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Old 04-16-2018, 03:12 PM   #1
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2306 Flat vs Rounded Front

Does anyone know if there is a height difference between the two?

Also, would the rounded front be able to tow easier due to aerodynamics? Seems like it would be but I am not an engineer
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Old 04-16-2018, 03:18 PM   #2
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Does anyone know if there is a height difference between the two?

Also, would the rounded front be able to tow easier due to aerodynamics? Seems like it would be but I am not an engineer
I wouldn't expect it to tow any easier that you would be able to notice.
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Old 04-16-2018, 03:35 PM   #3
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I wouldn't expect it to tow any easier that you would be able to notice.
Agree, unless you'll be towing with a Jeep Grand Cherokee V8, which weight wise will be fine but the short wheel base is not helpful so I'll take any help I can get.

Did you tow your Roo with the Traverse?
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Old 04-16-2018, 03:56 PM   #4
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Agree, unless you'll be towing with a Jeep Grand Cherokee V8, which weight wise will be fine but the short wheel base is not helpful so I'll take any help I can get.

Did you tow your Roo with the Traverse?
Yes, for one season. Traverse had a 5200 lbs tow capacity and 1500 lb payload. The Roo probably weighed 4100 lbs loaded. But I wasn't a happy camper. It would run in 4th gear, ~3200 rpm on the flat and level. Any slight increase in slope would drop it into 3rd gear. Large decreases in slope would let it go into 5th gear. Never had it go into 6th gear. I'm in the relatively flat mid-west. I couldn't see taking it anywhere with HILLS.

A number of folks on the Traverse forum didn't seem to mind the high rev's, but I didn't like it. Plus, it was DW's car. Last thing I wanted to do was mess up HER car. So after the 1st season, we bought 2009 Silverado 1500 to pull it with. I was a LOT happier.

Then I could also upgrade to the Mini Lite 2 years later. After the first year and a half pulling the Mini Lite, I took the opportunity of an issue with the Silverado 1500 to buy the 2500HD, in case I wanted to do big hills.
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Old 04-16-2018, 05:04 PM   #5
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One thing to note: the rounded front on my Micro-Lite makes changing out my 2 12v batteries to taller 6v batteries a major undertaking. Essentially I would have to rebuild the battery box in some other manner to accomodate taller batteries.
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Old 04-16-2018, 05:46 PM   #6
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Does anyone know if there is a height difference between the two?

Also, would the rounded front be able to tow easier due to aerodynamics? Seems like it would be but I am not an engineer


Just purchased the 2018 2306 with the rounded front about a month ago. There is no height difference. There is about 9” more room in the front floor plan so when the Murphy Bed is down it does not block the entry door. Also even with the rounded front on the 2306 plenty of room for battery.

So far we are pleased with the 2306 with the rounded front.

Happy camping.
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Old 04-17-2018, 07:34 AM   #7
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Just purchased the 2018 2306 with the rounded front about a month ago. There is no height difference. There is about 9” more room in the front floor plan so when the Murphy Bed is down it does not block the entry door. Also even with the rounded front on the 2306 plenty of room for battery.

So far we are pleased with the 2306 with the rounded front.

Happy camping.
Lambpen: what are you towing with?
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Old 04-17-2018, 07:53 AM   #8
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Lambpen: what are you towing with?
Looks like a 1999 Chevy Silverado! Youroo!!
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Old 04-17-2018, 07:56 AM   #9
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Looks like a 1999 Chevy Silverado! Youroo!!
Thanks youroo! I guess I could have clicked on the name but didn't think of it
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Old 04-17-2018, 08:23 AM   #10
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Thanks youroo! I guess I could have clicked on the name but didn't think of it


Yes, 1999 Chevy Silverado K1500. Completely understand about not thinking about clicking on name to get a bit more info. Only been a member a few months and still learning how to navigate the forum[emoji4]
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Old 04-18-2018, 01:25 PM   #11
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Does anyone know if there is a height difference between the two?

Also, would the rounded front be able to tow easier due to aerodynamics? Seems like it would be but I am not an engineer
I am not aware of any wind-tunnel testing done on towable RVs. I've never seen published figures for coefficient of drag and frontal area...both key measures of aerodynamics.

The rounded and sloped front caps on RVs are generally aerodynamic design by the "forehead" method of design. The engineer sits down, head in hand, and says, "This ought to work." This is similar to the aerodynamic (streamlined) designs of the '30's, '40's, '50's, and '60's. It was intuitive design, not researched design confirmed by experiment.

So, in short, who knows? If they don't buy time in a wind tunnel and conduct controlled experiments, it's anybody's guess. And, for the record, MANY so-called streamlined or aerodynamic designs of yesteryear were actually counter-productive. They were nice styling exercises, but they added rather than reduced drag. Worse, many induced lift and provoked instability.



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Old 04-18-2018, 01:34 PM   #12
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P.S. The good news is that for the sake of stability and safety, towables tend to be towed at speeds that are just beginning to exhibit significant aerodynamic influences. These tend to begin at about 40 MPH or so. At the typical 60 to 65 MPH limits dictated by tires, the influence is significant, but only just barely.

While anything's possible, front cap design is unlikely to have a great deal of influence on the impacts of passing-vehicle turbulence (e.g. semis) when compared to the whole profile of the trailer buffeted by highly compressed air sandwiched between the RV's sidewalls and the passing truck.

I will admit, the pretty, rounded front caps are nice to look at. The flip-side is they are far more prone to deterioration when compared with a relatively flat aluminum or glass-sandwich front cap. The forums are full of complaints about these expensive molded structures exhibiting many more problems that the plain-Jane equivalents...including structural failures.
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