Truck aero improvements
 

I took a hard look under the truck today. It's about as un-aerodynamic as it gets:

• Front sway bar is inder the axle and in the air stream
• Transfer case skid plate is way below the transfer case
• Fuel tank shield protrudes about 1.5 inches below the tank
• Spare tire in the airstream, but easily removed and stowed in the trunk
• Helper springs and jounce bumpers (not really in the air stream, but heavy)
• Muffler: is a more aerodynamic shape available in the aftermarketp?
• Rear

bumper protrudes 4" under the tailgate across its full width.

Most aero improvements cost money, but removing stuff is free. I was thinking of just removing a lot of the junk under there as an experiment. Anybody think that it's worth it?

yes, I think it would be worth it, even if you made smoother transitions should help, fill in some of the scoops and so on.

I think it is worth a try. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

well its a truck... its a box(i have one and yes has all the mentioned crap except the bumper). but if you go down dirt roads or bumpy areas id leave the gas tank shield. its there so you dont hit anyhtign and cause a crack in the tank and well leak... the only more aero dymanic muffler is a glaspack. you can find cheap ones from advance autoaprts (or any auto parts store) but it wont do jack to your mpg...most of that stuff wont but the rear bumper may cuz they often weight pretty close to 100lbs so see if u can find a roll pan or somehing.

Bad aero
 

My vote is don't bother with removing the parts. The improvement you may or may not see is probably barely measurable at best - it's just a big aero mess under there.
I'm in the same situation as you but with a Ranger based truck. I'm just waiting for a screamin deal on sheet steel, aluminum, plastic, whatever and some time to make a full length underbelly pan. I really think that is the only way to get the next significant (measurable) gain with aerodynamics.
Hey sludgy is there a way to alter the timing on diesels that improves FE but reduces power? Seems with all the high fuel prices someone must have a chip that works by now.

what are you guys talking about? trucks are great candidates for boat tails.

yea but then ya loose the whole purpose of the truck to begin with...that and full sizes have huge beds and a whole lotta space to fill. sure it will be more aero friendly but ya gotta consider the weight of the boat tail to begin with. that and ya still got a huge pretty much flat frontal area/windshield

a boat tail will help a lot more than some kinda thing in front of the windsheild.

it really cant be too hard to make a cap like a boat tail that you can open to store things and you would know if you had to move something larger than the boattail so you could just take it off.

where is the good old american ingenuity ???

Makes sense to me. By doing this all of those items you're concerned about are retained and functional. Also, a pan should aerodynamically outperform what's there now even after some things are removed.

trucks are a pain ours is horrible yet my parents love driving it