynamics 5 11-17-2011 02:35 PM
Test: F-150 pickup "cap on" vs. "cap off" @ 60 mph MetroMPG Aerodynamics 17 11-17-2011 01:44 PM
Large Pickup Aerodynamic Mods buckyball Aerodynamics 43 08-02-2008 05:49 PM
More Pickup truck Aero bennelson Aerodynamics 16 05-13-2008 09:32 PM



Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
Content Relevant URLs by vBSEO 3.5.2
All content copyright EcoModder.com