stepside or fleetside?
 

hello, new to this forum and to the ecomodder idea.

to start off, my vehicle is;

2001 chevy s10
2.2 4cyl
5spd
4.10 gears
high flow exhaust
true cold air intake.

I plan on doing an aero bed cap myself using some of the info and threads ive found on here. my current bed is a fleetside but needs a lot of body work. I work at a wrecking yard and can get a really good deal on a stepside that is in almost mint shape. my question is, which bed style will have be the best overall choice for aero combined with an aero cap?

I love the way my sportside looks and functions, but aerodynamics is not a strong point.

An aerodynamic engineer did a CFD study on it using the fleetside model, I will post it soon for you to look at.

In the meanwhile check out the links in my signature for ideas.

Latest link:
Rusty old pickup truck - Razzle Dazzle Camouflage - Pelican Parts Technical BBS

http://i.imgur.com/PeXALHT.jpg
Just sayin'.

Welcome, yeti!

What part of Ontario are you in?

From a *modding* perspective, the stepside may give you better gains, as you can build in some proper aero-friendly taper aft of the rear fender that you wouldn't be able to do as easily on a fleetside box.

However, you'll also need to "bridge the divide" forward of that rear fender from the trailing edge of the cab, backward.

So the complete answer might be: fleetside from cab to rear wheel, modified/tapered stepside from the rear wheel to the end of the vehicle. :)

If you're willing to sacrifice some power for efficiency, do some searching on warm air intakes here. Warmer, less dense air = wider throttle opening for a given power requirement = lower pumping losses = higher efficiency.

Maybe a custom variable source intake - warm for cruising, cold at other times?

Also, I'm not familiar with the range of differential gears for the s10. Can you /would you be willing to go with taller gearing to lower cruising RPM?

One would have to deal with the gas cap access and taillight issues.

Seems more comprehensive to start with a flatbed and aero the whole thing from scratch.

Metrompg, i am not far from you. I live in brighton. about 2hrs west of you. As for gear ratios, factory availability is 3.08, 3.42, 3.73, and 4.10. Ive considered going to a 3.73 for a lower cruising rpm, but not sure if my little 4cyl will have enough to get it moving at first.

I could easily change to a warm air intake by removing the baffle that blocks it from the engine.

As for the bed, what i should add is that i would do a step shaver/roll pan setup in the rear. Which would essentially be "boat tailing" the rear, but i do understand what you're saying about the void between the cab and front of the rear fender

I wanted a warm air intake with no loss of power when I needed it so I built a selectable cold air and warm air intake.

Kach22i: agreed - a flatbed blank slate would be an ideal starting point. More work though?

Yeti: Brighton - cool! Maybe one day I can see your project.

Do you have access to junkyard diffs too? Might be worth trying the tallest.

Just FYI, I stuck the tallest possible final drive in my 1.0L Firefly out of about 5 options.

It's fine for mostly highway use in a non-loaded vehicle, but is a bit harder on the clutch starting on hills and in stop & go urban use. It essentially made the "new" 1st gear equivalent to halfway between the original 1st & 2nd, if you know what I mean. More clutch slippage to get the car moving. All that got me about 5% better highway MPG.

A better solution would have been a taller 5th, but there were no OEM swaps for doing that.

Well metro, i figured 3.73 or maybe 3.42 at the lowest. I do a fairly equal amount of city and highway, and my clutch already isnt in the greatest shape lol. Unfortunately to my knowledge, there are no other factory or easily usable transmission options for the 4cyl s10. If it were the V6, i could use fat more because it has the same bellhousing pattern as all SBC engines made up to the early 00's. I have thought before of usong a T56 6spd from a 98-02 camaro/trans am/corvette

The spring-loaded side step on the Subaru BRAT:

http://13252-presscdn-0-94.pagely.ne...76-620x415.jpg
http://bringatrailer.com/2016/12/12/imperfect-but-worthy-69k-mile-1984-subaru-brat/