Truck Conversion & Toterhome Community - View Single Post

avendlerdp · 03-03-2011, 06:48 PM

Hello-

I am a new visitor to this forum. I recently bought a 16' Ford Superduty Diesel Box truck that I am using to haul a race car and as a budget RV. Everything about the truck is working well and it's non-turbo 7.3 runs perfectly. The issue is fuel use. I got about 10.5-11.5 mpg on a recent 500 mile trip. I would like to do better.

Right now the truck has no aero improvements at all. The flat front of the box sticks up about 4 feet above the roof of the cab and it has no side skirts either. I am guessing that a fairing over the cab to direct the air over the box could help but how much? Side skirts? What else? It looks like the box is mounted on a 7" spacer. Could that be removed to lower the box for better aerodynamics and easier loading?

As for gearing the engine turns about 2750rpm at 65 mph. Seems ok to me. How much of an improvement do you all think I could get from some basic aero aids like a fairing and skirts? Is there something else I could do that could help economy?

Thanks!

03-03-2011, 06:48 PM	#1
avendlerdp Junior Member Join Date: Mar 2011 Posts: 1	Fuel Economy Improvements Hello- I am a new visitor to this forum. I recently bought a 16' Ford Superduty Diesel Box truck that I am using to haul a race car and as a budget RV. Everything about the truck is working well and it's non-turbo 7.3 runs perfectly. The issue is fuel use. I got about 10.5-11.5 mpg on a recent 500 mile trip. I would like to do better. Right now the truck has no aero improvements at all. The flat front of the box sticks up about 4 feet above the roof of the cab and it has no side skirts either. I am guessing that a fairing over the cab to direct the air over the box could help but how much? Side skirts? What else? It looks like the box is mounted on a 7" spacer. Could that be removed to lower the box for better aerodynamics and easier loading? As for gearing the engine turns about 2750rpm at 65 mph. Seems ok to me. How much of an improvement do you all think I could get from some basic aero aids like a fairing and skirts? Is there something else I could do that could help economy? Thanks!