Found out the other day that there is a downside to the new easy to open tailgate. (All of you may already know this but I am basing my info. on my previous truck...a 78 F-150 that had a tailgate that stayed put). I had my tailgate down in my 04 this weekend, went over a railroad crossing (slowly) and the tailgate flipped up and slammed back down. I also had it happen again when I hit a dip in the road. I guess I will just keep it shut.

By the way...my outside temp reading is also off. Still love the truck.

 

Why were you driving with the tailgate down?

 

Happened to me as well. I was hauling some tree limbs and when I turned onto a washboard gravel road all heck broke loose. I also know many people who drive w/ tailgate down to improve mileage. It's a good warning to be careful...

 

Scary
I think the tailgate can be removed pretty easily.

 

yeah, i tried driving on the freeway twice with the tailgate down to get better gas mileage and it made the ride rough. kinda scared me. it makes sense that the torsion bar would make the tailgate bounce more. a bad idea i will avoid from now on...

 

Tailgate down does not improve gas mileage on the new trucks, the design of the truck and the airflow routes actually get the same or even better mileage with the tailgate up.

 

there was a thread on this a couple of years ago.

Tailgate up or down.

Some university did wind-tunnel tests and they found that the truck is more aerodynamic with the tailgate up. The reason why is that an air bubble is created in the bed area and the wind bounces off of it while at highway speed.

The second more important issue is box rigidity.

With tailgate down the box sides will flex more, leading to weakened panels.