Installed Front Wheel Fairings

[DRW]

I finally got around to installing a pair of front wheel fairings today. The idea was brewing in my head for the past couple weeks when I read a post about aero mods, and someone mentioned using a 'bleach jug' instead of coroplast. That got me thinking.

So here's the result. The first pic is the raw materials I used. I was lucky to find a color that blends in with my car. The material is easy to work with, just cut with good scissors and a hole punch.

The second pic shows what shape it was cut into.
I'll pause here to make sure this post and pics come through OK.

[DRW]

OK looks like everything worked in the first post.
Part 2:
The next series of pics show how the fairing is attached at the back, attached at the front, and a nice side view. It only took about 3 hours to complete both sides. Something similar could be fabricated just as easily for the trailing side of the tires, both front and rear.

Enjoy!

Dave W.

[CO ZX2]

Originally Posted by DRW

OK looks like everything worked in the first post.
Part 2:
The next series of pics show how the fairing is attached at the back, attached at the front, and a nice side view. It only took about 3 hours to complete both sides. Something similar could be fabricated just as easily for the trailing side of the tires, both front and rear.

Enjoy!

Dave W.

Neat job, DRW. Good to see a thinking man come through. Is your FE consistent enough to get a feel for any improvement?

[kickflipjr]

I like your thinking DRW!

[DRW]

Thanks!
My FE has been within 1 mpg at each fill up, so I might notice an improvement. Then again, the weather is cold and rainy this week, and the roads are clogged with Christmas shoppers, so who knows how this tank will end up. There's too many variables per fillup, and I don't think this will have a large effect on FE. I plan on adding fairings (are they still called 'fairings' if they're in the back?) to the trailing edge of the rear wheels next. Anyone else notice that the Prius already has fairings behind it's rear wheels? They're blacked out so you can't really see them. They seem to have a very long taper. Food for though.

[brelandt]

I like they way they fit.

My only concern though is this.

Since they taper down to a point and do not actually cover the entire width of the tires will they help?

Can't wait to find out. Keep up on the updates.

I work at a small lumber yard and hardware store. Lots of valley flashings and 5 gallon buckets. Makes me daydream all day long on what I could use to aero mod my Sidekick.

[cfg83]

brelandt-

Originally Posted by brelandt

I like they way they fit.

My only concern though is this.

Since they taper down to a point and do not actually cover the entire width of the tires will they help?

Can't wait to find out. Keep up on the updates.

I work at a small lumber yard and hardware store. Lots of valley flashings and 5 gallon buckets. Makes me daydream all day long on what I could use to aero mod my Sidekick.

I was thinking the same thing but it is such a good idea that I am keeping watch at all of the Big Lots and Plasti-crap stores for a bucket (in white, the color of my car) that is the width of a tire. I have been looking at wedge shaped dust pans too, but I have never found "the right one". You actually need a "blocky" looking dust pan instead of a curvy/swoopy one.

Alternatively, I am thinking about a durable "spongy" wedge shape that I cover in thin plastic sheeting. The idea is that it will deform easily if I come up too close to a curb, but will maintain it's shape at speed. I know it would work from two angles, but I can't resolve how to cover the side view gracefully, the side that everyone sees.

CarloSW2

[brelandt]

Get a really big hard sponge, nerf or something of that nature. cut it into the desired shape and pour a can of plasti dip on it.

maybe this would do it?

[cfg83]

brelandt -

Originally Posted by brelandt

Get a really big hard sponge, nerf or something of that nature. cut it into the desired shape and pour a can of plasti dip on it.

maybe this would do it?

Yeah, but this also reminds me of something else, maybe pads at a sporting goods store, that would have the right texture/rigidity. But it probably wouldn't be the right shape.

I think the plasti-dip is good, especially because it comes as a spray and claims weather durability. The interior "foamy" part can't be too soft, though, because it needs to be attached with a screw ... or maybe epoxied? double-sticky-taped?

CarloSW2

[DRW]

Originally Posted by brelandt

"Since they taper down to a point and do not actually cover the entire width of the tires will they help?"

