Rear Wheel Fairings on D Truck

[guest]

Does anyone have rear wheel fairings on a D truck? It seems to me that a lot of the rust and other wear on the bottom of the cargo box is from all of the junk the rear duals are throwing around as you drive.

Any thoughts on this idea?

 

[LDB]

I have no idea how much it would help but it certainly couldn't hurt. I've been thinking about doing something like that if I order another truck.

Leo
truck 4958

Support the entire Constitution, not just the parts you like.

 

[Broompilot]

I have seen one truck with alum wheel covers. Looked not to good in my estimate. All we have back there that needs protection is the lighting wiring harness, dolly legs and thats all I can think of. Cost probably not worth the invesment.

 

[guest]

The bottom of the wood floor of the cargo box and the cross members supporting the cargo box are what I am concerned about. I am in the middle of what you might call a restoration of a pretty rusty bunch of metal underneath mine. With each cross member that I scrape, sand, treat and paint, I ask myself what could be done to prevent this from happening again. The wheel fairings seemed like a pretty good solution to this problem, or at least a way of slowing down the wear and tear.

A tip when doing this kind of work is to use a grill brush to help loosen up the rust (grill brushes usually have longer handles than other wire brushes plus the metal scraper on the end). There is a great selection of grill brushes out there right now because it is the beginning of summer. The grocery store near my house had 4 to choose from ($1.49 to $2.99).

 

[davekc]

The easier way out is to have the under rails sandblasted. Then repainted. Should be good for 4 to 5 years if done correctly.
Davekc

 

[Broompilot]

Just had some work done on my truck, the rear lights replaced with a steel beem all the way accross and tucked in under and the rear bumper. When I purchased the truck this was a very cheap set up piece of metal two holes cut one for Back Up other marker, signal brake. Spot welded on.

I put dock bumpers on but it happened at a dock anyway pushed it in and now I needed a perminant solution. REAL STEEL and I stole the idea off of those 48 and 53 foot trailers so now I am ready for almost any dock bumper.

I took a good long look under the box, there is a curved piece of metal over my rear tires, mud flaps. But I can see where and have already replaced a wirring harness to the tail lights from the corrision. The Fairing would help but there is now way its gona prevent it, a good wash once a week, and like it was mentioned sand blast and paint every three years.

Mother nature is gona take her toll. I hated this on my cars as a Teenager, and now I must accept it. Now my 69 Firebird Convertable is not even allowed to see rain, but we do not have that luxury if we are gona make a living.

 

[guest]

This came up in the thread about box floor care, but what type of coating do you put on the exposed wood underneath? I've been using the Thompson's sealant, though I am sure there are better things out there for this purpose. It occurred to me that an ideal solution (except for the cost) might be to have the bottom of the box "Rhino-Lined". I think you mentioned a rubber coating. How well does the rubber coating work?

 

[davekc]

The best lasting solution is to use chassis paint on the rails, and rubber undercoating on the wood. The wood contracts and expands, thus you need the coating to expand with it. Just paint on the wood will not last. Thompsons water seal will only stop the water. Road chemicals, especially magnesium, will eat through it.

While not a cure all, we in the past, have tubed all the chassis wiring. This limits any corrosive action to the connections.
When running a string of marker lights, always use the sealed harness if possible. Cost alittle more, but worth every penny.
Davekc
owner
20 years

 

[guest]

On the advice of the reliable davekc I abandoned my do it yourself undercarriage rust battle and had it sandblasted today. Good call.

They're going to prime it for me tomorrow and I will paint the rails and seal the wood. As far as the wood treatment goes, what is the rubber product and where do you get it?

As far as tubing the wiring goes, that seems like a great idea. I assume you just run PVC inside the frame and feed the wires through. Sounds pretty simple.

The sandblasting place is also a welding shop and I am going to talk to them about some wheel fairings.

This is perhaps a bit off topic, but I noticed that the rust on the cross beams was the thickest near the outside edges, suggesting there was a lot of rain basically blowing under the bottom sides of the box as I drove. I did a little research on truck aerodynamics (partly to test my idea that wheel fairings might protect the bottom of the cargo box) and I ran across this interesting product:

http://www.freightwing.com/

I wonder if perhaps it would provide better mileage AND help prevent moisture damage to the bottom of the cargo box.

Maybe just a little more mental outfitting.