///// trailer tails for a van ? /////

[Andyinchville1]

Hi All

I've been doing delivery work for a while now but recently I started having to do a bread run that's approximately 450 miles a day 5 days a week.

With that, I started thinking more about making my van more efficient in terms of miles per gallon since fuel usually runs me about $58 a day.

Anyways I realize a lot of people like the concept of boat tales and I like that too however I have to be able to access my cargo easily and quickly numerous times during the route ...
Actually 9 times in the course of one run.

Due to the fact that I have to access the cargo area numerous times a fixed boat tail would not be a practical option and have long since thought that trailer tails would be the ultimate solution ....

My plan was to build something like the stemco trailer tail except for a van ...

I don't have access to a lot of metals so I think I would make mine crudely out of 3/8 in marine grade plywood (I'm thinking a person can still paint over pressure treated plywood?)

I watched several YouTube videos on how trailer tails work and how they're deployed and folded up but the life of me my brain is not good enough to figure out what structures are in the middle to hold the trailer tail in position that allows them to fold up ...

I don't think it would be hard for me to cut the pieces I believe I would simply use 4x8 sheets of pressure treated plywood and I do have access to circular saws and jigsaws Etc so cutting the actual pieces would not be an issue

Interestingly enough the hinges on my Sprinter van already have holes in them so my thought was to tack weld some bolts from the backside forward giving a threaded connection on which to mount the plywood tails.

You have more support I think about taking a piece of flat metal stock maybe even angle iron to join the two holes together with a piece of angle iron therefore giving a large area on which to mount a hinge (possibly a full length piano type hinge) for added support on the plywood ends for the trailer tail as well as to fill in the gap created by the joint for better aerodynamics (I don't know how important it would be to maybe even glue a piece of rubber over the connection for less turbulence? Or just leave the hinge exposed?).

I would consider using piano hinges for all the connections of the flat pieces of wood in the construction of the trailer tail for a van.

I can see from the videos there's a lot of connecting rods and such to keep the trailer tail opened up and locked in place and that's the part that I'm having trouble visualizing or building .... In theory I could use all thread and clevis type ends for the connections so I think I could make the movable connections it's just I have to figure out or have a better idea of how to make everything fold open and locked in place.

Currently I can fold my doors back on the Sprinter van all the way to the body of the van however I realize once I add a little thickness to it I won't be able to fold it all the way back to flat and that's not a big issue I could always use hardware from enclosed cargo trailers to form a lock back of sorts or simply modify my magnetic door hold open mechanism on the Sprinter van and raise it out a little bit

Anyways, has anybody here tried putting a trailer tail onto a van? I'm looking to do that and I do have the regular run that I can do to check MPGs as far as improvements Etc

Currently I can get about 26 miles per gallon running at a steady 62 mph roughly ... I say roughly because to be perfectly honest I need to get disciplined more discipline and hold the constant speed on the highway but I find myself sometimes picking up the pace if I want to finish up a little earlier but probably on my next few runs I need to maintain a steady Pace throughout the entire run therefore getting a better baseline but I have done it for probably 3 weeks now and I'll have to look through all my paperwork as far as fuel receipts to get a rough average of MPGs now so I can see if or how much the trailer tail improves miles per gallon

Oh also in thinking about it I think I read somewhere with the optimal angle for a boat tail type situation is about 12 to 15°? Is that correct? .... I know you don't want flow separations and have also thought about adding some of those vortex generators before the tail? Would that be beneficial or is simply keeping the angle till about 12 to 15° sufficient?

I'm thinking the length of my trailer tail would be 4 ft because that's exactly the width of a piece of plywood from Lowe's or other home improvement place ...

Anyways any information on how to make the foldable part?

I did actually call the manufacturer of the trailer tails and I think I've read somewhere where they are no longer manufacturing them for trucks...

Thanks in advance for any and all help and I'll try to include some pictures and links

Oh last thing, the profile of my van body is not a perfect square or rectangle like a normal tractor-trailer trailer rather mine tapers towards the top I'm guessing I'll have to somehow bend the plywood a bit to make it more closely mimic the profile of the van? Also looking at the position of the hinges relative to the body work I might actually have a gap from where the flat part of the tail starts versus the flat part of the van so that Gap might be a few inches unless I somehow space it out a bit ... Will that Gap be seriously detrimental and when I say Gap I mean looking at the van from behind the tail may actually start inside of the tail lights as opposed to on the outside of the tail lights being more flush with the body of the van

Thanks.

PS one last thing I'm just now realizing it may not be easy to add pictures or links but I'll see if I can paste them here

[freebeard]

What is the load/unload cycle? Do you back up to a dock or use a ramp and hand truck?

Suppose you could swing the door open only about 90-12 or 78 degrees. That would accommodate a fixed boxed cavity rather than a trailer tail.

The flush, potentially curved, surface would improve over the step and gap of a hinged solution. Not yet sure what would happen across the top.

[LostinTransit]

Stay tuned to the testing of my "worm trail" stickers located on each side and the rear roof top of our 2020 Connect. if you cargo rear boxed in doors doesn't work.. you might need to follow me worn trails post.

https://ecomodder.com/forum/showthre...tml#post698943

[redpoint5]

Good luck, I have no great insight to share for your project.

Would it be feasible to use a different vehicle pulling a trailer that contains your cargo?

26 MPG is pretty good considering the size of vehicle. To spend half as much on fuel you'd need to double efficiency. I'd be looking for ways to go electric if that's at all possible, since in my market it's about 1/3rd the cost per mile driven, and no oil changes.

