Hi Everyone. Well, after 15 years the RV-Dreams Community Forum is coming to an end. Since it began in August 2005, we've had 58 Million page views, 124,000 posts, and we've spent about $15,000 to keep this valuable resource for RVers free and open. But since we are now off the road and have settled down for the next chapter of our lives, we are taking the Forum down effective June 30, 2021. It has been a tough decision, but it is now time.
We want to thank all of our members for their participation and input over the years, and we want to especially thank those that have acted as Moderators for us during our amazing journey living and traveling in our RV and growing the RV-Dreams Family. We will be forever proud to have been founders of this Forum and to have been supported by such a wonderful community. Thank you all!!
Many years ago when my dad had a Fifth Wheeler he (and many others did too) had a wind diverter mounted on the roof of the truck to divert the wind of the road up and over the 5er. This supposedly helped mileage (not sure if it was true) and kept the bugs off the front of the 5er. I don't seem to notice these on trucks as much as I did in the past. Do people still use them or are 5ers so tall now that they are useless?
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Can't wait to turn my RV dreaming into my RV doing
Noticed one thing about friends that have/had wind diverters mounted on the tow vehicle. Because they used the tow vehicle for transportation after they parked the RV, they either remove the diverter or loosen mounts to lower in order to reduce the drag.
Finally most just gave up and done away with them when they got new truck because they didn't think they provided a significant savings.
It's nice that everone can do their own thing and be different in their personnal needs/wants because it would be a truly dull place if everyone had exact same car/truck/rv/cloths/dogs/, do I dare say DW !
As my old Granny used to say " if you see something you have never seen before, throw a stick at it or go the other way"
Having driven many miles with a 5er both with and without a wind deflector, before moving to a motorhome, I never really saw much of a difference in mileage. I did see a difference in the amount of bugs on the front of the 5er but the deflector was a mess.
I know that most over the road haulers use them but upon a close examination, the deflector on the big trucks is much closer to the trialer and much larger than one used on the top of a pickup truck. The larger this gap the greater low pressure area is created in the bed of the truck. This area consumes energy from your engine to maintain and is greater when you are driving with a head wind. A 5er already requires approximately 20% greater power to pull than a comperably sized trailer because of the larger frontal area. All these things cost you $'s at the pump in addition to the initial $ outlay to purchase the deflector. To sum it up. I sold mine at a flea market and never looked back.
Now I am sure some other folks will swear that they help them with their mileage. That is okay with me but I never saw a benefit that made it worth the trouble myself. One has to do what they think is best. What a dull world it would be if we all thought alike.
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Full timing since 1/1/2005 American Tradition & Jeep Wrangler www.howethsjournal.blogspot.com
