I've seen on a few threads about fuel economy where folks mentioned taping up the gaps around hood & headlights. What type of tape are we talking about? I'd like to "clean up" my rig for trips but I don't want to damage the paint.

 

Blue painters tape would be the most friendly to your paint and easy removal, however it will stand out like a sore thumb. Scott tape is clear but a nightmare to remove. I've never tried taping the gaps so i don't know the mpg gain you will see. Driving between 55-65 will help more i think. Could be wrong. I saw a thread where a member made a cowling that mounted under the front bumper that reduced the drag under his truck. He said it helped mpgs a lot. I tried searching it, but i couldn't find it.

 

90 mile an hour tape!

Many racers use the black duct type tape as it's the extra sticky.

IMO, there's little to gain in a 4x4 unless it's lowered. The frontal area is a monster and I'm not sure taping will help much. It will shove more air through the radiator and CAC though.

Dave

 

go to www.airtab.com and look at that , where did you mount the cinterfuge

 

Now that sounds better than using tape. I'm kinda skeptical as to how much you'll really gain from it though.

 

That's along the lines of what I was thinking. I remember back in the late 90's when the factory Honda motorcycle racing team was experimenting with ribbed tape, and swiss-cheesing their fairings, looking for an extra 1-2mph at Daytona. Apparently they felt this was more important than seams in their fairings to laminar flow, and they had quite a budget to test with!

Michael

 

duct or 100mph tape will be a **** to remove- forget it.

Aircraft use devices like these airtabs and vortex generators to help with laminar flow off the wings- they work.
heres one example http://www.microaero.com/

The Turbulator is another vortex generator thing.

 

Those "air tabs" are actually "vortex generators" and have been used in the aircraft industry since the early 50's that I can remember. They do work or they wouldn't still be using them on aircraft, more so now on cars and trucks to decrease drag.

 

i can get 250 miles to a 1/4 tank, im going to get a louvered tail gate, windshield cowl and maybe try to air tabs.

 

I thought MythBusters put the tailgate thing to rest? They found that dropping the tailgate actually made for slightly worse mileage. Wouldn't a louvered tailgate do the same thing?

I was disappointed that they didn't take it to the next level, and test tonneau vs open bed. I think that would help most of any mod.

Michael

 

how bout this, they dimple golf ***** to improve their aero characteristics, why not dimple your dodge? notice I said YOUR dodge, not mine LOL

 

I saw that episode. I was disappointed that they didn't switch trucks with the tailgate up/down scenario. 2 Identical vehicles can vary in fuel mileage.
The real test would be to run both trucks an equal distance with the tailgates up, then up/down, down/up then both down.
I don't really know the answer but their test just didn't seem conclusive to me.
Possibly even doing all scenarios twice...swapping drivers after all runs are completed the first time.

 

That first 1/4 tank can be pretty big, mine will go anywhere from 120-200 miles, not the greatest judge.

FWIW, drag after a certain speed starts to have a squared term that will actually start to matter. Drop the speed to 65 and it will help more than anything, hell, if she'll run 55mph without needless gear switching or lugging, than that'd be even better, oh, and don't forget the georgia overdrive

 

I'll agree with the lack of real testing but the under water testing with models and white ***** in the episode convinced me more white ***** collected in the bed with the open gate vs the closed gate equaling more drag with the gate open.

I run with a tonneau so I guess it doesn't matter anyway.

 

Dimpling? Hmm, I just bought my kids 2 airsoft pistols and an AK47, bring your truck by! They'd love to do it!