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My truck has no problem pulling it. It's my first enclosed trailer, so I can't speak to the mpg comparison. But if I was buying again I would opt for v nose.
Common sense would say it would have less resistance, imo.
My Colorado normally gets about 21-23 mpg. Pulling my trailer knocks it down to about 12-13 mpg.
But if you can get a great deal on a flat nose and you're not going to be going long distances, does mpg really matter that much?
The biggest factor in wind resistance is height above the aerodynamics of the tow vehicle and the rear turbulence behind the trailer. Again, height playing a large role back there also.
There are a lot of factors to determining which will yield better numbers for you, most of which are negligible. Go with the one you want and don't sweat the details.
I’m contemplating suffering through buying 5x10. Between the trailer and truck bed I would have excess space but having to duck to get in or out might get old real quick.
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That extra 2-3miles per gallon is only going to get you maybe 50-100 more miles per tank...maybe. That variable could be a factor of load in the truck, weight, wind direction, hills, traffic, number of stops, etc.
Do a cost benefit analysis on the travel costs per year or per trip. You might find that the 2-3miles per gallon isn't that big a deal.
Honestly, get the good price, put the rest into your fuel fund, and go racing.
I started with the rear and made 20 iterations of the trailer tail you see on the semis. I saw improvement on the simulation but it was only about 5% which is actually what the Trailer Tail company advertises. I didn't consider that worth much as changing wind conditions will cause your mileage to very more than that.
I tried many many louver systems to try to redirect the flow into the low pressure drag area behind the trailer but found that anything I added created even more drag and offset any improvements I might have gained in the rear.
Finally, I arrived at a truck mounted spoiler system that is different than anything you have ever seen. Kind of funny looking actually but what the hell. The simulation showed such a major reduction in drag that I thought I have made a mistake in my analysis (I use Solidworks Flow BTW). After checking it a half dozen times and getting the same answer I ponied up the $70 for the materials and built the first prototype. I tested the spoiler by first towing the trailer. five miles out and another five back on a flat straight highway with little traffic and got 9.9 mpg. I added the spoiler and immediately did the same route to the tune of 16.6 mpg. Better that a 60% increase in mileage. Total success!
Now I have shelved the spoiler while I do patent searches and try to figure out how to market the idea. I'm too old to start a business and just want to sell the idea. This is way harder that you might think. The spoiler is so easily understood and copied I can't even use it until I get a patent and find someone to buy it. I just drove another 1200 mile loop and had to eat the $120 dollars my spoiler would have saved me.
--KT--
I owned a 8x16 steel constructed trailer with a flat nose. I towed it for 19 years, 10MPG. I bought a new trailer, same manufacture same size, aluminum with a V nose, 10MPG. I was hoping for something better, but no magic.
Ready all the posts here, it seems the same, 10MPG no matter what trailer or truck.
It sucks! literally!
But I love my trailer and the fact that I can load up 3 friends and go ride.
It's no different from a F1 car. They start at the front and work their way back with airflow and introduce whatever elements are necessary to decrease drag (and improve downforce, which is drag ironically) by directing the air to specific areas or away from specific areas. It's all about where the air is going and what it's hitting along the way. The more surfaces for the air to run over, and not in to, the less drag there will be. You just need to know where the air is going and we don't all have wind tunnels.
Kyle
Pit Row
Cbeverly@haydist.com
That's what I saw with the unladen truck, too. Topper made no difference.
Chevy 1500 5.3L engine "towing" gearing... I forgot the ratio.
If anyone believes a flat nose is better than a v nose, I’ve got some swamp land to sell you!
What a complete idiot, that guy should never do anything but stay in bed all day! Think about it.....does it actually hit 2 surfaces or 1?
I am always amazed how much force is applied to the road in front of the truck as the pressure wave is pushed along.
This is with a topper but runs without the topper were not much worse. In other words the addition of a topper didn't help much in reducing the drag. Before you jump to the obvious conclusion of putting an airfoil on the topper I found that the drag of adding the airfoil was about the same as the drag removed from the front of the trailer so no overall improvement.
Also, it looks like the sprinter vans have broken the mold a bit and people have accepted them, maybe the next generation of work trucks will do the same for pick up trucks.
I have a flat bed one ton diesel that gets the same with both.
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