Wind Deflector

[Cerdahl]

I saw a FWC on the 395 going the opposite direction in Independence, CA the other day that had a nice wind deflector over the truck cab. It was white and rough textured like the camper (Eagle?). I want one of these and FWC hasn't any knowledge of this product. Any ideas?

 

[SLO_F-250]

There are a number of threads on here about them. Besides an off the shelf Thule rack deflector all are homemade. Sorry I have no links handy. Hopefully someone else can help. I plan on building something like that soon for my rig.

 

[Cerdahl]

I have an old set of Thule racks and one of them will be holding the plexiglass wind deflector I'm building. If you have an available rack you can make one out of lots of easily available materials. If you don't have a rack, you might as well go "off the shelf" as all the racks I'm pricing are 300+ a set.

 

[Lighthawk]

Yakima has a stock deflector that I use. I already owned a set of Yak racks, so this was a no brainer for me.
It makes a significant difference with or without. I do wish is was a little larger, but no fabrication was required, so install was a snap.

 

[billharr]

I use a strap on wind wing when I make a long trip. Really helps on wind noise, not sure if it makes that much difference in mileage.
I found it at a yard sale.

 

[Cerdahl]

I've seen them on a couple of FWCs and they do look cool. I'm worried about the small size and mileage benefit. What kind of mileage improvement are you seeing?

 

[Cerdahl]

That windwing looks nice as well. I thought that was my FWC lol. You have the exact same truck, and color as mine. Scary

 

[ETAV8R]

It took me a while but I managed to pick up various parts of a Yakima rack off ebay. Check craigslist too. The only thing I did buy new was the Q-clips which are vehicle specific. I'm glad I got it. On my trip home from buying mine I noticed a lot of vibration from oncoming semis and the wind in Palm Springs. My fairing is the 44" but the 50" would be even better. I have a 2009 Tacoma.

 

[takesiteasy]

I use the Yakima 50" fairing on our 2011 Tacoma. It helps with the buffeting under the cabover. I still get bugs plastered on the front edge of the cabover though. I would like to make a taller fairing using the Yakima rack as a support.

 

[ski3pin]

I got these old photos either from Stan or they are from older posts - has anyone else tried attaching a deflector on the camper instead of the truck? Looks pretty simple although would take a bit of fabrication.

 

[Cerdahl]

Ski3pin
That's a great idea. A lot if building skill went into that.. Aerodynamically speaking, I think it would be even better with all of these fairings to go all the way across the cabover as air is still catching it. Maybe taper it up from where the the truck roof ends.

 

[Cerdahl]

Billharr
Where did you get your wind wing? I checked online and didn't see anything like it. It looks like a great item for the job.

 

[Cerdahl]

Plexiglass
I'm getting pricing from local plastic suppliers for plexiglass that would do the job while bracketed to a roof rack that I already have. It's 135-150$ for a 1/4 or 3/8" piece big enough to do the job. On my Eagle that's 53" x 20". You have to buy a 4x8' sheet if they don't have scraps and even if they do, it's still pricey.

 

[billharr]

Plexiglass
I'm getting pricing from local plastic suppliers for plexiglass that would do the job while bracketed to a roof rack that I already have. It's 135-150$ for a 1/4 or 3/8" piece big enough to do the job. On my Eagle that's 53" x 20". You have to buy a 4x8' sheet if they don't have scraps and even if they do, it's still pricey.

Plexiglass is very brittle and cracks easy, and not easy to cut. Look at Fiberglass Reinforced Panel. This may work better.

 

[Alley-Kat]

Have you tried going to a sign shop and see if they have any plastic signs that they replaced?
I've found that my 3 local shops say they can't reuse that plastic, and they just trash them, so, every now and then I go by and ask them what they have going into the trash. I often score and have some neat plastic to fool around with in my workshop.

Here's the signs that were on my wife's business, they are 1/4" white plastic with the blue vinyl held on with an adhesive. After 10 years in business, it was still easy to peel off the blue vinyl, so I could have the white plastic to use as I wanted when she closed the business down in 2007.

Here's my camper air fairing project... I had a large 5" gap between the underneath of the overhead cab section of the camper and the top of my truck cab, and was told by Marty at ATC that I should make something to deflect the wind from hitting the flat front of the camper under the overhead cab section.

Searched on how to bend plastic on the internet, got the Nychrome heating element (like what is in an electric heater), built a jig, and made what you see above.

I hope to make some storage behind the plastic air fairing... someday. Brackets attached to the front of the camper, maybe holding some extra water, or chairs, or fishing equipment or something. Several WTW'ers have done the same thing.

As my overhead cab section of the camper comes out right to the front of the top of the windshield, I haven't figured out if and/or how I'll make a wind fairing for the flat front of the overhead section. I do like the photos that Ski posted, though.

Not sure I'll do anything as I'm getting pretty good gas mileage with my 4.0L V6.
Photo of my ScanGuage II.
Average is 20.5 mpg, and going flat to slightly downhill 24.7 mpg and just a little coasting when I took the photo below.
172 is my water temp and 141 is my trans fluid temp.
I do drive a bit on the low side, usually around 60 mph

 

[SLO_F-250]

I got these old photos either from Stan or they are from older posts - has anyone else tried attaching a deflector on the camper instead of the truck? Looks pretty simple although would take a bit of fabrication.

Ski, that is exactly what I think I will do to mine. I would rather not have it attached to the truck, but keep it integrated with the camper. That project is still on the drawing board.

Have you tried going to a sign shop and see if they have any plastic signs that they replaced?
I've found that my 3 local shops say they can't reuse that plastic, and they just trash them, so, every now and then I go by and ask them what they have going into the trash. I often score and have some neat plastic to fool around with in my workshop.

Allen, AWESOME idea on where to source the plastic. Ill drop by on of those shops soon. My fairing project might be moved up on the list. You have any pieces laying around. Say 12"x48" hehe

 

[Alley-Kat]

Allen, AWESOME idea on where to source the plastic. Ill drop by on of those shops soon. My fairing project might be moved up on the list. You have any pieces laying around. Say 12"x48" hehe

Paul, I might, I'll go up to the barn on Friday and see what I've got, then I'll send you a PM.

 

[Cerdahl]

Plexiglass is very brittle and cracks easy, and not easy to cut. Look at Fiberglass Reinforced Panel. This may work better.

 

[Cerdahl]

Bill I found some 1/4" thick poly carb at Home Depot and someone that knows how to cut it. If you go with 1/4 or 3/8s thick, the polycarbonate and plexyglass sheets cut well and should work ok. The problem for me is the cost: 116.00 for a sheet big enough to do the job. Ive worked with the fiberglass reinforced panel you mentioned and at 1/8th" thick, might worn if lamented to plywood. I've thought about doing that as well but can't think of a way to protect the plywood from water and warping. Thanks!

erglass reinforced

 

[Cerdahl]

That Aeroshield "off the shelf" deal is starting to look appealing for 300.00 at Camping World. I don't know....