WIND DEFLECTOR
QUESTION: Would investing in an "Aero Shield Wind Deflector @ $400.00 worth the investment? Cost/benefit? Anyone have any practical experience? (Forum search... but did not see any information...
Forum Discussion
Terryallan wrote:
Most over the road tractors do. They also have trailer skirts to keep the air out from under the trailer. They also have side skirts to keep the air out from between the tractor, and trailer.
And I'm thinkin. IF these aero add ons do no good. they wouldn't spend the thousands of dollars to install them. But they do work. We had one on our truck. Yes it increased the MPG. But only around one MPG. but you know. When you are only getting 4 MPG. ONE is a whole lot.
The difference is at 100k miles per year, they can justify the cost if it only gets them 0.1mpg.
Assuming 6.0mpg to 6.1mpg, that's about 275gal/yr saved or around $800/yr (assuming $3/gal). Assuming a 10yr truck life, that's $8000. Very worth while to spend a grand or two on a deflector. Also trucks and trailers are pretty standardized so you can expect much better results with a semi deflector.
Your typical RV might do 2k miles per year. Assuming they go from 10.0 to 10.1mpg, that works out to about $6/yr in savings...assuming they don't leave it on when driving around and hurt their non-towing MPG. Even if you assume a full 1.0 MPG increase, it's only about $55/yr and that is wildly optimistic.
