Hi All,I mentioned about 6 months back that I was installing Vorblades (Link Below) on my 5th wheel. Well after towing about 5K miles across the US, I definitely like them. Primary Reason - STABILITYOur 5th wheel used to move a reasonable bit when trucks zoomed past and was affected by crosswinds. With the Vorblades installed, I truly did not even notice a semis passing...even at high speeds. As far as crosswinds, driving across the great plains, the 25+ MPH crosswinds had little affect on the 5th wheel. The stability improvement alone made them worth it!Secondary Reason - FUEL EconomyThis is hard for me to quantify as I have never driven the this route without Vorblades. My best estimate is a 4% to 5% increase in fuel economy. Third Reason - Bikes and rear of 5th wheel remained clean. It was nice not to have the bikes (bike rack is on rear of 5th wheel) or rear window covered with road dirt....I was really surprised how clean the rear of the RV stayed compared to prior to the vorblade install. OverallI think they added value and am glad i installed them. What's NextWell half way thru our trip we traded our 5th wheel for a toy hauler Travel Trailer. I will be contacting Vorblades and looking into installing vorblades on the travel trailer. It will be interesting to see how they perform on a Travel Trailer vice my positive experience with the 5th wheel. I will report back in anther few months on the Travel Trailer and vorblade experience. Link to info on Vorblades:Vorblades Website

Dually will do the same thing.;)

Cummins12V98 wrote:Dually will do the same thing.;)LOL...yeap I believe that....

Question: Are you going to notice a 0.4 - 0.5 claimed mpg increase? How many miles will it take to recoup the cost of purchase & installation of the Vorblades?

Something was wrong with your package!!!I have yet to feel a passing truck both going the same direction or an on coming on a two lane road.If your package was unstable with a 5th wheel hate to see what you run into with a TT.

I guess I am lucky as I do not have those problems with our 5er. :) :)

Vorblades.....5K Miles After Install ...I Like Them!

13 Replies

Paul_Clancy
Explorer
Jan 31, 2015
Probably is something to them but not enough to bother with. As said with all the aero skirting etc on new semis and trailers I'm sure the OTR world would be huge into these is there was a payoff.
Cummins12V98
Explorer III
Jan 31, 2015
christopherglenn wrote:
Its another version on Airtabs..
They DO work, but you are looking 100k miles of towing for fuel costs to pay for them, more with the 2 buck fuel we have now.

And there is the UGLY factor.
Me_Again
Explorer III
Jan 31, 2015
Add this for even better mileage.

http://www.thecostumer.com/p-19254-propeller-beanie.aspx?gclid=CI3nkpS2vsMCFQVafgodYBUA4g

I do know that trailers with front and rear caps tow better that ones with square corners.

OP has: 2011 Open Range 280 RLS Pulled by a 2010 Ford F250

So the trailer most likely has a flat back without a cap. Chris
milo
Explorer II
Jan 31, 2015
Like stated above...sumthin wrong with your setup. We pull our 29 ft. 5er with our little 150 and semi's & crosswinds have no effect on it. Our TT used to wiggle when semi's passed, never did figure out how to stop it. But no wiggle with the fiver. JOMO
christopherglen
Explorer
Jan 31, 2015
Its another version on Airtabs..
They DO work, but you are looking 100k miles of towing for fuel costs to pay for them, more with the 2 buck fuel we have now.
packnrat
Explorer
Jan 31, 2015
sorry just another fuel scam.

spend a couple thousand dollars. get your return back in 40+ years.

if they truly got you better fuel millage then it would be required on every truck made today.
a big rig logs in many thousands of miles a month. (5-8 mpg) if a o/o could improve his mileage (income) with this he would have installed it long back. the company i work for has some fifty rigs (at just this terminal) hundreds more rigs based across this country. nothing installed on the rigs or trailers.

as for a stable towing..did you look into how your fifth wheel is loaded? the tail can wag the dog if a trailer is mis loaded. (too much weight to the rear/side).
N-Trouble
Explorer
Jan 28, 2015
You state you have never driven this route, yet claim a 4-5% improvement in fuel economy. What are you using as a baseline to determine that?

I agree with others, rarely feel passing rigs with my 5er.
ronschamingjr
Explorer
Jan 28, 2015
I have a 30-foot so-called ultralight fiver I pull with a Dodge 3500 SRW and although I can sometimes the passage of an 18-wheeler going the opposite direction, it has never been disturbing.
tvman44
Explorer
Jan 28, 2015
I guess I am lucky as I do not have those problems with our 5er. :) :)
rhagfo
Explorer III
Jan 28, 2015
Something was wrong with your package!!!
I have yet to feel a passing truck both going the same direction or an on coming on a two lane road.
If your package was unstable with a 5th wheel hate to see what you run into with a TT.