Wind Deflector Roof Cab Fairing

I've been searching around for a wind deflector similar to what a Class 8 uses that mounts on top of your roof top cab of your truck.

I thought I would pass this info along to everyone in case you may be interested. I plan on buying a unit myself next spring before we hit the long travel plans.

There are a few available manufacturers that have them available for our truck type. Chime in to add your feed backs or if you would know of other manufacturers. I provided a few links below.

http://www.icondirect.com/aeroshield-wind-deflector/?gclid=CL_zqOyLxLoCFYM9QgodfSAAgg

http://www.icondirect.com/categories/RV-Towing-Products/Wind-Deflectors/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kH1SEZ91_ho (Install Video)


http://www.arrowtruckparts.net/servlet/the-4986/Turbowing-cln--Pickup,-RV-cln--Chevy,/Detail (Stainless Steel Wing)

I did some research on this some time back and found several studies that said that these are worthless on pickups and small tow vehicle because there is just not enough surface area to do much good.

You may want to look at some of those studies before spending the money.

Lynn1130 said:

I did some research on this some time back and found several studies that said that these are worthless on pickups and small tow vehicle because there is just not enough surface area to do much good.

You may want to look at some of those studies before spending the money.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the heads up Lynn 1130. If more facts do say it is worthless, I'm not buying it.

x2 on what Lynn says.

I looked into this at one time. Buddy does OTR driving.His thoughts were I would not get enough benefit by adding to a pickup to pay for it.

There's a thread on this subject on the RV.net forum that has several first hand accounts saying this is not at all effective, especially with the modern designed aerodynamic front caps.

These were big in the 80-90's, but seemed to have dropped off the radar. I have never used one, so I have no first hand experience.
I have a few friends, including DW's dad that have used them and claim to get 1-2 mpg better. If you read the customer reviews on the first link posted above, some folks seem to corroborate that claim. Trace

Everything I've ever see says for the most part they help keep the bugs off the front of the trailer, nothing more. Of course every once in awhile there is the guy that spent big bucks for one and rather than admit he made a mistake, swears up and down that he gets 3-4 more miles per gallon with it...Don

I was looking for info on a wind deflector to put on my Suburban while towing a boxy SOB trailer and found some put out by the South Australia Caravan Club. A couple of their members did a lot of research and came up with the following recommendations. 1. The deflector should cover 70% of the area not covered by the tow vehicle and as close to the trailer as possible. 2. The up-angle should be 45° and to the side 45°. Most commercial wind deflectors do not have a sideways component which really cut down on efficiency. Using these guidelines, I built one and after a bit of modification to suit my rig, I saved approximately 15% in mileage. I always checked my mileage on trips and one that we made a couple of times a year to Cape Lookout, near Tillamook, OR so I had a base to compare from. The first trip down I saved 18% and on the way back, 12%. The amount saved was usually around 15% on equal trips. Of course, wind makes a difference. One trip across S Dakota had a strong SE wind. At our destination in Iowa, checked the front of the trailer and there was a 4" wide band of bugs all the way down the right front corner. Could not compensate for the SE wind. Usually the front of the trailer was bug free with the deflector. Used it for firewood when we bought the NT 21fbs. Aerodynamic enough the deflector would be worthless.

Camped next to a guy that had that very one on his 2012 Ram 3500 DRW with a brand new Carriage fifth wheel. He had been using it for some time. He stated it was good for keeping the bugs off about half of the front cap. He said it did not make a measurable difference in mileage, but it did has some wind noise in the right situation.

My friends wife bought one for a gift to her husband and asked me to pick it up. It was the very best fiberglass Canadian design similar to the transport cab design.

I placed it in the box against the tailgate and drove home. It was like towing a 10k lbs trailer. My 1/2 ton diesel felt realty loaded. I should have loaded it against the cab but I was determined to test it. All I could figure it was the vacuum created that caused the drag.
I read many tests done in the 90's and nothing worked other then a spoiler at the rear of the trailer. Like the ones on station wagons. But no one makes them.

The adjustable ones can be made to work someway but they need to be close to the trailer and LWB trucks are at a disadvantage due to vacuum created between the truck and trailer. Semis are realy close and same width as the trailer.
For our units the egg shape fronts work best and forget the v shape and sloping fronts. They create to much vacuum on the side and roof. It's much harder to pull a vacuum then pushing air.

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I took the top faring off my Volvo truck because it increased drag, both towing and bobtail. The fiver is so far behind the cab that the faring just increased turbulance between the truck and fiver and added its own drag. I had a top faring on my Ford F550, and it only reduced the bug count on the front of the fiver and did nothing for fuel economy. Farings/foils can help in very specific circumstances, but you need to meet those circumstances or they can work gainst you.

Do your homework very well before spending the money.

The wind deflectors don't seem to add any advantage according to what I hear on the Road Dog XM radio station. Every once in a while they interview drivers who have improved their fuel consumption on 18 wheelers and they all claim the wind deflectors don't really add an noticeable improvement. The ones who have improved the fuel consumption from 6-7 mpg to 8-9 mpg have done it with good driving skill, proper tire inflation, ctane improvers/fuel quality, engine maintenance and etc. The all agree that it is very important to find the sweet spot for the engine which is around 1400 rpm for a 12-15 liter engine. My experience with a 9 liter CAT on motor home is the same. Also my 6.7 liter Ford seems to also be the same which is about 62 mile per hour. Remember that friction goes up by the square of the speed and if the air is deflected it take energy to do that as well. So the physics don't seem to warrant the expense of deflectors. The truckers experience seem to follow the laws of physics.