Wind deflector

[Rainier70]

Does anyone use a wind deflector when towing their cargo trailer? I have a shell on my Toyota Tacoma, and I am wondering if adding a wind deflector on it would improve the mpg when towing a 6ft tall ct. Lots of varying opinions on them, so does anyone have any experience?

[MtnDon]

My wind deflector has always been the TV.

[lrrowe]

Rainier70,
I too have thought about this.
My TV (F150) is about 73 inches high at cab end and the CT including 6 inch added height will be about 92 in (per some calculations I made-acutal number will come when I get the CT).

So I wondered about a wind deflector situated on roof racks on the back of the cab. I will be very interested in the replies you receive.

Bob

[Gonefishin]

I haven't tried anything either, and am usually towing with a 2011 F-150 that has a tonneau cover over the bed. I do have an older F-150 with a topper, and the topper doesn't seem to make much difference, but that truck doesn't have as much power as the newer one either, so hard to compare.

Prem said he used Air Tabs on one of his, if you do a search, or thumb through his unlimited thread. I looked into them and did some calculations based on what they cost, and decided not to mess with it. In the long run they'd save some, but for me it seemed close to a push, even with pulling my CT ~10,000 miles a year.

There's definitely some air drag on these CT's though. I can really tell the difference with mine when it comes to a tail wind, head wind, or no wind.

[hankaye]

Howdy All;

When I drove Over the Road, I talked to more than a few drivers that utilized the "wing".
There thoughts were that it worked ...as long as there was a trailer. When the trailer
was removed from the equation the amount of drag was increased and chopped their mpg's.
There are adjustable wings and the most time consuming part is getting the "Bug Line" over
the top of the trailer. Then it's easy to mark it to re-set it when you need it again.
I'm not a fan of them.... don't think you'll save enough to allow it to pay for it-self, not just
dollar wise, but in time (set-up, take-down, adjust, etc.), effort and where ya gonna store
it when not in use if you use a detachable one ... just thing with my fingers on the keyboard...

hank

[Prem]

With the rounded V-nose front, the bug line is a sparse, narrow, vertical strip on the top of the trailer's nose that sticks up higher than the canopy on the truck.

And 1.5 MPG increase with AirTabs in my F-150 on every trip pulling a 6.5 ft. wide trailer at 45-70 MPH. There's a stability increase too. No wagging, ever, even when a big rigs blows past me or me past it.

For what it's worth.