If you don't have a bed cover, try dropping your tailgate on those long road trips. It'll increase the gas mileage roughly 2 MPG. Just be sure there's nothing back there

 

That's a myth!!! Total BS!

It'll cost you $12 to find out why: http://www.sae.org/servlets/productD...D=2004-01-1146

OR the free condensed version: http://truck-bed-covers.com/Tonneau_..._save_fuel.htm

 

That's all fine and good Dzervit, but experience doesn't lie.

I drive from ATL to Gulfport, Mississippi about 10 times/year (435 miles one way). I have made the trip down there and back with the tailgate up and down and I constantly get an extra 2MPG.

You can't blame this on driving uphill vs. downhill, summer gas vs. winter gas, A/C vs. no A/C, or traffic vs. no traffic. I have made this trip about 12 times this year and I have mixed it up all kinds of ways.

If you want to rely on some cute little article you found, by all means, go ahead...after all, if it's on the internet, it must be true. And come on...those sites are a little biased, aren't they? I mean hell, if I had enough money and time, I could prove that you'll get the same gas mileage as you do now driving you truck backwards up a mountain pushing an 18 wheeler.

I don't drive in a wind tunnel. I drive on the interstate and I'll leave my testing to personal experience.

Tuff has spoken.

Word.

 

About how much money would you need for that?

 

The SAE paper is as credible as it gets. I doubt they just make sheet up.

You have a magical pickup, duh.

 

I don't know...five dollars? Six?

 

Everyone also says toneaus increase milage... whatever! I've never, ever seen any increase afer covering the bed... and yet dropping the tailgate magically gets an extra 2mpg's?!

I'm gonna go buy the Tornado Fuel saver, scrap my undercover & hit 20mpg's city!!! Oh yeah baby!!

 

I have to disagree with you tuff ford . I tried that little experiment when i drove to Rochester from albany and used more gas with it down. on the return trip 2days later did the trip with it up and used less gas to get home at 5mph faster then when i went. Traveled at 70 there and 75 on the way back. thats all took for me i will never leave it down again.

 

I went from Charlotte, NC to Charleston, SC this weekend for a soccer tournament. Three hour drive down, and three coming back.

2002 Supercrew FX4, 4.6, K&N drop in filter, 3.73 rear and stock tires about 3/4 worn out. Two people, two suitcases, video games, Playstation, TV/VCR, a full cooler, two packages of beef jerky (one plain and the other teriyaki), a jar of dry roasted peanuts, a box of Poptarts and a bag of fireballs.

Cruise control set between 65 and 75 depending on speed limit postings. Averaged 19.4 MPG down, and 19.3 MPG back.

 

I had access to wind tunnels and water tunnels while at the University of Texas and we conducted the tailgate test on a scaled Dodge Ram (it was already wired with pressure taps) to determine which position would produce the most drag. Having the tailgate up consistantly produced less drag than when the tailgate was down. We mapped the turbulences created and saw that the airflow flows over the cab and past the tailgate. The airflow actually loops back from behind the truck and pushes forward on the back of tailgate which accounts for a very slight aerodynamic advantage when the tailgate is up. This advantage should not produce significant mpg differences but it does show that there is no advantage to having the tailgate down. There are not enough significant differences in pickup truck aerodynamics between different trucks to suggest that some trucks may respond differently. The results also suggest that a toneau cover would not have an effect on MPGs.

 

I get around 14mpg city, and thats pushing my foot down pretty good from a stop and when another pickup decides to pass me.......i consider that fair....i didnt buy this monster to get 20 mpg......i am dredding what it will be after i get my Super 40 flowmaster however

 

A classic! The SAE is about as credible as it gets. I've also seen quite a few other articles and they all say that trucks today produce less drag with the tailgates up. Maybe 10 or 20 years ago it was different. *shrug*

 

After driving many different trucks for many hundreds of thousands of miles, the only difference I can find when I put the tailgate down is the lack of paint left on the tail gate.

 

My first calculation with my '05 Scab 4x4 5.4 was 17.22 MPG...mostly up and down hills. Can't go anywhere without hills and curves where I live. I was pleased.

 

Try removing the lead from your foot Or maybe your truck need to see the doctor! I have a big a$$ loaded lariat, and get 17-18mpg on the highway. 13-15 around town.