AeroRanger?

[Blown]

I added-on to lower the air dam down to 8" from the ground. The drag of the dam is now closer to being offset by the reduced drag of air getting under the rig. I used fiberglass as rubber will fold at speed.

This is an example of what I am running through Flow Illustrator and is the best design I came-up with for flow.

I won't do the rear wing as I don't like the look and it only made a difference at very high speed.

 

[Blown]

Will had a great quote a few years ago that I humorously apply to my Ranger which is a basically a brick:

I drove a Bronco for 15 years, talk about a big heavy brick! I beat the crap out of the air with a Blown 393. Actually had a tune to get as good as 12mpg, usuallyu got 10 and dropped to 8 when rodding it. Now I go faster in a Blown 4 liter Ranger in a much more aerodynamic and lighter rig.

It seems, on the new trucks, they are doing all they can to reduce drag. 10 little improvements might equate to gaining 1mpg at highway speeds. But multiply that 1mpg by a million trucks and there is a huge savings.

I think I can reduce drag by 20% and for it to be smoother down the freeway, less buffeting. If Cd is .40, and I don't know, that 20% drops Cd to .32 That is significant enough for me to do this to my rig.

 

[Blown]

I used an old Ranger mudflap to make a Ford Oval for the front grill, covers a few mistakes I made in cutting out the oval in the aluminum mesh. I freshened it up with plasti-coat.

It has to add several horsepowers!

I am hoping to get some time to work on the cab back visor over the holiday break.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

It seems, on the new trucks, they are doing all they can to reduce drag. 10 little improvements might equate to gaining 1mpg at highway speeds. But multiply that 1mpg by a million trucks and there is a huge savings.

I dunno, the "bigger and bolder than anybody has bigger and bolded before" theme seems pretty popular. I would think if they didn't have to be freaking huge and square so they looked tough in a plasticy way it would probably make things easier yet.

My Ranger gets about 10mpg hwy. Considering it is rolling on oversize mud tires, a lift kit, has the flat plate TTB front axle hanging down underneath and a 3spd tranny I think it is doing "ok". A 5 speed swap is in the parts collecting phase, I think it would help a lot to not be 10-15mph from cruising with the secondaries open. Not my dd so not a big deal in the meantime though.

 

[stmitch]

I dunno, the "bigger and bolder than anybody has bigger and bolded before" theme seems pretty popular. I would think if they didn't have to be freaking huge and square so they looked tough in a plasticy way it would probably make things easier yet.

There's a lot of truth there. They are doing things to try and offset the size and squareness. The windshields on newer trucks are much more laid back which reduces drag significantly. They use active shutters on the fronts to aid airflow when cooling isn't as necessary. They use newer lighter materials where possible. They use cylinder deactivation, direct injection, forced induction and transmissions with tons of gears to keep the engine in its happy place. But the gains could be so much better if they weren't being applied to always growing, tech-laden 5000lb trucks.


Just imagine what kind of fuel economy an aluminum-bodied, Ecoboost 4 cylinder powered Ranger could be capable of with a 6 or 7 speed manual transmission and some development time in a wind tunnel. I get 31-32 mpg in mine with none of that, so 40mpg highway wouldn't be unheard of. But it probably wouldn't be a profitable truck for them to make, so instead they just add an overpriced trim package to the next rolling living room they market to people.


Sorry Blown for sidetracking your thread. The mudflap idea is especially cool. Can you expand on your cab spoiler design idea at all? How will it be attached to the truck? Will it be a simple flat flap, or more contoured? I'm sure there is an "ideal" length and angle, do you know what those might be?

 

[Blown]

19" wide and angled down at 11 degrees for a short bed & 21" and 12 degrees down for a long bed according to a study done in Texas. Texas State?, I don't remember but found it on eccomodder.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

There's a lot of truth there. They are doing things to try and offset the size and squareness. The windshields on newer trucks are much more laid back which reduces drag significantly. They use active shutters on the fronts to aid airflow when cooling isn't as necessary. They use newer lighter materials where possible. They use cylinder deactivation, direct injection, forced induction and transmissions with tons of gears to keep the engine in its happy place. But the gains could be so much better if they weren't being applied to always growing, tech-laden 5000lb trucks.

It is an uphill battle if they don't address the big problem. And all the extra junk does is add to the complexity and anti-cost effectiveness of repairing them down the road and by-and-large turns me off as a potential truck buyer.

Boost helps putt around but when you need V8 power you still need V8 fuel flow, no such thing as a free lunch.

Does the program thing take into account the width/3d aerodynamics? I know even on my '85 air doesn't go straight over the top. Driving on the highway in the rain you can see the water on the hood curving as the air parts well in front of the windshield to go around the cab. There are a lot more things happening than an aircraft wing cross section test can really show.

 

[Blown]

Flow illustrator is lacking for research and design, but a good teaching tool, kinda two dimensional when we live in a three dimensional world......

This is a wake profile for a truck with bed cover in 3d. Anyway much more going on in 3D as you can see.

It is from a masters level thesis in Engineering: DRAG REDUCTION OF PICKUP TRUCK USING ADD-ON DEVICES

 

[Blown]

I dunno, the "bigger and bolder than anybody has bigger and bolded before" theme seems pretty popular. I would think if they didn't have to be freaking huge and square so they looked tough in a plasticy way it would probably make things easier yet.

There's a lot of truth there.

Hmmmmmmmm......"The 2015 Ford F-150 is easily the angriest and boxiest rendition of the truck in its history, but believe it or not it's also the most aerodynamic. Scraping down as much wind resistance as possible was done by taking advantage of details where air could be directed."

http://truckyeah.jalopnik.com/how-a-boxy-truck-like-the-2015-ford-f-150-reduces-wind-1627125563

Merry Christmas!