Bed Cover?
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Senior Member
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 111
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From: Tennessee, USA
Bed Cover?
Does a bed cover really give you better MPG? I've owned trucks all my
life, but never had a bed cover on one. I've read that they can give you
2 to 3 mile per gallon but wonder if this is just hype.
Thanks,
Dano
life, but never had a bed cover on one. I've read that they can give you
2 to 3 mile per gallon but wonder if this is just hype.
Thanks,
Dano
Senior Member
Joined: Mar 2010
Posts: 1,526
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From: Calgary, Alberta
mythbusters did a show on truck boxes with and without tailgates, and tonneau covers and found that ........ if ya click the link you can see for yourself. The results are at 6:40 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3aqHbD-O9E
I'm calling the B.S. flag on that and emailing myth busters to try the roll up bed covers and camper shells! 
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Joined: Oct 2009
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From: Corona, Crazyfornia
I think it only makes a difference with an 8ft bed. Part of the reason the beds are shorter these days is for fuel milage/aerodynamics, the way the air rolls over the cab it misses the tailgate on the shorter beds. But the longer beds catch the draft off the cab and cause drag.
I've got a 6 1/2 ft bed on my 03 and a hard cover and don't really see any difference.
I've got a 6 1/2 ft bed on my 03 and a hard cover and don't really see any difference.
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Joined: Mar 2010
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From: Calgary, Alberta
Ya can please some of the people some of the time, but ya can't please all of the people all the time. YOUR WELCOME 
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From: Rowlett, TX
How can the mesh be the best, yet tailgate down is the worst? Doesn't make any sense.
I saw a 30-minute tv show a while back that said tailgate down/off is the worst, tailgate up next, bed cover next, and the best is a full-on topper.
I saw a 30-minute tv show a while back that said tailgate down/off is the worst, tailgate up next, bed cover next, and the best is a full-on topper.
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It really depends on your driving. Your not going to see any gains while city driving. All it does at that point is keep your stuff dry in the rain, and out of the elements. The only real gains you see are on the highway where drag actually plays a part in something. I seen about a 1 mpg gain in highway use with a soft tonneou cover. You'll see while you drive through your rearview where the wind would be going if that cover wasn't there.
Thread Starter
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Senior Member
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 111
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From: Tennessee, USA
Appreciate all the replies. The consensus seems to be that it's
mostly hype. I use my truck bed, hauling rock, hay, dirt, wood, etc
so even if it did help, it'd have to help a lot to be worth the extra
trouble. I wanted to hear from those that have actually tried a cover
and knew from personal experience. The Myth Busters video gave
their point of view but you never know what influences their point of
view.
Again, I appreciate everyone's reply and opinion.
Dano
mostly hype. I use my truck bed, hauling rock, hay, dirt, wood, etc
so even if it did help, it'd have to help a lot to be worth the extra
trouble. I wanted to hear from those that have actually tried a cover
and knew from personal experience. The Myth Busters video gave
their point of view but you never know what influences their point of
view.
Again, I appreciate everyone's reply and opinion.
Dano
Member
Joined: Mar 2011
Posts: 77
Likes: 0
"Personal" experience with my nephew's truck he gets an additional couple miles per gallon on his but he has a hard cover (backflip G2) that's flush mounted on his truck. He thinks it will pay for itself in about 2 years based on his driving, I'm skeptical but I ordered a Backflip F1 for my new truck more for hidden storage and tailgating (and looks since they do look so cool on a F-150 IMHO)
The "science" of the covers is kinda iffy, most of what i have seen is well ad-driven by the guys who want to sell you something and of course the mythbusters clip that keeps getting passed around. There are some other studies out there but with different trucks than what I own and year to year they change the trim ever so slightly it may make a difference, yadda yadda yadda. Please I have done a lot of reading on this and I see a ton of conflicting info out there... not looking to start a flame war here but bottom line it appears that YMMV is the rule or at least the standard disclaimer on all the studies.
My take is this; the dead air zone in the bed helps in the aerodynamics of the truck, which is why tailgate up is better than tailgate down. That much everyone seems to agree on. So by that reasoning I would say a hard cover that is flush with the top of the rails so should do the same thing as a closed gate open bed if not a little better. Some studies show a decreased coefficient of friction in wind tunnel testing on the hard covers that back up my theory a bit but what they seem to lack is real world testing...
What I plan to do is a few test runs with and without the tonnaeu cover using a data recorded plugged into the OBD2 port on my truck and fuzzycar (fuzzyluke) on my iphone to see if I can really see a difference on a mixed traffic "course". Basically running the same lop motorweek does (or at least i think they do, I grew up down the road from them and they drove past the house all the time... it will be pretty close anyways!) multiple times and see what if any difference there is. Unscientific testing on the nephews truck with the logger showed he was getting about 1.33 MPG better with the cover on, not earth shattering but every bit helps.
Of course before I do this Ford has to get the truck off the lot in KC and ship it to me...
