Keep Your Tailgate Up!

[solarjustin]

With the increase in gas prices i though some of you would like to read this SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) paper that I read a few years back when I was studying Mechaninal Engineering.

 

http://ecow.engr.wisc.edu/cgi-bin/getbig/m...dhi1/pickup.pdf

 

I know mythbusters busted the myth, but I find this to be a little more sound in its findings.

 

Enjoy.

[Bostonsfavson]

That's certainly a little more thorough than your average Mythbusters episode. Thanks for the link Justin.

[slomo007]

Also proves that tonneau covers are good for mileage. Most people assume that putting a tonneau cover on is equivalent to driving with the tailgate open. This proves that's not true. Driving with the tailgate open results in a completely different airflow than driving with a tonneau cover.

[hgl800]

I never could figure out why people drove with there tailgate down, even if they did think they were getting better mileage (which they were not), cause the paint on it gets chipped to sh*t.

[ws6_guy]

I would never drive with my gate down anyways, not only would it look a little odd, but hit a bad bump & the gate pops out of joint your f****d out of a gate and gotta spend a couple hundred on a new one. just doesn't seem worth it to be for a very small mileage increase.

[MallCrawler]

plus, the absence of a tailgate hurts your bed in the long run.

You lose the rigidity of a 4 sided box, and your bed twists and bends

[Z71kris]

That article is fine and dandy, but I get all my scientific evidence from Myth Busters! No but really nice article! I have never driven with down for the mileage, only because the load was to big close it!

[Starrman]

a buddy of mine years ago would drive with it down when his wife drove only because she was uncomfortable with the limited visibility behind the truck and found it better with it down, especially when backing up

[Guest Riggs]

i dont have mine on right now cause i have one getting painted and the other one looks like crap so i have decided to leave it off untill i get my new tailgate, and it is really nice backing up lol. didnt notice any MPG increase.

[Mikeee]

Yep, the article is very detailed.

I read some years ago in Popular Mechanics (I think) that with the tailgate up, an air bubble is created in the bed which allows the air to go smoothly over the cab and the cargo box. With the tailgate down or gone, there is no air bubble.

 

I also saw a test of 2 F150's that were given a diet of one gallon of gasoline each that showed the tailgate up version and one down. The w/gate motored farther than the w/o gate.