Air Tabs Installed

Thanks Steve68 for the explanation of how air airtabs, helps me to visualize their effects.

I would like to streamline the aerodynamic mess on the roof of my camper and was wondering how Airtabs might work on my camper if I ran a horizontal line of them approx. where the camper clearance lights are. All constructive opinions and ideas would be appreciated. I hope the OP doesn't mind me asking.

Those are called "vortex generators". Aircraft often employ them:


If you have a sunroof, you probably have a sawtooth or castellated edge that flips up at the front of the opening, too - without it, turbulence would create an annoying, pulsing, "thud" as you drove at speed. Same thing - a vortex generator.

A vortex generator puts energy into the airstream, causing the trailing air to "spiral" (a vortex). Since it has more energy and is spiraling, the air can't/ won't devolve into a turbulent mess, creating drag BEHIND the surface - it will flow/ spiral PAST the trailing surface, only becoming turbulent when the vortex energy dissipates much further back.

So the idea is that you're creating a smoother airflow over surfaces and past trailing edges, which creates less turbulence behind them.

I'm really interested to hear what the OP finds - putting vortex generator on the underside of a TC cabover seems like it would generate vortices aimed right at the vertical front wall of the camper - a worst-case scenario, aerodynamically.

jimh425 wrote:
I hope they work well. I can't say I like the looks of them.

My first thought was to paint them to look like sharks teeth.:)

They were only 2.85 a piece. I bought them here in Indy so no shipment. They are recommended for the rear side of a trailer or cab of a truck. I wanted to try to reduce the bugs also the wind noise in the cab. Some of you guys had spoilers, I wanted something different they do look kinda cool on the camper. They recommend 3 per foot, my Northern Lite is 8 across I did not want them to interfere with my clearance light on the truck so they are just behind the lights. I'm going to the Ohio rally tomorrow, then a big trip in July so I should have the data and share it with everyone.

Bobndot The guy I got these from has several trucks in his fleet and does safe a small about of fuel. Also he had a costumer with a large goose neck trailer and he stated the trailer handles a lot better in truck traffic and cross winds. Thanks for all the interest... ART

Hi,

I have them on the rear of my class C which is where the company recommends they be installed. I did get reduced noise in the RV. I would do them on my next RV.

This tells a little more about them.

Air Tabs

They seem to be very expensive but if they could be bought at a reasonable price they might be worth a try.

Could I ask where you purchased them and the coat?

Very interesting, I hope your experiment solves your noise and bugs issue. Anxious to hear the follow up info.

I went the air deflector route and it has worked out better than expectations by reducing bug splat to 5 or 10%, and wind noise is the same with or without camper. Before installing air deflector the noise was so great that my wife and I would have to yell to each other. I have never tried checking mpg numbers as I believe it takes approx. 10000 miles to get proper average mpg with a TC. I really don't want to go that far with all the wind noise.

Anything we do to try to get better fuel economy is a good thing. I applaud the idea of trying this, its a good idea IMO.
Why not put them on the nose of the pickup as well and on the sideview mirrors to deflect the sides , where the camper is wider than the truck.

I think each individual will get different results regarding mpg.
Every time i fill up any vehicle, i can choke extra fuel in to the tank . In varies on the amount . In order to achieve MPG results, the fuel fill would have to be to the same exact level each time . That might be a little difficult to do .
I would think if they helped save fuel costs, they would be on a lot of trucks. I don't see them being used on commercial trucks. Any thing i have read, they help with bugs but not MPG.

For anyone interested, i found this informative . The impact on a tc is not the same as a semi but some of the info here is helpful.

http://cumminsengines.com/uploads/docs/cummins_secrets_of_better_fuel_economy.pdf

I hope they work well. I can't say I like the looks of them.

pianotuna wrote:
Hi,

Did you install them at the rear end of the tc? And on the sides and top surface?

Thats not a TC, its a cabover camper.