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new Airtabs

ATeam

ATeam

Senior Member
Retired Expediter
AirTabs are a popular product with a number of expediters and I thank you for sharing the news here (I would not characterize gotta go's post as an ad or spam). Do you know if the new product is made to be more flexible than the old? That has been an issue previously discussed.
 
piper1

piper1

Veteran Expediter
Owner/Operator
Maybe mount an LED light under the clear airtab? The resin should show the light at the edges!

Now all you need is purple LED's!!!
 
greg334

greg334

Veteran Expediter
So I get a call one day last month " I got these air tab things and I want your help putting lights into them to make them glow" This guy has a nice Pro-Star working out of Toledo.

Why not, I got a few hours to kill....

I get to this guys house and he sticks in my hands when I get through the door forty transparently white airtabs sitting there in a box, telling me he wants them to glow. I take a look at them, and tell him ok I can do it, two bucks a tab plus material so he agrees. I take five home with me, shape a small board with three lights on it ro fit into the tab, test them out .....works great, has a good glow to it, red is what I was using but he wanted blue....

So I order 50 boards, all the parts, they come in and I put together 40 of them, everything looks good, we stick a few on the truck he wires them up and they look good glowing in the dark, not a bright glow but when dusk rolls around the light shows up enough to make it look good.

This past week I saw him at a pickup, he was ****ed off at me. He said the things stopped working a few days after we installed them and he wants his money back. He went on to say that it was a waste of time and never trust someone from Michigan.... I go out to the truck and I look and look and can't figure out what was wrong with what I am seeing, because I am was too upset with his attitude. It dawned on me what was wrong when I went back in the building. I told him to take a look at the truck and what is wrong so we both walk out.... he said nothing until I pointed out that he painted the d*mn things the color of his truck.

I can get them chromed but it isn't cheap.... by the way the lighting thing may be something I will sell if I get enough people interested.
 
TeamCaffee

TeamCaffee

Administrator
Staff member
Owner/Operator
Hey are these AirTabs going to be at the Expo? Have talked to a few trucks that will be wanting to purchase some there.
 
Jack_Berry

Jack_Berry

Moderator Emeritus
just so's everyone knows.....a bolt sprinter has 10 on the nose. the driver has picked up a .3 mpg increase with just them. they work and can be added incrementally to watch the mpg increase.
 
gotta go

gotta go

Veteran Expediter
Jack_Berry said:
just so's everyone knows.....a bolt sprinter has 10 on the nose. the driver has picked up a .3 mpg increase with just them. they work and can be added incrementally to watch the mpg increase.
Click to expand...

Well darn him, we've got to get him to post. He wanted them for the nose when he saw how well my bug deflector ones were working. Since you've talked to him, Jack, have they cut down on the bugs for him?
 
OntarioVanMan

OntarioVanMan

Retired Expediter
Owner/Operator
Depending on the hood and wind turbulence wonder if their is enough air pressure to divert some bugs away from their demise....:eek:
 
Turtle

Turtle

Administrator
Staff member
Retired Expediter
I'd be interested in the physics of Airtabs reducing drag at the nose of a Sprinter for any kind of increase in fuel mileage. The aerodynamics of Airtabs actually increase air resistance wherever they are placed because of their physical presence and by the vortex they create, but that resistance is more than offset by the disruption in the aerodynamic drag at the rear of the vehicle, or at any large gap of 18 inches or more. Airtabs placed any farther than 14 inches from a trailing edge large enough to create a decrease in atmospheric pressure (aerodynamic drag) will be at the very least ineffective, and at worst, a contributing factor in increased resistance which will decrease fuel mileage.

Running a row of Airtabs along the hood at the nose of the vehicle would be the same as adding a bug shield, which reduces fuel mileage. Running them underneath the front bumper would accomplish the same thing, increased air pressure at the front of the van, increased wind resistance, and reduced handling at steering.

Airtabs have clear installation instructions, and clear answers to questions as to where and where not to mount them, not to mention unambiguous science behind why and how they work. If anyone is seeing an increase in fuel economy with Aritabs mounted in a location where physics dictates the opposite will occur, then either their methodology of observation is flawed, minor and major factors affecting results are ignored, or their math is wrong.
 
OntarioVanMan

OntarioVanMan

Retired Expediter
Owner/Operator
Did you read the site's instruction how the find drag, downforce... about placing ribbons and see in the ribbons fly or forced down...or the salt method?
 
gotta go

gotta go

Veteran Expediter
OntarioVanMan said:
Did you read the site's instruction how the find drag, downforce... about placing ribbons and see in the ribbons fly or forced down...or the salt method?
Click to expand...
I wanted to do that before putting them on my hood, but since I can't see my hood when I'm driving (unless I use cruise and sit on 2 NYC phone books :p) I used the butterfly method. I drove through about 80 miles of butterflies in Texas one day. When I stopped to clean their remains off of my windshield and grill I could see exactly where they had hit on the hood.
I talked to Ron, Airtabs engineer, at MATS this year and got his go ahead for putting them on the hood. He'd helped me the year before by suggesting their placement on the front of my sleeper, the fenders, and the trailing edges of my toolboxes.
If you go to Airtabs website there is a Dodge pu that has Airtabs in a variety of places. They did create a matrix before installing.
 
Jack_Berry

Jack_Berry

Moderator Emeritus
gotta go said:
Well darn him, we've got to get him to post. He wanted them for the nose when he saw how well my bug deflector ones were working. Since you've talked to him, Jack, have they cut down on the bugs for him?
Click to expand...

got a call into him. he is an infrequent poster.
 
moose

moose

Veteran Expediter
don't it say , somewhere , about the lights and color allowed on a truck , like you cannot have blue and green ext...
right where it say you need to have those 5 lights on the top front and rear , and the spacing , and only red and amber on the back .
i remember a story about a driver that got a ticket for a lighted flag on the grill , and another for those under buddy lights...



Moose.
 
Jack_Berry

Jack_Berry

Moderator Emeritus
moose said:
don't it say , somewhere , about the lights and color allowed on a truck , like you cannot have blue and green ext...
right where it say you need to have those 5 lights on the top front and rear , and the spacing , and only red and amber on the back .

:Dtell it to the t/t guys with the leds everywhere on the on the trailers front and back and sides.


i remember a story about a driver that got a ticket for a lighted flag on the grill , and another for those under buddy lights...
Moose.
Click to expand...


under buddy lights?:eek: too much information.
 
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