The "science" of the covers is kinda iffy, most of what i have seen is well ad-driven by the guys who want to sell you something and of course the mythbusters clip that keeps getting passed around. There are some other studies out there but with different trucks than what I own and year to year they change the trim ever so slightly it may make a difference, yadda yadda yadda. Please I have done a lot of reading on this and I see a ton of conflicting info out there... not looking to start a flame war here but bottom line it appears that YMMV is the rule or at least the standard disclaimer on all the studies.
My take is this; the dead air zone in the bed helps in the aerodynamics of the truck, which is why tailgate up is better than tailgate down. That much everyone seems to agree on. So by that reasoning I would say a hard cover that is flush with the top of the rails so should do the same thing as a closed gate open bed if not a little better. Some studies show a decreased coefficient of friction in wind tunnel testing on the hard covers that back up my theory a bit but what they seem to lack is real world testing...
What I plan to do is a few test runs with and without the tonnaeu cover using a data recorded plugged into the OBD2 port on my truck and fuzzycar (fuzzyluke) on my iphone to see if I can really see a difference on a mixed traffic "course". Basically running the same lop motorweek does (or at least i think they do, I grew up down the road from them and they drove past the house all the time... it will be pretty close anyways!) multiple times and see what if any difference there is. Unscientific testing on the nephews truck with the logger showed he was getting about 1.33 MPG better with the cover on, not earth shattering but every bit helps.
Of course before I do this Ford has to get the truck off the lot in KC and ship it to me...
Last edited by HTRN; Mar 21, 2011 at 09:53 AM.
Thread Starter
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Senior Member
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 111
Likes: 1
From: Tennessee, USA
"Personal" experience with my nephew's truck he gets an additional couple miles per gallon on his but he has a hard cover (backflip G2) that's flush mounted on his truck. He thinks it will pay for itself in about 2 years based on his driving, I'm skeptical but I ordered a Backflip F1 for my new truck more for hidden storage and tailgating (and looks since they do look so cool on a F-150 IMHO)
The "science" of the covers is kinda iffy, most of what i have seen is well ad-driven by the guys who want to sell you something and of course the mythbusters clip that keeps getting passed around. There are some other studies out there but with different trucks than what I own and year to year they change the trim ever so slightly it may make a difference, yadda yadda yadda. Please I have done a lot of reading on this and I see a ton of conflicting info out there... not looking to start a flame war here but bottom line it appears that YMMV is the rule or at least the standard disclaimer on all the studies.
My take is this; the dead air zone in the bed helps in the aerodynamics of the truck, which is why tailgate up is better than tailgate down. That much everyone seems to agree on. So by that reasoning I would say a hard cover that is flush with the top of the rails so should do the same thing as a closed gate open bed if not a little better. Some studies show a decreased coefficient of friction in wind tunnel testing on the hard covers that back up my theory a bit but what they seem to lack is real world testing...
What I plan to do is a few test runs with and without the tonnaeu cover using a data recorded plugged into the OBD2 port on my truck and fuzzycar (fuzzyluke) on my iphone to see if I can really see a difference on a mixed traffic "course". Basically running the same lop motorweek does (or at least i think they do, I grew up down the road from them and they drove past the house all the time... it will be pretty close anyways!) multiple times and see what if any difference there is. Unscientific testing on the nephews truck with the logger showed he was getting about 1.33 MPG better with the cover on, not earth shattering but every bit helps.
Of course before I do this Ford has to get the truck off the lot in KC and ship it to me...
The "science" of the covers is kinda iffy, most of what i have seen is well ad-driven by the guys who want to sell you something and of course the mythbusters clip that keeps getting passed around. There are some other studies out there but with different trucks than what I own and year to year they change the trim ever so slightly it may make a difference, yadda yadda yadda. Please I have done a lot of reading on this and I see a ton of conflicting info out there... not looking to start a flame war here but bottom line it appears that YMMV is the rule or at least the standard disclaimer on all the studies.
My take is this; the dead air zone in the bed helps in the aerodynamics of the truck, which is why tailgate up is better than tailgate down. That much everyone seems to agree on. So by that reasoning I would say a hard cover that is flush with the top of the rails so should do the same thing as a closed gate open bed if not a little better. Some studies show a decreased coefficient of friction in wind tunnel testing on the hard covers that back up my theory a bit but what they seem to lack is real world testing...
What I plan to do is a few test runs with and without the tonnaeu cover using a data recorded plugged into the OBD2 port on my truck and fuzzycar (fuzzyluke) on my iphone to see if I can really see a difference on a mixed traffic "course". Basically running the same lop motorweek does (or at least i think they do, I grew up down the road from them and they drove past the house all the time... it will be pretty close anyways!) multiple times and see what if any difference there is. Unscientific testing on the nephews truck with the logger showed he was getting about 1.33 MPG better with the cover on, not earth shattering but every bit helps.
Of course before I do this Ford has to get the truck off the lot in KC and ship it to me...
Thanks,
Dano
Senior Member
Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 217
Likes: 0
From: Pittsburgh, PA
I also haven't noticed any difference with or without a cover. I do know years ago i had an 85' ford without a tailgate and it ate the tires in the rear, which makes sense, listening to the myth busters and th drag that is put on the bed without a tailgate.