MAB3L, the most reasonable truck on the road!

[superj]

"aerodynamicalness"

This should go in the dictionary.

 

[superj]

I tried to put it in urban dictionary but they are experiencing difficulties and i cannot log in

Dang, it doesnt work on gizoogle, either

Gizoogle - Textilizer

Tranzlate wordz n shizzle up in dis biatch

www.gizoogle.net

It worked on the paragraph though

Therez only so much efficiency ta be had wit a hoopty thatz "aerodynamicalness" is closer ta bein dat of a peterbilt than it aint nuthin but a Honda civic

 

[bhgl]

I think "aerodynamicalness" really describes the thought process of the designers when they built these things.

Speaking of aero though, I've got a source of Coroplast signs! They're sitting in my garage right now.

Before I go making and undertray though, does anyone have any ideas on how to build a front air dam?

 

[superj]

Are you going with a cow catcher type that scoops air upward or one that curves under the truck?

I have seen both but feel the type that scoops air up works better. Lots of people use garden edging, that black plastic that comes in rolls, to make the air dams on vehicles since its more rigid.

This is the factory ones we put on our bmws

 

[bhgl]

Are you going with a cow catcher type that scoops air upward or one that curves under the truck?

I have seen both but feel the type that scoops air up works better. Lots of people use garden edging, that black plastic that comes in rolls, to make the air dams on vehicles since its more rigid.

This is the factory ones we put on our bmws

View attachment 113065

Definitely not going with a scoop of sorts, something closer to what's being used on a lot of modern trucks like this:

But in reality it's probably going to look something a bit more like this, but probably not as long/ugly... I hope:

 

[pjtoledo]

Yeah it really all depends on how much you drive.

I'm on course to do just about 24 000 KMs this year, and probably every other year after that. Compared to what I was getting previously to now, and with that mileage and a cost of a litre at 1.70, I'm slated to save about 1000$ a year on gas. Here's hoping I can save more!
[/QUOTE

Ah shit you're absolutely right, that's the stoichiometric ratio. Thanks for letting me know so I can stop using that graph when I talk about fuel economy lol.

I know that on my handheld scanner I was getting less fuel volume at cruise between 2500-3000, compared to 1800-2500ish, I'm imagining a dyno-pull isn't going to give you an efficiency focused fuel curve.

I really need to just get something to log average fuel economy.

dyno runs don't count, the computer adds more fuel at full throttle.
same RPM at a steady state with partial throttle will have different fuel ratios.

 

[pentode]

Good idea, granted my truck is a bit of a frankenstein, with a weird ownership history on top of it, so my axle could've been swapped out at some point, or just built incorrectly from the factory lol.

Here you go, for comparison purposes. 100kmh is 2050-2100RPM. 110 was 2250 just about bang on.

 

[bhgl]

Here you go, for comparison purposes. 100kmh is 2050-2100RPM. 110 was 2250 just about bang on.
View attachment 113082View attachment 113083

I suppose I would need your tire size as well haha, just remembered, but if there anywhere near stock (225/70r15) it looks like you've got a 3.55 rear end.

With a 3.73 rear end, at 100 KpH you'd be looking at closer to 2150 RPM. Let's just say you definitely don't have a 4.10

I was considering dropping down to a 3.55 ratio for fuel economy, so if you're getting 24-25 solid, at those speeds and a 3.55 ratio with no other supporting mods, that's good data for me to consider swapping in some lower gears.

To help me out, if you've got the time and patience, would you mind doing a proper fuel economy run next time you're out and letting me know your stats? (fuel up to full before, setting trip odometer, refueling at same pump to full)

If you're near where I'm at without any mods, then you might see some serious improvement with just an E-Fan installed (I'll give you my recommendations on how to go about it if you'd like), and on the highway you might get some gains just by having a reasonable topper/bed cover installed.

 

[pentode]

I suppose I would need your tire size as well haha, just remembered, but if there anywhere near stock (225/70r15) it looks like you've got a 3.55 rear end.

View attachment 113100

With a 3.73 rear end, at 100 KpH you'd be looking at closer to 2150 RPM. Let's just say you definitely don't have a 4.10

I was considering dropping down to a 3.55 ratio for fuel economy, so if you're getting 24-25 solid, at those speeds and a 3.55 ratio with no other supporting mods, that's good data for me to consider swapping in some lower gears.

