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jimh406's avatar
jimh406
Explorer III
May 20, 2016

Angle of truck with camper vs mpg?

I was wondering the other day if anyone had experimented with changing the angle of their truck from front to back with camper on. I've heard that trucks/suvs are higher in back to improve mpg.

I have air bags, so I could make the back higher if I wanted. So, have you done it on purpose or noticed a change after adding air bags/stableloads/supersprings?

If you are wondering, I'm not thinking it will be several mpg more, but thought it might be as much as .5 mpg or so + or -.
Truck Campers
  • Kayteg1's avatar
    Kayteg1
    Explorer II
    May 20, 2016
    Aerodynamics are very tricky subject and although they have some general rules, final results have to be check in wind tunnel.
    You have probably 2" to play with air bags, so even if mpg change by 0.1, there is no way you can measure it.
    Speed is crucial factor, but if you really want to lower the drag, try to attach some of those rear shields you can see on the back of semi trailers.
    I can see those in less than on 1 in 100 trailers, so if truckers putting thousands miles don't care much about lowering the drag, I take that as marginal improvement.
  • gbopp's avatar
    gbopp
    Explorer
    May 20, 2016
    Just my opinion, I don't think you would see enough of a difference to really do a good calculation.

    Slowing down and keeping your engine running properly would probably give you the best increase in mpg.

    But, I've been wrong before. ;)

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