Canopy affecting fuel economy

[tryhard]

Hey Mark

Actually it wasn't too bad mate - we were Eagles Nest too, in E7 (well booked in E6 but I misread it while reversing ) and E6, E5 and E4 were all empty. Probably still 200 people or more there overall though

Good spot

Cheers
Carl

[ML-VR08]

Tryhard - you fuel economy was actually 11.37L/100kms as you might have worked out km/L...but 11.37 isnt that bad actually towing a camper and fully loaded! Sorry to bring the bad news...but hey we are all here to help eachother out?!

[tryhard]

Oops ! Maths was never a strong point mate Cheers - yeah I divided the wrong way eh ?

[ML-VR08]

No worries mate - but hey thats still good figures mate...dont worry fuel is the least expensive thing about the car! You only notice it cause you pay for it every week or so! My fuel consumption is around 11 normally...thats running bigger tyres and lift so i assume once a load goes on then it may creep to around 12 or 13!

[tryhard]

...dont worry fuel is the least expensive thing about the car!

That's true The occupants of the passenger and rear seat are the most expensive additions Might have got high 10's without them in there too

[Install]

Bloody good figures!Be happy with that. I keep a spread sheet of all running costs and my daily metro driving towing a trailer (80% of the time) & being fairly heavy on the pedal i'm sitting at 12.26L/100km average (it used be to be worse than that too).
Find me a big long hill to sit on boost and i can get the onboard screen figures to hit 30!!

[ArrowsWA]

Just got 989 klms from 104 liters used *has LR tank fitted, (general driving no towing) someone wanna tell me the k's litres per 100 klms average and klms per liter, great, just don't tell if its worse than 13.0 ltr per 100 klms travelled please, yep got the flexi glass canopy with its own parachute drag over cab air grabbing design

[tryhard]

Not that I have a good track record with this, but I think you got 10.52 litres per 100 km (I checked against ML-VR08's calc to make sure the maths matched !)

Well done - maybe slowing the air down over the cab improves fuel economy somehow :p

[ArrowsWA]

Naa the canopy would definitely act as extra drag and cause some additional fuel use, and those fixed roof racks of mine would only make things worse, still rather have the dam thing than not

[tryhard]

Hi Blokes

Seeing as how this f*#*)@*$ canopy started all this, I will just update my saga.

Today my mate the rustproofer came over to do the vehicle. We removed the tailgate tubliner bit (been on about 3 weeks now) and he said "sh*t ... look at the way its rubbed the paint - I heard they do that". It hadn't quite broken through but there was a lot of scuffing. He decided we should try some double sided tape to reduce the friction. But then he said if we are going to do this properly, we should remove the canopy and tubliner and do something about wherever it might be scuffing too.

So we did.

And f**k me swingin', what a mess ! The muck up with fitting the canopy meant there were about 8 drill holes in every corner of the tub (only 2 of which were in use) and most of them weren't properly treated. There was 2 holes for every one needed in the front part of the tub as well.

The drill shavings had been left under the liner and had oxidised and the rust was stuck in the paint already, and the top outside lip of the tub liner had broken the pain surface in a number of places.

My mate's pretty fussy, but he said even without fussiness, if I take this up the beach a few times, I could expect the canopy to have nothing left to bolt into in a few years.

He said call Flexiglass and ask what they think we should do, because the idea with the tubliner was remove it when ready to sell and have a
new looking tray. The tray looks about 10 years old after 3 weeks so by that maths it should look about 520 years old by 2011 !

Anyway the great ending was Flexiglass has a brand new tub they are prepared to fit for me, from a alloy tray changeover, and we're starting again - fit a new tub, and then the canopy direct onto that.

This time, NO TUB LINER. It is horrendous how much damage it did and the tub would have been cactus in 4-5 years time. I have photos, but in respect for Flexiglass who are doing the right thing by me for sure, I won't post 'em !

