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Old 01-29-2015, 09:17 AM   #1
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Latest project

Postponed Wood floors, Carpet is still like new. No residential refrigerator, We like to dry camp. So the latest project is to eliminate the suction/vacuum behind our coach, (05 Itasca Horizon 36RD) Whenever we travel a dirt/gravel road the back of the coach is covered with dirt. I remembered the old station wagons had a deflector on the roof to direct air down the back of the vehicle. I decided this would be a great advantage on my RV. After a number of measurements I fabricated a deflector from .048 galvanized steel. Roll formed a piece 12" X 36" to a 4" radius, 1/4" of a circle with a tangent of 5" to become the mounting point on the roof. Machined 3/4" aluminum standoffs 3" long with a 1/4" thru hole for a 1/4-20 mounting screw (Machine screw pan head stainless) Needed 5 standoffs, 3 on the leading edge and 2 on the trailing edge. All was primed and painted to match rear of coach. Just a test with a window fan on the roof about 12 feet from the back, created quite an air flow down the back of the coach.
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Old 01-29-2015, 09:22 AM   #2
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Looks great. Nice work. I wonder what effect it will have on fuel economy.
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Old 01-29-2015, 11:48 AM   #3
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I'll be interested to hear how it works in practice.
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Old 01-29-2015, 07:09 PM   #4
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Iwasouth,
Well Sir, I surely admire your fabrication skills. And yes, I do remember (kind-a dating ourselves aren't we?) the air foils/dams/deflectors.... what ever anyone called them on the back of the old Country Squires and many more "wagons" back then. My thought here however is, and I'm by far no aerodynamics/wind tunnel expert, don't most of those type things really have no effect until some higher speeds are achieved?

And, if that theory is true, then the expected help they would provide in terms of keeping the dust off of the back of the coach then, you'd have to be driving those dirt/dusty roads at quite a higher rate of speed. Now, again, I'm just trying to visualize or, envision, however you want to say it, this thing being of value after you took all the time to create it.

And yep, been there done that with the really dirty backside of the rig, more than I care to admit. If we're to be on a dirty/dusty road, I usually go about "0" miles an hour to at least TRY and keep as much of it down on the ground as possible. And, at such a low speed, the continuous duty gigantic radiator fan whips up way less dirt and dust.

But, I too would be interested if your creation did what it's designed to do. Please do keep us informed of its results on a true test run. Nice job.
Scott
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Old 01-30-2015, 07:38 AM   #5
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Aaaaa. To make a hotrod out of a coach. Love big dreamers. Better traction and dirt sweeper all in one?

Nice fab job. Looking forward to the "test" results.
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Old 01-30-2015, 08:32 AM   #6
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Last year on the mountain (Dirt) road to my daughters in Washington state, I installed a prototype of only cardboard, prior to driving her dry dirt road. As crude as it was it kept about 2/3 of the dirt off the rear. Max speed was 5 to 15 MPH due to usual road conditions.
I am anxious to see, what if any, difference it makes in fuel economy. The front profile is equal to about the same as the rear view mirrors. This deflector does not stop air, but passes it through and turns it down 90 degrees. Will be interesting to see what happens at highway speeds 60 to 65 Mph. When I arrive in Washington I will post, what if anything was accomplished
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Old 01-30-2015, 09:10 AM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lwasouth View Post
Postponed Wood floors, Carpet is still like new. No residential refrigerator, We like to dry camp. So the latest project is to eliminate the suction/vacuum behind our coach, (05 Itasca Horizon 36RD) Whenever we travel a dirt/gravel road the back of the coach is covered with dirt. I remembered the old station wagons had a deflector on the roof to direct air down the back of the vehicle. I decided this would be a great advantage on my RV. After a number of measurements I fabricated a deflector from .048 galvanized steel. Roll formed a piece 12" X 36" to a 4" radius, 1/4" of a circle with a tangent of 5" to become the mounting point on the roof. Machined 3/4" aluminum standoffs 3" long with a 1/4" thru hole for a 1/4-20 mounting screw (Machine screw pan head stainless) Needed 5 standoffs, 3 on the leading edge and 2 on the trailing edge. All was primed and painted to match rear of coach. Just a test with a window fan on the roof about 12 feet from the back, created quite an air flow down the back of the coach.
looks good,.. how 'bout some pics of how you mounted it
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Old 01-30-2015, 02:35 PM   #8
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Existing photos show the 3/4" stand-offs on 1"Dia rubber gasget. 1/4 20 /Stainless bolts through deflector, stand-off , gasget and to 1/4 20 "moly" bolt anchors in the fiberglass cap. There are 3 on the leading edge and 2 on the trailing edge
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