Commercial aero wheel covers. Neato.
 

I spied these aero wheel covers on a Schneider truck today:
https://www.truck-drivers-money-savin...s_dsc03420.jpg
(Not my photo.)

Googled it. It's called "Deflecktor" and is only for tractor-trailer sized tires. The way it's installed is weird; see this Youtube video of it:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=CDs57Uy3DnU
[yt]CDs57Uy3DnU[/yt]

Any thoughts on mimicking that for a DIY aero wheel cover system? Doesn't seem likely.

Re: Commercial aero wheel covers. Neato.
 

what ever happend to the solid ''moonies'' hubcaps?

Re: Commercial aero wheel covers. Neato.
 

They're too expensive for Wal-mart trailers.
They are still around for cars, but that plastic one is easier to remove for checkimg the tire air pressure on a semi.

How about using shrink wrap, like window insulation, on the wheels?

Re: Commercial aero wheel covers. Neato.
 

call me pessimistic but I could see those getting stolen.

Re: Commercial aero wheel covers. Neato.
 

Nearly any hubcap could be stolen though.

Re: Commercial aero wheel covers. Neato.
 

I don't know how we could replicate that for cars..... Most steel wheels on cars don't provide a very deep dish to attach the inner ring to. I would think that it wouldn't be so bad to make something with a fairly rigid outer edge that clips onto the lip of the rim kind of like a wheel weight. Then you could use a light flexible plastic dish. Then you could even make them dished if you want, and then you can fit them over most aluminum wheels, which would be ideal. Weight savings and aerodynamics. :thumbup:

Maybe I should rush to the patent office.....

Not only that, but I can give you three more good reasons to use those on heavy duty trucks instead of the solid metal ones.

Those leave a window so you don't have to remove your hubcap for inspections. A lot of trucks use hub odometers or have indicators on the hubs for axle oil level.

Solid metal hubcaps scratch aluminum wheels.

Aluminum wheels save you almost 200 lbs of weight per axle, and in the trucking industry, little savings add up. So, again, why put metal hubcaps on and add to the weight, since most of the reason for the metal hubcaps is to make those steel wheels tolerable to look at. Those little plastic things weigh under a pound versus 4 lbs for metal "moonie" hubcaps. 8 axles on truck and trailer not including the steering axle, two hubcaps per axle, that is 100 lbs more of unwanted weight that could have been cargo or fuel savings.

Re: Commercial aero wheel covers. Neato.
 

Lot cooler stuff on other trucks to steal. Any of the lights you can remove with a flat tip screwdriver, just pry them out of the grommet and unplug, and you know most trucks are using LED lights these days, and some of those lights are actually fairly pricey. Plus, they could just walk further down and find the truck with the fancy looking chrome "moonies" and steal those. Antennas, emblems, and other fancy embellishments abound on trucks sitting around at truck stops. Who would want some ugly piece of plastic and rubber?

Re: Commercial aero wheel covers. Neato.
 

The other day I went past a truck delivering new cars at a dealer. In addition to the protective plastic covering on them, there was clear film on the alloy wheels.

Packing tape might work for temporary experimenting.

Re: Commercial aero wheel covers. Neato.
 

That doesn't look too awful, unfortunately I find that with trucks most of the power...
And I mean pretty much all of it goes into hauling the weight.
Very little of a big rig's engine power goes to pushing through air.
Once we consider the 50 or 80 thousand pounds of weight the engine has to move,
air resistance on a big rig has very little, if any effect.

It's decidedly different for a car.

Re: Commercial aero wheel covers. Neato.
 

As a diesel mechanic for over 10 years, I can say with little reserve that you don't have a clue what you are talking about. When I was still in that industry, one of the main focuses was methods to save even a small fraction more fuel, and when you are putting 20,000 miles a month or more on your trucks, those savings add up.