Seriously, I highly recommend Flexiglass for their customer service, and I think I will like the canopy a lot once it's fitted again, with only the required drill holes (!) without the extra height and damage caused by the tub liner. I think this was just a problem installation and everything that could go wrong, has.

I am sure there are better ways to fit the tub liner and prevent scuffing, but straight on the surface like this one was is a definite no-no.

I'll post some photos yet again, when the new tub AND canopy are fitted (next week).

Yup, this is why I don't modify vehicles for a living - what a f****** jinx !! Lucky I'm self employed and business is quiet - but I'd rather be out 4WDing ...

[Buzzy]

Good to here their sorting it for you mate.
Shouldnt have happened in the first place but it sound like Flexiglass are serious about fixing it, good stuff

[ArrowsWA]

I can confirm Flexiglass do come to the party if the product stuff's up, they replaced the back glass and replaced and reinforced the bracket the J bolts fit onto when mine broke away both without a question asked and immediately

[4wd26]

Just so you know its not just Flexiglass canopies that are having problems with.

My ARB canopy has had a couple of problems as well.
1. The rear seal rubber for the rear window must have been put on by a blind man, it was so badly done that it actually stuck to itself rather than the window in places.
the then ment that the window was rubbing on the paint on the tail gate (good thing for very thick clear tape they apply.

2. There is a rubber/ plastic moulding that goes into the c section to cover all the screws, this had popped loose between the cabin and canopy and is rubbing flapping around.

ARB have also been great in addressing this, although it will involve the removal of the canopy to replace the front moulding and that will require the vehicle to be away for 6 hours.

Mind you they might have been forthcomming as I got a bit cranky last time it was in, as the rear bar that I have been waiting on for 3 months (and which I took the day off work to get fitted) and which I have rang a week before to make sure everything was great-- WAS THE WRONG COLOUR.......

The fitting of the snorkle also didn't go to plan, as soon as we picked up the vehicle we went on holidays and at the first stop check things out only to find the screw holding the front plastic guard had lossened (not so bad- just tighten it up) WRONG it had cracked all the plastic so that even with a large washer couldn't get it to stay together. 2000kms later the tyre has moulded it to a great shape. Definatly need to remove the lower portion of the ARB bar now (replacement/ relocated washer bottle has now moved up the wanted list.

[Maxiy]

Just dragging another thread out from the grave.

This is a little off topic (NFTF please move to a better thread if there is one), but just wanted to check peoples opinions on wind fairings for their roof racks ?.

I have a LARGE steel rood cage on my Mn (off a 100 series cruiser) and ever since putting it on, my fule econ has gone on holidays. I average about 14-16 litres per hundred now days where i would get around 11-12 without the cage.

ANYWAY hoping to improve my fuel economy without removing the cage, so thought i would get a wind fairing. have people used these and got good results ?

[jrs184]

I find it a bit hard to believe how well it worked ... but
With the pauper's aerofoil (waxed cardboard and gaffer tape!) filling the gap between cab and canopy, consumption dropped to 8.8 l/100 km. I took it off and it went back up to 9.8 for the same road and driving style, and so far hasn't revisited the 10.1 from before. (this was up to 60 km/h in 4th on a few km of local road, with air con on (vehicle still only done a few hundred km so guess figures will get worse as its run in, maybe)

Thanks for the idea though ... it definitely looks like the aerodynamics could be a lot better

Cheers
Carl

where's the pics?

I just get the loading notice and the whirlygig going round and round..My canopy ARB on ML starts off with approx 50mm gap, level behind the cab then rises to about 150mm higher than cab, gives me room to sleep under on with the false floor raised about 350mm. I got 10.06l/100km avg over 6500km at the speed limits. Used a lot more at 110km/hr than 100km/hr , but was pleased with the avg. Any speed over 80km/hr will increase drag a lot and l/100km. My rig used to use 9.5L/100km before I went canopy Grabber AT2 lightbar. Still worth the extra dosh for the convenience.