To help me out, if you've got the time and patience, would you mind doing a proper fuel economy run next time you're out and letting me know your stats? (fuel up to full before, setting trip odometer, refueling at same pump to full)

If you're near where I'm at without any mods, then you might see some serious improvement with just an E-Fan installed (I'll give you my recommendations on how to go about it if you'd like), and on the highway you might get some gains just by having a reasonable topper/bed cover installed.

Oh yeah, haha, I meant to include tire info but forgot. I'm running the tires which were on the truck when I bought it, which are 215/70/15, I'm going to say passenger car tires. So they're skinny and the profile might be slightly smaller than a 225 in practice.
I'll definitely do an economy run in the near future- I just haven't been filling it up all the way very often lately with gas over 1.75/liter.
I was going to add a cap to the truck but cheap used ones have dried up and or doubled in price the last couple years. The local truck accessory store has some tonneau covers for 400-500 which are tempting, just a bit rich for me in the cost/benefit analysis.

 

[bhgl]

Oh yeah, haha, I meant to include tire info but forgot. I'm running the tires which were on the truck when I bought it, which are 215/70/15, I'm going to say passenger car tires. So they're skinny and the profile might be slightly smaller than a 225 in practice.
I'll definitely do an economy run in the near future- I just haven't been filling it up all the way very often lately with gas over 1.75/liter.
I was going to add a cap to the truck but cheap used ones have dried up and or doubled in price the last couple years. The local truck accessory store has some tonneau covers for 400-500 which are tempting, just a bit rich for me in the cost/benefit analysis.

I run passenger car tires too, 205/70r16s Firestone Destination LE3s great tire.

If you can pull a 2.3 Rangers e-fan and shroud for cheap, then you can find thermostat/fan controllers online for less than 50 bucks. If you're looking for a bang for your buck improvement on performance and mileage you've got it right there.

 

[pentode]

I run passenger car tires too, 205/70r16s Firestone Destination LE3s great tire.

If you can pull a 2.3 Rangers e-fan and shroud for cheap, then you can find thermostat/fan controllers online for less than 50 bucks. If you're looking for a bang for your buck improvement on performance and mileage you've got it right there.

I had such a fun time trying to remove that fan clutch that I've been looking for reasons to toss it off a cliff ever since.

 

[bhgl]

I had such a fun time trying to remove that fan clutch that I've been looking for reasons to toss it off a cliff ever since.

This is your biggest reason to do so! Head on over to a junkyard and find a 2.3 ranger and yoink the fan and shroud, you can remove the whole shroud + fan assembly without removing the junker's clutch fan. It just take some wrestling and spinning the clutch fan.

Keep the male and female connectors for the e-fan as well, so you don't end up like me having to unwire my fan everytime I need to remove the shroud.

You can order a fan controller kit off amazon that is pretty easy to wire up, I was able to set mine up so that it kicks on when the AC clutch is on regardless of temp.

All in all, it cost me less than 130$ Canadian, and I got better all around performance and efficiency. In my case I did have to upgrade my alternator to a 130 amp unit, but that's because the original unit was on its way out already, and I had a pretty crummy battery.

Check my post on page 9, I have some more details about the e-fan installation.

 

[superj]

Definitely not going with a scoop of sorts, something closer to what's being used on a lot of modern trucks like this:

View attachment 113066

But in reality it's probably going to look something a bit more like this, but probably not as long/ugly... I hope:

View attachment 113067

Both of those, you can make with the black garden edging (garden trim)

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

If you look on Volvo big rigs, they have a hard flexible rubber wind dam attached along the sides of the rig. They can be various depths from 4" to about 10" that I've seen. They are usually screwed onto the under side of the fiberglass sides of the truck. I've saved a bunch from the dumpster at work and plan on using them for front and side air dams on my vehicles.

 

[bhgl]

If you look on Volvo big rigs, they have a hard flexible rubber wind dam attached along the sides of the rig. They can be various depths from 4" to about 10" that I've seen. They are usually screwed onto the under side of the fiberglass sides of the truck. I've saved a bunch from the dumpster at work and plan on using them for front and side air dams on my vehicles.

I'm actually going to be driving through Calgary area this fall! Do you think I could come grab a few/maybe figure out an install while I'm on the road? If they're flexible enough I'm not really against just using metal screws to pass em through the front bumper.