i have a buddy that told me bed covers hurt acceleration. he said because of the added wieght. how much do hard bed covers weigh anyways? and would it really hurt my performence?

A

 

How heavy are they if you and a buddy can pick it up and put it on? Maybe a little better than a hundred pounds. Funny, ya never hear this kind of thing from a guy that weighs 98 pounds.

If your worried about that kind of weight, tear out your passenger seat, replace your steel bed with a fibreglass bed, get small tires and never, ever have passengers.

C'mon, really now. I can see avoiding this if you drag race, but driving on the street?

Besides, its a truck. Its supposed to carry weight (thats why we talk about low end torque and HP)

 

I run the 1/4 with mine in place! I think it helps a little off the line.

 

That's a sweet looking truck. I've never seen a Ford with Cobra stripes (usually Dodges). Looks great, especially the airdam.

 

I have the LSII tonneau and it weighs about 130 lbs. with the wing. I don't notice the extra weight but then again I'm not a drag racer either.

 

i just got one put on my truck recently. i only have 01 4.2L 5sp. but on the freeway i can notice the difference. especially in 5th when a slight incline comes along.i would suspect if i had a larger engine i would notice it less. but who knows. i hear it helps starts because the added weight increases traction. its not a big deal or nothing...but you can tell. i would guess it is an extra 150 pounds more or less. but you can also tell when your gas tank is full to the max, rather than when it is running on fumes. nothing to worry about if you ask me.


A

 

think of the positive side of the extra weight. with the rainy season comming, the little bit of added weight may help with your traction. i have a lifted truck and when it starts raining i drive around with two sand bags next to the fender wells in the bed just over the axel to give just a little bit more traction.

 

Unless you're running around with the tailgate open (illegal I think...), then a cover would help you out. Think about it, the aerodynamics of your truck bed finish off with a vertical wall - the tailgate. It is effectively a parachute. By installing a cover on the bed, you eliminate this problem.

Therefore I *think* that adding one would improve acceleration, and definitley MPG at speed, and I am fairly sure that unless it's made of lead, then the aerodynamic benefits would out-weigh the weight side effects.

However I cannot guarentee this from experience...

Hope this helps

 

Ahh, the classic tailgate up vs down arguement. Let me throw in what I know, maybe we have a Ford guy in our midst that can comment on the wind tunnel behavior (I seem to remember somebody doing this type of test-- I'll try to remember where).

Aero lift or downforce from a wing doesn't accumulate to appreciable amounts until overall vehicle speed is in the 80mph neighborhood. Below that, it's all styling folks (nothing wrong with that though!)

At speed, a vehicle creates a void behind it (that's why drafting works so well in NASCAR and other sustained high speed racing). The length and size of this void is ultimately determined by the front facia and roofline-- how big the hole you are punching in the air. As speed increases, so does the length of this void (draft).

A tailgate in the up position is pretty much always in this void from 25mph on up (of course, there isn't much aero drag at 25mph anyway).

Greg O.

PS: Oman Ford-- I just can't believe it-- That's my last name. To cool......

 

Here's a little more scientific info from a google search ....

http://mars.wnec.edu/~ehaffner/did.htm

This is the "teaser" .......
"Did You Know?
Reducing drag due to air flow in a motor vehicle design contributes to improved fuel efficiency. An engineering student at Western New England College studied the effects of drag in a pick-up truck design. Can you choose the correct order for the following configurations from lowest to highest drag in a pick-up truck?

1. attach a rectangular bed cap the height of the cab
2. lower the tailgate to horizontal
3. replace the tailgate with a cargo net
4. use a tonneau cover over the bed


Answer:
The correct sequence for the given situations is as follows:

1. Tonneau Cover (0.381)
2. Lower the tailgate (0.414)
3. Replace tailgate with a mesh (0.461)
4. Rectangular Cap (0.480) "

 

What did I tell ya, the debate continues. Here are a few other links that turn up in a google search with "pickup truck aerodynamics" as the search criteria:

http://cartalk.cars.com/Columns/Arch...ctober/05.html

http://www.momsbudget.com/budget101/pump.shtml

I found it interesting on the link that FedExPilot found that the smoke injection was near the top of the cab-- Why wouldn't you want it right off the front of the truck? After all, you're pushing the whole mass and volume through the air, and every leading surface will have some effect on overall cd, as well as air passing the vehicle. Looking at it from this perspective, the top edge of the windshield may be inducing cavitation, or be completely in the slipstream due to airflow off the leading edge of the hood.

Anyone find any other links?

Greg O.

 

Can anyone tell me what happens when they open their window while doing 80 MPH? Gets pulled out, doesn't it. When driving with the tailgate down, the box side panels flex. This leads to warping and improperly fitting tailgates. Long term effects include weakened panels (which means the most minor of collisions will cause big damage)

 

Yeah the draft effect is a good point, but he's talking about acceleration. I don't think the draft plays too much of an effect in the 0-60 area. Upwards of that, sure... but for slow speeds (acceleration has gotta start somewhere) then I think it should help.

Anyways, are you just using your truck for track events or a daily driver? If its a daily driver I'd recommend a bed cover just to keep the criminal types away.

One other point to consider, with the weight of these trucks, would a cover make a noticeable difference?

Ultimatley if you want to find out for sure, get a buddy with a similar spec truck and a cover, or simply borrow his cover, head out to a drag strip and do some timed runs. (I don't think timing it with your wrist watch is accurate enough...)

HTH

As for the nickname, Oman is the country I live in, and Ford? Do I really need to explain that

My real name is Laurie Bridger...

Again, I'm talking theoretically here, we have the Expedition, and crime here is almost non-existant... I love it!!

 

Several years ago I put the tailgate up or down question to a Ford engineer during a conversation about the new 97 body style. Long story short, short wheel base tailgate up. long wheel base at high speed, tail gate down, may help depending on the head wind. 60 mph cruise, no difference with tailgate up or down.

 

Ford Recently Did A Wind Tunnel Study ....

I have a copy of the article. They finally put the old arguement of "Tailgate Up vs. Tailgate Down" to the Wind Tunnel test.

Surprisingly, the long and short of it was this: Either way, up or down, the rear of a truck creates a lot of "dirty air" turbulence over the back of the truck. It's like dragging a parachute around behind you. Then, they tried the Wind Tunnel with a fiberglass Tonneau Cover and were amazed to see a considerably less drag coeficient.

Their final sumation said that if you put a hard surfaced tonneau cover on your vehicle, it will pay for itself in about 25,000 miles through better fuel economy. I'm just surprised they didn't put a canopy on and test it too. That would be interesting.

I have the article if you would like to read it.

BillVoyles
'99 Bright Red Regular Cab 4.6/Auto/3.08 Sleeper!!