[NowForThe5th]

Just dragging another thread out from the grave.

This is a little off topic (NFTF please move to a better thread if there is one), but just wanted to check peoples opinions on wind fairings for their roof racks ?.

You get points for finding the correct thread and using it, rather than the newbie mistake of starting a new thread for every random question. Knowledge does not have a use by date, so old threads are fine on this forum, where we like to keep similar information together.

As far as I know, the impact of roof racks on fuel consumption has been well known for a very long time. certainly it was when I started researching it after seeing the fuel economy of my EH Holden wagon go even further south with roof rack fitment. The "cool" factor was worth more to me at the time though and the cost penalty wasn't that much, even though petrol had hit the lofty heights of 50c per gallon.

[Maxiy]

You get points for finding the correct thread and using it, rather than the newbie mistake of starting a new thread for every random question.

HAHA thanks

As far as I know, the impact of roof racks on fuel consumption has been well known for a very long time.

Yes, i am 99% sure it is the roof cage that is doing the juice guzzling, just wanted to see if people had any luck with a brand name wind fairing before o forked out the cash. ANYWAY i have VERY craftily slapped on some thick plastic poster board (from officeworks) on the front of the rack , and i have a big trip planned this weekend, so we shall see if it makes any difference, if i notice a decrease i will fork out the cash for a more presentable one, or make a better looking one

[RHKTriton]

When you consider the euro cars, such as Audi, installed surface mounted glass the get rid of every distortion in the body shape in the quest for drag reduction, the gap between the body and tub has to be a big killer.

A cage would have the effect of a 'container load' of micro ski bars.

The Triton is actually shaped pretty good above axle height, the elements that work against us are the large wheel openings, the mess under the body and tub interfacing area.

I want to try a deflector or panel to smooth airflow from the back of the body underside to the tub, for both aerodynamics and to reduce dust coming up the gap.

Another thought I've had is to raise the rear end of the cab to improve the airflow to any canopy or work tool box.

[jrs184]

When you consider the euro cars, such as Audi, installed surface mounted glass the get rid of every distortion in the body shape in the quest for drag reduction, the gap between the body and tub has to be a big killer.

A cage would have the effect of a 'container load' of micro ski bars.

The Triton is actually shaped pretty good above axle height, the elements that work against us are the large wheel openings, the mess under the body and tub interfacing area.

I want to try a deflector or panel to smooth airflow from the back of the body underside to the tub, for both aerodynamics and to reduce dust coming up the gap.

Another thought I've had is to raise the rear end of the cab to improve the airflow to any canopy or work tool box.

The space between the cab and the canopy I thought was so any flex in the chassis doesn't put dints in the cab, so filling the gap with aero in mind should be with something that gives and not gouges...it would prob be a lot quieter with the space filled, I always give it a good hose out between there which would be difficult if you had to remove your 'drag coefficient enhancer' out every time you had to clean...

[Crash486]

If you wanted to experiment, I'd say do what mythbusters do... use duct tape.
Flexible enough, if you build a concertina shape, still temporary but will last a while.

crash486

[RHKTriton]

Good ole duct tape.

Plenty chin spoilers held in place with this stuff.

[Maxiy]

Good ole duct tape.

Plenty chin spoilers held in place with this stuff.

Yep i sued duct tap to attach my DIY wind fairer. Made it from plastic poster board from officeworks. It is pop riveted to my roo cage, and then duct taped to the roof. there is enough flex in the plastic board to deal with the tub flex (cage is attached to the tub, and over hangs the roof by 300mm)

Big trip this weekend, so we will see how it affects the fuel econ

[NowForThe5th]

there is enough flex in the plastic board to deal with the tub flex

Bet there isn't.

[Maxiy]

there is enough flex in the plastic board to deal with the tub flex

Bet there isn't.

Time shall tell NFTF