It's hard to tell if they help or not. My last fillup gave me about 1/2 mpg better than normal, but traffic conditions were not normal during the holidays. The theory is that they start pushing the air down and away from the center of the tire. It should help airflow stay attached to the side of the wheel, instead of hitting the front of the tire and billowing outward. I designed the fairings after watching the front tires of other cars while driving in the rain. It's easy to see which way the air is going when it's raining. I know the design isn't ideal, but it's pretty close. I would like to have the fairings mounted farther back, close to the tire. The trailing edge of the fairing tapers the wrong way, too. I didn't expect huge gains, I mostly did it for the experience.

I like the idea of a nerf ball sculpted into a fairing, covered in rubber tool handle plasti-dip. Maybe it could be attached by skewering it with a flat bar that can be bolted down?

[DRW]

Here's another pic showing the fairing as seen from the front. This shot isn't perfectly head-on, you can see the back/inner edge of the tire. I think it shows the shape better than the other pics.

The fairings haven't touched a curb, and I doubt they ever will since my car is lowered enough that a curb will scrape the lower fascia first. The tow hooks hang lower than that, making a definitive barrier to inattentive parking.

PS about the odd naming I'm using- I took a bunch of before and after pics while I worked. I didn't post any 'before' pics because it's easy to see what the car looks like without the fairings. So I'm posting the 'after' pics.

[DRW]

Another thought about mounting- Check out the bolt holding the front of the fairing in place. I didn't tighten it down, if I did it would've deformed and flattened the material. Instead I used a long bolt with a nylock nut tightened just snug. The same thing goes with the bolt on the backside. It's not like the bolts have to carry huge loads, it's just 1/2 ounce of plastic!

[brelandt]

Another idea..... instead of the triangle design (if it doesn't work) how about using 2 end pieces mounted back together at the same width as the tires?

Hard for me to explain but I'm sure you know what I'm thinking.

Got my black 5 gallon buckets yesterday. Still tossing the idea back and forth in my head to either make wheel well linings, air dam or grill blocking from behind the grill opening. chooses chooses......

[DRW]

It's been over a year since I put the front wheel fairings on my car. I liked them enough to keep them, but there was room for improvement. I had to take them off for some maintenance a few weeks ago, so when I put them back on I made some changes.

For starters, I moved them back closer to the wheel by about 1/2". I did this so they would fair the wheel better, and have less drag in crosswinds. I also added a flat coroplast flap that hangs down at the back edge. This piece mimics flaps I've seen on modern cars. I suspect this will help extend the effect of the fairing, and to provide a smoother transition where air flowing down through the wheel well meets the air coming in from the front of the car.

See attached pic. How's it look?

[RoadWarrior]

Neat install, have to look close to realise it's not original.

That flap raises some interesting thoughts. I wonder if one can balance the "ground effect" apparent airflow of the rotating tire (the boundary layer it should be carrying round with it) against the pressure of the airflow from in front, such that it "flies" right on top of the tire at highway speed without actually contacting it... though I guess one would then have to figure out how to stop it touching/rubbing during lane changes.

Preliminary thinking right now is that the surface speed of the tire and hence it's boundary layer, and speed of incident airflow are about equivalent... but the surface area on which the airflow due to forward motion will act, would be likely be greater than the area on which the tires boundary layer acts. Therefore the shape and hinge point of a flap should be modified to allow more surface area of the flap to come closer to the tire. And/or, the flap could be of airfoil cross section, such that with equal airflow each side of it, it will tend to lift towards it's cambered side... the side towards the front. Then I think when headed into the wind, the flap will not tend to be pressed towards the tire, because the faster moving airflow over the cambered side would make it lift more.... well actually it should kind of do that anyway without camber, but it would have to be at shallow angle to the airflow... or the airflow would have to be forced over it at a shallow angle...

[s2man]

Or, just let the flap rub against the tire until it wears off, "just right".

[JanGeo]

Be nice if the flap forced enough air down at the ground in front of the tire so that on a rainy day it blew the water away from the ground clearing a path for the tire to make clean contact.

[8307c4]

I like it because it doesn't devalue the car, that looks really good.
Because one day when you go to sell it I doubt you'll have to take it off.
Very nicely done.

[DRW]

Thanks, I like the looks, too. I guess I was lucky to find duct tape and Rubbermaid tubs that match the color of my car.
BTW the flap on my car is fairly rigid. I can't imagine it moving more than one inch with a strong, direct wind.