[charity's van]

I used 11 on each side and 10 on roof

 

[RDinNHandAZ]

Well are you now getting 20% better gas mileage or are they like the deer (calling) whistles? LOL They look fine on a white van but might stand out on my Sandstone.

 

[charity's van]

They are paintable, I drive about 8k miles a month. I'll let everyone know if I get any change in fuel mileage after a few months. I do notice a positive difference in stability when passing big trucks.

 

[charity's van]

The rear is staying clean, these were taken after driving 150 miles in the rain in the city and country roads. All speeds 55 mph and under. I have not yet had a long interstate rain.

 

[GaryBIS]

I'll be very interested to hear how they work out -- please keep us posted on whether you see any change in mpg.

No problems putting them on?

Gary

 

[Zyzzyx]

Definitely interested in hearing anything related to fuel mileage.

I've been looking at Airtabs for years now. I tried them on the back of my Audi wagon, did several A-B-A test sessions, and couldn't find enough of a change. Perhaps too small of a car to make a difference. Then I was interested in them for the ProMaster. That is, until I saw them in person on a first gen Sprinter and wasn't sure I could get past the oddball looks. But... maybe for some significant mileage increase, I could...

 

[charity's van]

Gary, I had them installed at a body shop. I thought a guy that tapes off trucks all day would get the spacing and lines straight. I was not disappointed. Cost 2 hours labor. About $150.

 

[Chance]

Gary, I had them installed at a body shop. I thought a guy that tapes off trucks all day would get the spacing and lines straight. I was not disappointed. Cost 2 hours labor. About $150.

From pictures it looks like he did a great job. It's one of the best-looking air tab projects I've seen -- most stand out too much for my taste. Hope it reduces aero drag as much as you are looking for.

If you don't mind me asking, what was total cost?


P.S. -- On yours color matches great on photo, making them less noticeable. On many vehicles they either started out different color or faded with time (or just got dirty).

 

[charity's van]

Chance, I had this done in Denver while passing through. I bought the air tabs at Volvo trucks of Denver at about $2.75 each. I had them installed at Denver truck and trailer body shop. They charged me 2 hours labor, I believe it was about $153 total. I felt a body shop was the best place as the guys there are used to taping straight lines and know what to wipe down the paint so everything is clean for the tape to stick. I am very pleased with their work. Even a friend that runs a body shop said the lines are perfect. I have noticed reduced drag when behind big trucks and when I pass them I do not get that huge whoosh the pushes you into the rumble strips. I have not put enough miles on to prove any increase in fuel mileage. I have a page on fuelly.com as Charity's Van.

 

[the_alpine]

Any updates?

 

[Fly'n_Dutchman]

Any updates?

It's a March 2016 thread......may have gone off-line it appears.....? Too bad, I'd also like to know the results of installing these tabs?

 

[phil]

Any updates?

Use the reply or quote or @the_alpine options to send an alert to the user.

 

[Mike the Pontiac racer]

Has anyone tried these? I can't say I've seen them on anything before. 32 would cost about $100 to Texas. Seems like it would take years to recover that in fuel savings. Would be interesting to see if they actually help stability at expressway speeds.

 

[GaryBIS]

Hi,
There is a discussion of similar vortex generator gadget on this thread:

Rear Air Deflector

Why don't we see these on all the long haul trucks. Tiny improvements in fuel mileage reap big savings for them. Skirts under the trailers, cab top deflectors and such have been adopted as well as some tail extenders. If those vortex tabs made any real difference they would be on all the...

www.promasterforum.com

I've got a set of Vorblade vortex generators and plan to put them on and try to test for MPG gain carefully, but not going to do this until summer.

This is my (maybe optimistic) estimate on gas saving:
"If you believe the testing they did on semi's, the saving (on semi's) is more like 5%+. On our 20 MPG vans, 5% over 150K miles with average $3 gas would be a saving of about $1100."
So, a descent payback if they actually work.

Will see this summer.

I'd also very much like to hear what the OP determined after using the Airtabs for a while.

Gary

 

[phil]

Chance, I had this done in Denver while passing through. I bought the air tabs at Volvo trucks of Denver at about $2.75 each. I had them installed at Denver truck and trailer body shop. They charged me 2 hours labor, I believe it was about $153 total. I felt a body shop was the best place as the guys there are used to taping straight lines and know what to wipe down the paint so everything is clean for the tape to stick. I am very pleased with their work. Even a friend that runs a body shop said the lines are perfect. I have noticed reduced drag when behind big trucks and when I pass them I do not get that huge whoosh the pushes you into the rumble strips. I have not put enough miles on to prove any increase in fuel mileage. I have a page on fuelly.com as Charity's Van.

Any updates on the Air Tabs?

 

[RnR]

Even if fuel savings are negligible, I'd be interested in keeping the rear of the van clean. Primarily the rear camera(s).

 

[MesaAZGuy]

I think those things are just downright hideous. I'll pay the extra 47¢ in fuel over the course of one year, thank you.

 

[RnR]

Yeah, wouldn't want my grampa van to not look cool

That's like me wearing boat shoes and black crew socks with my cargo shorts and saying I wouldn't be caught dead wearing a hideous fanny pack.

 

[Powderhunds]

Yeah, wouldn't want my grampa van to not look cool

That's like me wearing boat shoes and black crew socks with my cargo shorts and saying I wouldn't be caught dead wearing a hideous fanny pack.

You have to draw the line somewhere!

 

[keeponvaning]

I have a feeling that RnR is used to crossing that "line" often🙀