Does No Tailgate Save Fuel?

2005 Z71 · January 2, 2008

What about a mesh gate? I am determined to save more fuel. Should I remove the tailgate or is that just a joke?

jrrod2004 · January 2, 2008

leave it up and throw a tonneau on top and lay off the gas.

2000DV4.8 · January 2, 2008

I'm pretty sure you're not going to notice any difference. I've also heard that removing it messes with the aerodynamics of the truck and actually decreases fuel economy. A custom tune (a la Wait4Me or Wheatley or Westers) tuned for fuel economy should net 2-3 mpg increase too.

jrrod2004 · January 2, 2008

same thing heard here dan....

dlstewart01 · January 2, 2008

With the tailgate up an air bubble is created in the bed causing smooth air flow over the bed. Remove the tailgate and you loose the air bubble creating more drag.

Don

2000DV4.8 · January 2, 2008

Didn't Mythbusters do something on this a couple of years ago?

Genuinefine409 · January 2, 2008

Didn't Mythbusters do something on this a couple of years ago?

Yes they did, i think leaving the tailgate up and have the next were about equal, a cover and no gate made MPG worse.

BigJayDogg3 · January 2, 2008

I don't think the MPG increase is big enough for you to see. But, doing and experement on one truck isn't enough to have a definite answer IMO.

the hammer · January 2, 2008

Mythbusters did test this out and did a road test and a water-flow test with a model truck and found that the air pocket in the airbed does allow air to flow over the cab and over the bed and drop behind the truckbed. If you take out the tailgate, the airflow over the cab drops right into the bed and causes more drag. In their show, with two identical trucks and exact driving parametes, fuel, and weight, the truck without the tailgate ran out of fuel I think at least 15 or 30 miles before the one with the tailgate. It was a pretty sweet episode.

Darkanion · January 2, 2008

I've done the tailgate up vs down experiment on two different road trips. I reset the avg mpg with it up, drove 50 miles, and made note of the #'s. I pulled off, dropped the tailgate, got back up to speed, reset the computer, drove 50 miles, and compared the #'s. On two different road trips, maintaining the same speed, driving style, terrain, etc., I got 1-1.5 mpg more with the tailgate up than I did with it down.

Like someone said, one truck doesn't make for a definitive answer. But, that was my experience with it...

jrrod2004 · January 2, 2008

using your DIC?

Darkanion · January 2, 2008

using your DIC?

HAHA! Yeah, using my Driver's Information Center.

The first trip, I wasn't going to be on the road long enough to run a full tank. The 2nd trip, I was going to be in the mountains by the time I needed a 2nd tank of fuel. So, that's why I did the 50 miles each, on flat ground. I figured the unboard computer, even if it was wrong, would be wrong the same way for both times.

jrrod2004 · January 2, 2008

sorry hate using that acronym sometimes......I guess I should run my own tests.......

Zembonez · January 2, 2008

Long term, It looks like I got about .4 mpg increase in mileage after installing my Access cover. At this rate I figure I'll break even on my investment by the year 2035. Using the DIC, I went from 16.1 to 16.5.

Looks cool though.