Front nose design and stability and gas mileage?

Any contouring of the front is bound to help reduce drag. The newer tapered corners were more for clearance on short bed trucks at first. Now they seem to be taking the aerodynamics into account.

mileshuff wrote:

Vulcaneer wrote:
Contoured nose on front makes no difference in MPG, stability. It's only there for turning clearance when backing with a short bed truck. Or else for aesthics.

Many manufactures advertise on the merits of turning as well as wind drag. I just went from a 5,000lb flat front TT to a 9,000lb rounded front cap 5th wheel. MPG with the same TV is consistently better with the 5'er.

I would think that the 5er would naturally be more streamlined that dragging a brick with space between it and the truck.
bumpy

Vulcaneer wrote:
Contoured nose on front makes no difference in MPG, stability. It's only there for turning clearance when backing with a short bed truck. Or else for aesthics.

Many manufactures advertise on the merits of turning as well as wind drag. I just went from a 5,000lb flat front TT to a 9,000lb rounded front cap 5th wheel. MPG with the same TV is consistently better with the 5'er.

Yes...it seems to make sense and so I asked what it meant in the real world of towing.

All the used ones that we have seen so far had a rounded nose but we are going to see one today that has a flat front so I was wondering.....if we should take that into consideration.

newman fulltimer wrote:
i have a square nose and like the interior height and storage.the round nose if you arw tall you cannot walk all the way to front without ducking .

Have to know your floorplan to understand. I have a rounded front cap. I can walk anywhere in the front bedroom without ducking. Of course the very front has a headboard for the bed and the far front sides have closets and night stand tables. So I can't walk around the front of the bed but I've not been in a 5'er where you could.

mdamerell wrote:
I was told a gentlemen who transports trailers for a living that he sees a 1-2 mpg increase with the new aerodynamics. I am pleased with the performance of mine but I have not pulled one of the old styles to give you a comparison. I can tell you that in bad weather my 5'r behaves better than my semi trailer.

Just in simple terms it is much easier to push a aero designed contour through the air than a brick! Just makes simple sense. Think of a snowplow v blade versus straight blade.same idea. Jb

I was told a gentlemen who transports trailers for a living that he sees a 1-2 mpg increase with the new aerodynamics. I am pleased with the performance of mine but I have not pulled one of the old styles to give you a comparison. I can tell you that in bad weather my 5'r behaves better than my semi trailer.

Contoured nose on front makes no difference in MPG, stability. It's only there for turning clearance when backing with a short bed truck. Or else for aesthics.

I meant the rounded nose in the front where it rolls down and around, shaped like a ball....where the roof line rolls down.

newman fulltimer wrote:
i have a square nose and like the interior height and storage.the round nose if you arw tall you cannot walk all the way to front without ducking .

I do not believe the OP was talking about those units that has a roof line that rolls way down it the front. I believe he was talking about the caps on each end verses the square cornered cheaper units.

Chris