Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Guys , I had a friend ask where he could get one of those bubble wind deflectors for his CT .. The kind that fits on the front upper half ... Anybody know about these ? Thanks !!!

According to this site http://www.icondirect.comthey say a deflector works better than a bubble I did not read the whole thing.

Pete , yeah, I read about those .... seem's he's stuck on the idea of a CT bubble ...he's towing with a pickup truck ... I told him to get a camper top with a deflector , but his wife said it would look like a "Paw Paw " truck .... I resemble that remark ...

Try this: http://www.nosecone.com/aepull.htm

Let me know if that isn't what he was looking for. This is the company that makes them for Wells Cargo.
Jeff

T Jeff , That's it !!! Thanks !!!

Now that's coming thru way to go taco Jeff.

side note to Taco Jeff back in the 60's I was stationed in Long Beach

I had a aunt & uncle who lived in redlands I spent many days there.

one 3 month stretch while my ship was in dry dock I worked shore patrol in Long Beach at the "new pike amusement park"

first week I worked 5 nights a week after that I only worked Friday and Saturday nights I hated to see that duty end.

pete

I think the important effect with these fairings is not in making the front bullet-shaped but in providing a smooth path for the airflow from the front to the sides - if you look at all manufactured vehicles, they don't have bullet-shaped fronts, yet some of them have really low drag.

So here's my suggestion for a cheap way to make your own box trailer fairings - buy the biggest, lightweight plastic pipe you can get, cut it in half lengthways and attach it to the front, chamfering the corners:

Before:



After:



I've shown one at the bottom but that's probably a waste of time - it's the top and sides that matter. And don't forget the sides - there's more length of them than there is of the top.

Seems to me your design still leaves a flat front which would act like a barn side for the relative air to hit when being towed.

does anyone have a program we could use to test your theory?

unless someone has a trailer and wants to run a test I would like to see some results would it not be great if it worked?

sorta like prems air scoops.

pete

angib wrote:After:



I've shown one at the bottom but that's probably a waste of time - it's the top and sides that matter. And don't forget the sides - there's more length of them than there is of the top.

I believe that you have just created a parachute, but my only experience with aeronautics is of the shade tree variety.

If you want to improve on your design, my $0.02 is to put a piece of plywood over the pipe, cut so that it provides a smooth transition onto the curved surface. Quarter round aluminum extrusions are common on this side of the pond, and are used by trailer manufacturers at the above location on tractor-trailers to join the front and side/roof walls.

Of course, the trailer is a part of the larger aero package that also includes the tow vehicle. I don't like the idea of a "one size fits all" nose cone, since the air exiting the tow vehicle's body is completely different depending on whether your trailer is behind a cargo van, pickup truck, compact hatchback, or sedan with a trunk. You have to treat the tow vehicle and trailer as a unit, and make sure that air flowing off of the tow vehicle interacts smoothly with the trailer.....

reminds me of this which I've seen on larger trailers
http://www.freightwing.com/common/image ... airing.jpg

I'd been thinking of building something like onto the trailer I end up getting, but your method or using half instead of quarter pipe sections sounds easier to construct. The difference would be the quarter pipe sections could be made to fold flat when not needed to improve clearance between the tow vehicle and trailer.

Yes, quarter pipe would work too - though maybe just a little more would be better - like third pipe.

I have a bubble on my 12 by 6 CT. I bought it that way.

If it adds 2 to 3 MPG, I would sure be in trouble without it.

As it is I rarely get over 13 mpg, loaded or empty. I pull it with an 03 Dodge 1599 with a 4.7 and 5 speed auto.

dave

oops it is a Doge 1500. I bought it a year old in 2001 and used it in my contracting business until I retired

dave

Are those "wings" I see on the tow car / truck worthwhile? The kind that is used to "push the air" up over the trailer.

No. The wings are strictly visual. There are quite a few threads on truckers forums discussing the virtues of wings, nosecones and full fairings. Pretty much, if you're pulling with a pickup truck with an open bed, you're limited to what you can do. Nosecones and airtabs on the trailer are about it. For trucks with caps and vans, you need to get the back end of the tow vehicle as close in size as you can to the trailer being pulled - only here will any kind of wing make a difference as you're trying to guide the air over and around the trailer, and you're using the tow vehicle as the wind break. Look at modern tractor rigs - they've got both a deflector and full fairings almost back to the trailer portion - all equal or slightly larger than the face of the trailer being towed.