Wind Deflector tested for towing range improvement

[Eka]

Has anyone thought that the 'wedge' might be better if it was slightly curved but not as tall?
Also, what about using air tabs? I know a lot of semi owners have raved about them saying they get about 10% more mileage when using them and they aren't toooo expensive...

We have a Urander bed cap also, and have lost some mileage (about 10%)... I don't think air tabs will help in our case, but, if I ever decide to tow something I will definitely look into getting them!

Air tabs really work.

That would be the normal fairing shape... and would require me to cut curves

Can you carve foam? Smooth off, then cover with a few layers of fiberglass. Fair smooth and paint orange...

You can use a CAD program to make an aerodynamic shape, Then turn it into a bunch of layer profiles. Cut foam to those shapes and stack up. Smooth off and cover with fiberglass. Fair it until it is smooth and paint. An epoxy paint will bond well to the fiberglass epoxy.

This layering technique can be used to reshape your wedge. I'd make a storage compartment in the wedge. It would be good for light stuff.

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[mongo]

Air tabs really work.

Can you carve foam? Smooth off, then cover with a few layers of fiberglass. Fair smooth and paint orange...

You can use a CAD program to make an aerodynamic shape, Then turn it into a bunch of layer profiles. Cut foam to those shapes and stack up. Smooth off and cover with fiberglass. Fair it until it is smooth and paint. An epoxy paint will bond well to the fiberglass epoxy.

This layering technique can be used to reshape your wedge. I'd make a storage compartment in the wedge. It would be good for light stuff.

Yeah, and I have a stack of foam out back. Ends up being a monolithic structure though which is more of a pain to deal with when not towing.
Once I visited a local-ish prototype shop. They had a huge gantry CNC mill for shaping foam layups. Like one shot full scale vehicle size...

 

[Eka]

OK, this is much more involved than I was looking for, but he has lots of videos of him making a foamie camper with surfaces curved in both directions.

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