On my last trailer with a flat front I realized a .5 mpg improvement. A 5% improvement. Also noted improved stability in heavy cross winds. No improvement noted with this trailer which had a rounded front cap. Sold it to a friend, whose Arctic FoX has a flat front and he told me that at the current gas prices he has more than recouped what he paid in fuel savings in the first year. Obviously, your mileage may vary. I had one, used it and that is my experience with it.
JIMNLIN wrote: doing a search show the majority of folks that have actually owned and used a wing for a 5er says they work. "course the majority of responders that never owned or have ever used the product report they don't work. Listen to the folks that have owned and used one.
Jim
I was told once, "buy this, I love mine, Works great, Wouldn't' do without it, saves me tons"-- A week later after he talked me into buying one I asked him what happened to it, he told me "hated it,sucked,waisted money, biggest piece of junk i owned and i sold it." Hummm..?
So far the majority on this thread is "expensive bug deflector"
a search shows most (not all) owners says it helps. Never form a opinion from just one persons responce. Listen to all responders that have actual owned and used the product. As this post will go just like the other "wing" posts the non users will outnumber the actual users. Hmmm !!
So far about 15 non users/owners posting their opinion and 2 positive and 2 negetive on the wing from actual users.
My point was the OP probably should have asked for actual experience reply only from those that have used the product. A search will add to his info he needs to make his decission.
'03 2500 Dodge/Cummins HO 3.73 6 speed manual Jacobs
'97 Park Avanue 28' with two slides
With the apparent added down pressure, it seems like the "Wing" may not be a good thing if your TV is at or near the GVWR.
Wonder about increased tire wear?
I use a wing with my travel trailer. It has certainly increased my fuel mileage, and has added to stability as well. It has paid for itself already, and will continue to add savings and stability for as long as I use it.
The down-force theory may be valid in principle, but in practice I don't think any additional down-force would be a problem except possibly with the most marginal of rigs.
lets see.....
a. drive to destination without wing (what OAT, avg vehicle speed, acceleration and decceleration curves, wind speed and direction, trailer weight, TV weight, traffic encountered,)
b. drive to same destination with wing (same date aquisition as above)
c. compare notes...(LOTS and LOTS of Data)
d. figure milage...(factor and compensate for data sets listed above and the possible effect on MPG of each)
e. be happy, or unhappy. (what is the true meaning of happiness ?)
Not that hard ??
08 Carriage Cameo F34CK3
07 GMC Sierra 2500 HD 6.6 Duramax
00 Chevrolet Tahoe (retired T/V)
55 Beautiful, brunette RV loving Wife
06 Cavalier King Charles Spaniel "Roxy"
jwcgc29 wrote: HOUHJC...Lets look at your response in detail...
lets see.....
(what OAT, avg vehicle speed, acceleration and decceleration curves, wind speed and direction, trailer weight, TV weight, traffic encountered,)
b. drive to same destination with wing (same date aquisition as above)
c. compare notes...(LOTS and LOTS of Data)
d. figure milage...(factor and compensate for data sets listed above and the possible effect on MPG of each)
e. be happy, or unhappy. (what is the true meaning of happiness ?)
Not that hard ??
let me get my crayons here.....what color do you like??? ill go with red, just for you.
a. drive to destination without wing. lets say from houston to san antonio. 250 miles on saturday morning.
b. drive to same destination with wing. lets say from houston to san antonio. 250 miles on a saturday morning (hoping no extra stop for pottie break, because taking off from a dead stop is a drinker!!!!)
c. compare notes... um...first trip took X amount of gallons-second trip took X amount of gallons
d. figure milage... 250 miles divided by x amount of gallons for first trip....250 miles divided by x amount of gallons for second trip.......
e. be happy, or unhappy. did we get better milage from trip one or trip two.
there is no way any trip will be the same, i dont think the average person thinks so either. i can get different milages just driving to the grocery store empty. the overall point here is just for people to be informed of real time expierences. if you dont have one, you cant really give any adequet information now, can you. are you some kind of psyco-analyzer, or what? if so, you meet the cryteria of the first 4 letters in analyzer!! move on now. next?
The way I do it is long-trip averages. My most recent examples:
Without wing, 13.8 mpg average on a 5000-mile cross-country round-trip.
With wing, 14.7 mpg average on a 3300-mile cross-country round-trip.
My conclusion: the wing helps conserve fuel.
Even on long-trip averages there are a lot of variables, such as road and weather conditions. But the variables tend to become less important over the long term when trying to compare fuel efficiency.
I did an interesting calculation and something to consider when making a purchase that will increase your miles-per-gallon.
For easy figuring, let's say diesel fuel is $5.00 per gallon and we get 10 miles per gallon. Several places I have read say that for every additional 100 pounds, it costs an additional .08 cents per mile.
Based on the above figures, the $5.00 fuel at 10 miles per gallon calculates out at .50 cents per mile. If we increase that to 11 miles per gallon, the cost is reduced to .45 1/2 cents per mile. Twelve miles per gallon reduces it down to .41 1/2 cents per mile.
So, a mileage-increasing gadget weighing 100 pounds would have to increase your mileage 2 miles per gallon to break even and over 2 miles per gallon to make it cost effective.
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