Which Trailer shape is better??

[Ed-in-Maine]

Hello All,
First I want to again thanks for all the input on the initial design. This is the MK I Aero-Teardrop trailer as ready to hit the road in two days. No time to compete the front storage area so exposed water,ice chest and spare tire. Also I plan to fair in the overhead hatch and attach tail fins,think 50s chevy in MK II. First drive behind the Matrix was dream! We had high high winds and zero wiggle. Tested up to 60mph which will be the terminal speed when towing.

[skyking]

congrats to you! Looks nice.

[ausias]

Best shape is what become a extension of your front car. Add a Spoiler to the roof (maybe 30 cm could be enough and begin the streamlined shape above drivers door. But if you could fill the gap between car and trailer hidden in front view with a kamback it will permit -35% reduction between car only S·cd and the new one. I'm designing and testing CFD with solidworks for a Van and even having a 110% front surface with a spoiler, the hidden boat tail trailer give me a total cd reduction from 0.36 to 0.233.
You need to fill the wake of your car and some 50 cm to 100 cm kamback to fill the wake of the trailer.

Some details of the images: 30m/s front wind, 108 kmh, 67mph,
Sfront vehicle = 2.5 m height, 1.9 m width, 4.8 m length
trailer 2.3 m x 1.7 m x 4.3 m
resulting length 9.6 meters :-O
drag force reduction -35%, expected fuel consumption saving -25% to -15 % L/100km (+33% mpg to 17% mpg) unloaded(2200 kg) to 3500 kg total mass.

[Sven7]

Looks great! Aside from the wheel fairings I'd say mount that license plate on the back of the trailer instead of hanging it out in the wind

Looking forward to more pics.

[Ed-in-Maine]

Thanks for those MK II suggestions But she is what she is. Now we'll see what a 8000mile shake down cruise also puts on the MK II plans

No aero mods until at least late Aug. Take care all, we're packing on GONE with in the hour!

Having problems putting up more pictures so here's a link to our trike blog with a few more pics.

[skyking]

enjoy your new 'digs on wheels', Ed and family. Have a great time.

[Sven7]

whoa, dome home!

[slowmover]

It all looks good. Looking forward to more.

[Hersbird]

This thread is right up the lines of what I was thinking. I too want to build a homemade areo trailer but in my case it would be bigger. Tow car would be a 2007 KIA sedona and the trailer will be about 94" total off the ground (basically 6' interior and deck about 16" off the ground), 6 1/2 feet wide (same as the van), and 14' long not counting the tounge. I wanted to use mostly 2" thick aluminum clad, foam composite panels. They don't bend much but can be placed at any angles and joints between surfaces could have about a 8" radius on the joints. Building it to look style wise like a F-117 stealth fighter would be easy, and pretty cool looking IMO, but doesn't seem to fit these aero templates. Short of that perfect shape what angles should the tail be tapered? 10° up from the ground, 18° in on each side, and 20° down on the roof sound close? I would tuck it as close as possible to the van but to make turning possible it would either need to be a v-nose or have a 36" tounge but 12-18" fairing could be added to the front of the trailer that the van could still turn in to.
Not trying to hyjack a thread but a lot of good information has already been covered here.

[skyking]

I'll still suggest a sliding "box-over-a-box" design to lower height and frontal area. It is not complicated, and will both increase your living space and lower drag, center of gravity, and reduce scary times in big winds.
Things that it complicates:
1) hanging space.
2) the door and access for a quick stop on the road.

those can be addressed.