Waiting on New Trucks thread.

Another thing to add. Most areo’s have a smaller radiator. Pulling heavy you want a larger radiator to help keep it cool

 

Joel runs the tightest I’ve seen and doesn’t slide the 5th wheel. He just pays attention to what he’s doing.

 

There’s a difference between pulling an RGN and pulling heavy haul. An aero tractor pulling an RGN at 80K is still going to return better fuel mileage numbers than a hood.

Once again, goal posts are being moved, for the purpose of bashing aero tractors and great fuel mileage. Heavy haul is unique, just like running oil fields, far North, and whatever else. Some things just don’t apply, across the board.

 

Not really. The size of the freight will negate any gains. I’m not trying to move the goal post. Most people would benefit from an aero truck.

 

Aero trucks were designed to work with a van type trailer. That’s the bulk of the trucks on the road. And they do well in that roll. And most of those guys(probably all) in that FB group have also added trailer aero stuff. The trailer plays a huge role in the numbers they achieve.

once it’s removed from the equation the gains start to diminish. And at 55 and below they are virtually non existent

 

90 degree is what the slide it to. Anything over will hit the truck.


They can turn up to 90degrees. If they need to overturn then would need to slide 5th wheel. Not many places require that but I have been in a few that does.

 

For sure it is not made for that. Not downspeed anyways. But they do make aero trucks that can do the job. Not my style of operation so I don’t have much information or care honestly. But if you pull empty half the time it may make a bigger difference then people are talking about.

 

A few do and a few don’t. The best guy in the group in my eyes is Joel. He has pulled trailer with and without just trailer skirt. Has played with light and heavier loads up to 80k. Once he gets his trailer done with lift axle and all aero done he will most likely be a 11-11.5 mpg average.

 

With both trucks pulling identical loads, the aero tractor will still fuel mileage better.

You’re saying the load negates everything with the tractor. That simply isn’t true. The tractor is the first component to split the wind.

No. Not everyone in that group runs a fully aero trailer. One of those guys regularly does power-only loads for big orange and/or pulls for another company, without aero aids. He is still in the 10mpg range.

Aero still shows gains, below 55mph. You act like splitting air just disappears. It never goes away, especially in yaw. Aero is meaningful, no matter the speed. It just becomes more important with every mph, because resistance increases by the cube of velocity. To double one’s speed, requires 8X the horsepower.

 

The problem is you have to spec the truck to pull loaded. Sure you could spec with aero body styling, but the mechanicals that these guys use won’t do the job. And the body styling alone isn’t where these guys are getting their gains. I know some guys who use a cascadia to do smaller loads. Maybe up to 120,000. They get about a half mile per gallon better on the ifta. I get 5 they get about 5.5

I’m not bashing or discounting them and what they have accomplished. It’s just not feasible in my application. I can’t gear a truck that high and I can’t run super singles and I can’t slide the load up and close the gap.