Aero drag reduction

[wjpatton]

I couldn't help but notice all the air turbulence in the pickup bed when pulling the 5er on a recent roadtrip. And ideas you are using to reduce overall drag between the pickup and the 5th wheel? I have the stock tailgate, don't know if those vented ones help when towing the 5th wheel. Has anyone thought about a partial tonneau cover for the front half of the pickup bed? Are there other things to do to reduce drag? Obviously, driving 65 mph is a great idea, but I would like to find ways to reduce the drag coefficient of the vehicle combination. Thanks in advance.





Mr. Bill

07. 5 3500 Dually auto QC

08 Everest 295TS

 

[HBarlow]

There are several products you can spend money on but none are going to change the basic air flow and drag of a large vehicle with large, flat, frontal area pushing the wind.

Some air passes along the sides and under your truck and circles around in front of the trailer body back into the bed and some airflow over the truck cab and up the front of the fifthwheel lifts or is joined by reverse air flow through the pickup bed.

 

[Newt]

If you want to reduce drag, driving 55 rather than 65 will do the most good.

Newt

 

[CKelley1]

harvey said it best. two products help but only one will pay back in a reasonable time it is called air tabs they work best if you also use them on the trailer. when a semi passes it even takes a lot of sway out. the ones on the hood will keep the bugs off of the windshield better than a bug guard. the next is the taylor wing it is expensive and took us a while to figure out how to adjust. i got a large 0-30 psi gauge and hooked it up to read manifold pressure. then adjust wing for the lowest pressure.

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[B.G. Smith]

I couldn't help but notice all the air turbulence in the pickup bed when pulling the 5er on a recent roadtrip.



Yeah, it's enough to move a piece of 2"X6" around or blow it out if the tail gate didn't stop it. I have the vented gate but believe the regular gate is probably better as it doesn't let as much air flow under the trailer. I have felt that if you could cover the bed that it would help but have no evidence to back it up. I think if you coul shroud the rear of the cab/front of trailer so most of the air went around the trailer it would help. Seems to work for the OTR semi's. Just my thoughts. bg