Project Fairing

surfgeek33 · 10-25-2008, 03:25 PM

Material Costs:

Smoked Plexi-Glass w/ Custom cut: $45.00
Hardware: $15.00

I started out by carefully measuring the front of our Aluminess rack. Then, I made a cardboard template of the fairing.

I took the template to our neighborhood glass shop and had them cut a smoked plexiglass exactly like the template. After three hours and $45 bucks, here it is.

I went to a marine store to get all of the hardware. It would cost me a little more, but the hardware is rust-resistant.

And here is the finish product. I will test it this weekend and hopefully it doesn't fall apart and eliminate the Hummmmmmmmmm at high speeds

Cheers, Ray

Ford_6L_E350 · 10-25-2008, 03:43 PM

Nice work!

Let us know if it stops your Hummmmmmmmmm.

Mike

cellularSTEVE · 10-25-2008, 05:03 PM

Looks great Ray!

steve

**BroncoHauler** · 10-25-2008, 05:40 PM

Ray,

Great job. If I end up needing a deflector in front of my penthouse to keep my solar panels from flexing, then I'll probably do something similar rather than buy a fairing. How thick of a piece of plexi did you use?

I'm also curious about the hardware in your fifth picture down. Are those bolt head covers or the actual bolts themselves?

Herb

FISHBREATH · 10-25-2008, 07:26 PM

good idea.......

looks clean

FB

jage · 10-25-2008, 10:13 PM

I'd suggest another set of fasteners in the middle. There is a lot of air going over the van and the center could lift or push through... or worse yet flop and bang on the bar replacing your noise with the sound of plexiglass on Aluminess.

Hopefully you're on a road test so we can get some results!

surfgeek33 · 10-25-2008, 10:54 PM

Road Tested! No humming! I think I'm getting 0.0001 MPG more than before

. I went up to approx. 75 MPH, I never go that fast in the SMB, and no whistling sound. Wooohooo!

Jage,
I did'nt hear the plexi-glass banging at all, but I will add that extra fastener to avoid future problems. Thanks for the advice.

Herb,
I used 1/16" thick plexi-glass (smoked gray), and yes, they are bolt covers that I got from the marine hardware store.

Another thing I like about the fairing is that it does not interfere with the aesthetics of the rack. You have to really look closely to see that there is a piece of plexi-glass on the front of our rack.

jage · 10-26-2008, 03:58 PM

It looks like an aftermarket rack fairing, save for the lack of a logo... hey... good place for: Sportsmobileforum.com !

Blackeye · 10-26-2008, 04:07 PM

Ray,

Nice addition to an already sweeet SMB. Nicely done and thanks for sharing your project with us.

Blackeye

Greg In Austin · 10-26-2008, 08:14 PM

What are the dimensions?