[aerohead]

An awning company could make a lightweight 'skeleton' with a tensioned-fabric 'skin', with better aerodynamics offered in any available commercial product.
Mounted from one side, on a swing-away spare tire arm, as on some JEEP Wrangler rear bumpers, it could easily be un-latched and moved for ingress/egress.

[Andyinchville1]

Originally Posted by freebeard

What is the load/unload cycle? Do you back up to a dock or use a ramp and hand truck?

Suppose you could swing the door open only about 90-12 or 78 degrees. That would accommodate a fixed boxed cavity rather than a trailer tail.

The flush, potentially curved, surface would improve over the step and gap of a hinged solution. Not yet sure what would happen across the top.

Hi

Typically when I get to a job I fold the doors all the way back only because it makes the van overall narrower and in some places I'm actually parked off of a roadway next to a sidewalk so it wouldn't be good necessarily to just flip the door open 90° I guess it is relative to the long part of the van ... I suppose in theory I have the option of leaving the door lengthwise open and not fold it back partially but then it's the book tail is four or five feet long that would still stick into the roadway four to five feet which would not be really doable

Granted most of the time there's plenty of space but there are a few stops where I have to parallel park and having the extra hanging out in the road would not be good

Also I guess in theory if I left the boat tail being solid and not movable then it would make parallel parking difficult even from the start because it would be an extra presumably four or five feet or more maybe?

The man in the picture is actually my shorter Sprinter van I only use that one as a backup in a pinch because life is actually easier using my longer sprinter van because it has more interior volume so I don't have to worry about running out of space and having to unstack bread and restacking it later Etc

So basically having said that I'm thinking that it has to be foldable more or less and not fixed ....

I did run across one other interesting method for better aerodynamics on the road but I'm not sure I follow how exactly it works but here's a picture of another system that does not involve an entire tale but this company calls it the utility aerodynamic tail 2

I'll see if I can attach a picture on that basically all it seems is a small ramp that I guess somehow reduces drag? I say a small ramp it looks to start flush and then it raises up a little towards the back but I'm not really sure I understand why that would help but I guess they claim it does .... If that's the case that would even be easier to implement than a trailer tail but I have some doubts about that because I really haven't seen that many of those systems around whereas I've seen a lot of trailer tails on tractor trailers and there's actually been a lot of reports where it helps miles per gallon to the tune of about 5 to 6%

Anyways here's a picture of the other system that I found for trailers that could maybe be ultimately used on a van

Pic

[Andyinchville1]

Originally Posted by redpoint5

Good luck, I have no great insight to share for your project.

Would it be feasible to use a different vehicle pulling a trailer that contains your cargo?

26 MPG is pretty good considering the size of vehicle. To spend half as much on fuel you'd need to double efficiency. I'd be looking for ways to go electric if that's at all possible, since in my market it's about 1/3rd the cost per mile driven, and no oil changes.

Hi

I have thought of different vehicles or thought about using different vehicles to get better overall MPGs but I haven't been able to find anything that would work or could work

One idea I had was used my Volkswagen Jetta station wagon and set that up to tow a 6x12 trailer ....

Theoretically the 6x12 trailer would be able to hold everything I needed for the Run and empty the Jetta will get or can get upwards of 53 miles per gallon which I managed to do on numerous long-distance highway runs back when I was using the car as my main delivery vehicle ... I don't know what it would get pulling a trailer which I guess might weigh 15 to 1600 lb I really don't know how heavy a 6x12 enclosed trail would be not to mention I would have to fill it with the bread I'll have to see if I can figure that out I do have some paperwork somewhere that I kept track of how many trays of bred I would carry so that might be able to provide some insight into how much weight I'm physically moving

I do have a minivan which is set up to tow but I don't think that would actually be any good because the most I've been able to get out of the minivan miles per gallon wise is about 24 so without pulling the trailer it's getting 24 so pulling a trailer would make it go down somewhat so that's not even as good as the Sprinter van gets empty ....

I'm trying to think of other vehicles which may be competitive miles per gallon wise empty but I really can't think of anything off the top of my head and on the other hand I already have the Sprinter van so there's that also ....

Good idea though as far as finding an alternate vehicle and I'll still keep that in the back of my head but I haven't really been able to think of any other than maybe the Jetta pulling a trailer but right now my Jetta needs a head gasket and of course if I did all that I would have to also set it up to tow meaning the trailer hitch would have to be put on there Etc and technically I don't think USA jettas are rated to pull anything but for some reason European jettas think are supposedly good for maybe 3,500 lb?

[freebeard]

Got it. The doors are the problem. Maybe retrofit a roll-up door and do whatever with the aerodynamics? It might take the form of a collar attached to the door hinge and bumper attachment points and include an DDG?q=all+weather+roll-up+door. A smooth flush transition from the Sprinter body would be possible.

Either a boxed cavity, or configurable panels, or both (Mercedes AAI concept)

It all comes down to ROI. Is that important?


https://car-images.bauersecure.com/p...jpg?scale=down

Anyways here's a picture of the other system that I found for trailers that could maybe be ultimately used on a van

The [literal] screen shot isn't too helpful. Is it the black rectangle on the side or the trapeziodal foil on the top? I'd categorize that as a vortex generator. The corner of the box van is a bigger vortex generator than anything you can attach to the sides; due to the interacting flows from the top and sides, what with crosswiinds and all.