pivoting wheel skirt

[miket]

I've seen some wheel skirts that flip upwards ie aerocivic but i was thinking about making the wheel skirt the exact size of the wheel arch and attaching it to a pivot at the top so it could turn left or right with the wheel. I would either attach skate bearings to touch the sidewall or connect a linkage around the tire to the steering mechanism. Since the pivot would be attached to the body there wouldnt need to be a gap for any suspension travel like the neccesary gap between the tire and arch.

Actually I could make the arch smaller with a outer partial skirt and make a smaller pivoting inner skirt. It only has to cover the wheel and suspension travel. The truck has extra room for much larger tires/rims than I have.

If the wheel skirt goes low enough to cover most of the rim then i dont think im goign to bother with rim caps.

To remove the front skirt i'd turn the wheel then reach in and pull the pivot pin. The rear non articulating skirt could attach with magnets, velcro or clips inside the wheel well.

[NachtRitter]

Mike -

Some discussions about that here (http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...ion-13855.html) and here (http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...dea-13877.html). Would be very interested to see what you come up with. What vehicle is this for?

[miket]

Its for a tundra. So far I've only come up with the mental prototype.

I saw that thread before but I assumed that all those wheel skirts went up and down with the wheels because some of the skirts in those pics have a big gap at the top for suspension travel.

Now that I look at it again, some of the other skirts do not have the big gap and are probably attached to the body and not attached to the spindle or what not.

Also I think the gaps all around could be smaller than in those pics.

edit: I wouldn't cut it high to leave the lug nuts exposed either.

edit2: apparently I should have read that entire thread lol because that comes up.

edit3: oh the gapless pictures in that thread are from lowering of the buses air suspension and not attachment to the body so nm.

[Bicycle Bob]

How do you plan to keep the skirt in line with the body most of the time?

[NachtRitter]

I do like the idea of a front wheel skirt that is not top-hinged but either mounted on some sort of a center pivot (fixed vertically) or mounted on the suspension (so that it moves vertically with the suspension).

Neil Blanchard has some thoughts about a front wheel skirt that's a little different in this thread (http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...ter-11969.html). His idea is to hinge the skirt vertically so that only the part that needs to move out of the way for the tire is actually moved (for example, if the front of the tire needs to move the skirt out of the way, then only the front moves; the rear half of the skirt stays in place).

That approach should reduce the complexity compared to a pivot mechanism (which would have to be pretty well centered with the wheel rotation in order to avoid binding) while also not adding the unsprung weight that a suspension mounted system would add.

[miket]

Bob do you mean keeping it inline with the body when the wheels are just slightly out of line with the body? My plan was to keep it inline with the wheels horizontally but allow the wheels to move vertically. The skirt itself and the pivoting attachment point at the top would have to be strong enough to not bend inward or outward in the wind.

To transmit the turning of the wheels i considered either A a pair of roller bearings located on the inside front and back of the skirt touching the tires large sidewall, or B a linkage from the top pivot over the tire and down to spindle near the joint. The linkage would articulate in several places so it would allow for vertical movement of the spindle but would transmit the horizontal rotation of the spindle.


edit2: I think the wheel move slightly in or out with suspension movement. That would also require more of a gap and maybe favor the linkage option.

[Bicycle Bob]

I'd only use rollers if they did not normally touch. There could be trouble with mud or snow, especially with tight clearance. For a linkage, you might want to connect to the steering box or something else on the frame rather than the wheel spindle.

[miket]

Hmm your right the end of the steering piece that is fixed to the vehicle should go in and out but not up and down with the wheel so i could attach a ridgid linkage from there around the tire to the skirt. That would require me to disconnect a second pin on the side as well as the top one for removal but it seems simpler overall.

The rollers would be sealed like the hub, though the rotational speed would be higher. It would be a good idea to not have another part always rotating at high speed though so i don't think its a good idea. Also as the wishbone suspension arcs inward there would be slack and too much play in the pivoting with only one of the two roller touching the sidewall at a time unless the roller were pressed against the sidewall with short springs. I also wonder if the dirty sidewall would get worn out by the smooth steel or ceramic roller before the tread wears out.

[miket]

I took a look under there.

The front tire extends close to the body so i would need to add some fender trim to set the skirt out.

Theres a boot on the end of the steering rack end. I felt a joint several inches back. So i'd get about 1/4 of the suspension travel arc on the linkage after the boot, maybe half that if i reclamped the boot back closer to the joint.

The spindle connects to the upper control arm behind the top of the tire. It connects to the lower control arm somewhat in the rim so the spindle axis isnt quite parallel to the tire. Also the suspension arms go through an arc I think. Kind of confusing thinking about both the steering and suspension movements with respect to the tire and body and im not sure how much of a gap i would need with the tire.

I think the upper skirt pivot would be in the top of the wheel well above the tire and not at the edge of the body.

[miket]

With the angles i don't really don't know how much clearance i'd need..

I also do like that other idea of a wheel skirt with a hinge down the center that allows the front or back half to turn outwards with the wheel and the other half to stay inline. I'd use springs to keep the skirts tight to the body and not swing outwards except when the wheel turned. I wouldnt touch the sidewall of the tire but would have a pair of push arms/rods connected to the top of the spindle and over the wheel to push on the skirt halves. Of course that hinge would be the offset from the tires vertical axis by the thickness of the tire so theres would have to be space for that arc.