Reddog1 wrote:
Like bcbigfoot, I to have a 2nd generation Dodge/Bigfoot camper combination with a 5" to 6" gap between overhang and roof of truck. I had no noise issues in over 12 years of use. I is possible the difference in our rigs is why bcbigfoot had noise and I did not. My truck is a '96 Dodge 2500 Ext Cab long bed 2WD and my TC is a 11.5 foot 1500 Bigfoot. My TC is not as tall as the 2500 series which has a taller cab over and a basement. I can say, the 2nd gen Dodge trucks were notorious for air leaks at the top of the doors. Most of it, if not all, can be adjusted.
The main problems I have heard about is under the right circumstances, like entering or exiting exceptional steep driveways or similar conditions, the air dam will hit and damage the lights or roof of the cab. Not only is the initial mounting important, but over time the normal whipping action of the wind can break the dam loose from its mounting. The only damage I am aware of is to the mounting area of the TC and possibly scratches to the paint on the cab of the truck.
A thought to ponder. How close to the cab must you mount the air dam for it to be effective? The typical up and down movement on my TC cab over is probably 1" to 2". bcbigfoot appears happy with his, with no negative issues. I suggest you ask him for details on how he fabricated his, a new thread would be great. There is always members interested in "how tos".
Wayne
The length of the cabover may also be a factor, the air going up the windshield and being pinched between the truck and and cabover. My truck can get a little door wind noise but it requires a 40 mph side wind so this wasn't a factor in my noise issue.
I now have over 60000 miles with the deflector mounted, one trip to from British Columbia to Florida Keys via Texas, and another to Nova Scotia via Washington DC. Many of the miles have been secondary roads, not the best maintained but very few miles have been on rough gravel/dirt non-maintained roads. I have had 0 incidences of camper overhead to cab contact with the 1.5" clearance. The Dodge frames of this era were the stiffest and the Fords were the most flexible. I have placed 3/4 in plywood in the box and I removed the crappy 1/8". plastic bottom inspection panels and replace that with marine grade 5/8" plywood across the entire bottom of the camper. This has removed any beer canning effect in the truck box that the raised plastic inspection panels caused, the high points caused the camper to rock somewhat. The camper now feel solidly connected to the truck. This may be the reason why I can get away with only 1.5" clearance.
There is picture in my profile where the the air deflector can be seen.
