The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk How tough is my Fulton Sun Visor?

I'm going to trailer my '53 3100 about 500 miles on Interstate 80 in about three weeks. By that time, I will have the Fulton sun visor mounted on the truck. Do you guys think I will have a problem with it if I'm driving 75mph? I don't know what to expect, but I'm guessing the turbulence from my tow vehicle and passing semi's will be worse than if I was just driving the truck itself. I thought about loading the 53 backwards, but would rather have the engine weight on the front of the trailer. Plus, the turbulence will still be there, but applied differently.

Let me know if anyone has some experience with these things. I don't want to have my visor end up in North Platte, NE somewhere.

I'm a daily driver and I get up to 70-75 mph a few times a week. My Fulton sunvisor has been screwed on for 8 years, hasn't moved yet. My visor has 8 screws, thats 4 per side, and the two center bar clamps.

A Fulton or Pekat visor is a high quality item. You shouldn't have any problems if your fasteners are OK.

I have Fulton's on both my Burbs...they haven't failed me yet at highway speeds. I do suggest you keep a slight down angle on the visor when highway driving, check and tighten your brackets and if you haven't already, install a quality traffic light viewer to compensate. There is tremendous stress on the visor.

What would be the difference if you were to drive 60 mph into a 30 mph headwind?
Scott

What kind of vehicle are you towing with? You might experience the draft affect and have very little wind hitting your visor.

I guess the only difference between driving 75mph and 60mph against a 30mph headwind is about 15mph and the turbulence.

I'm towing it with an '05 Chevy 2500 (Duramax) with a bed "topper." The topper is your normal matching unit that is the same height as the cab and comes strait down to the tail gate.

After hearing your various comments about you guys driving them at highway speeds without incident is reassuring. It is good to know that even though these trucks were designed around much slower speeds that all of you seem to have the same experience with today's higher speeds.

The turbulence created by the tow vehicle and the passing trucks made me wonder if I should be worried about fatigue if the visor is oscillating a lot. But, the draft affect may what happens after all. It will definitely be close enough.

Has anyone had one of these in a Wind Tunnel (Yeh, Right!)?

Thanks for all of your input.

Mainjet,

The turbulence created by your vehicle is in your favor. The turbulence of passing vehicles (semi's) will only push sideways on the visor (no problem).

Looks like other people have no problem driving at 75 with a properly installed and tightened visor.

There plenty strong if corectly installed.Even when weakened by buck shot.

I vote you stop every 150 miles for a large coke with ice. That way you can check on the visor and load up on your "keep me awake" stuff. I use to stop for coffee but sill got sleepy until I discovered the warm coffee was contributing to my drowsiness. I switched to the coke and ice; drink the cold coke and chew on the ice then your bladder will be full and you can't fall asleep.

Sounds like the voice of experience. I won't ask you how you know that.

I was wondering about that myself. Sounds like a real good story.

How about it Slow..Rider?

If in doubt, just take the two nuts loose, that hold it to the brackets, & remove it(leaving the "dog bone" bracket on). Be sure to lock it up, in the truck though.

That's all really good advice, guys. Thanks.

Slow Rider,

Do you think I should shoot my visor with my 20 guage or my 12 guage? I figure the holes from the 12 guage will be a bit larger and let more air pass through, thus cutting down on the "parachute effect."

Just Joking, but I think I speak for all following this thread... Why? How and are you Okay?

Hi MainJet,
I have a little experience here with this subject.
10 years ago I had my '48 AD hauled up to Oregon from Southern California. It was loaded with other vehicles on a transport trailer, you know, the kind of trailer you often see hauling several vehicles stacked on two or three levels. The transport company loaded my truck on the top perch which has an upward tilt. They did not consider the consequences of the angle of my truck in regards to the Fulton I had mounted. It would have been nice if they had loaded the truck on one of the more level berths, or at least loosened and dropped the visor for shipment but they were careless. When my truck arrived in Oregon, it no longer had a visor. In fact, the prevailing wind force pulled the whole thing off of the gutter mounts (raking paint off for 8 inches), and pulled the center windshield molding loose before it finally let go. It whacked the left rear fender on the way down. I hate to think of what other incident it may have caused to cars on Interstate 5 before it came to a final rest. When I addressed the issue with the transport company regarding loss and damage the said, "We are not responsible for an act of God". I know my experience is a worse case scenario but beware of loading the truck at an angle not normal for the visor's design. Just to be safe, lower the visor or remove it for the trip.
Good Luck!

Littlebuddie,

Your story made me a little sick. "Act of God?" God wouldn't treat your truck like that.

Being as this is the first visor I've ever touched with my own hands, it didn't dawn on me to just take it off until you and others suggested it. Especially since it sounds like I can mount it exactly how it needs to be and then take off a couple of nuts, remove the visor but leave the brackets in place.

It sounds like it should make the trip fine, but it is sometimes better to be safe than sorry. So maybe I'll just wrap it in a blanket and put it in the cab.

That's sad Littlebuddie. I think the shipping company & I would have had a Come-To-Jesus meeting about their Act-Of-God. :mad:

For your peace of mind on the trip I suggest you take it off. Those visors are fairly rare and you don't want to hurt it or your truck.
Good luck
Ter

at least make sure all the screws are good and tight, i was going down a county road, and had a grain truck coming towards me, the wind he threw back took my sun visor up over the cab, lucky it didn't hurt the truck or visor, i look real good to find i had a couple of screws that had worked a little loose and the wind was more than enough to blew the visor off- lesson learned i now check the visor and srews every once and a while