MPG -- Tailgate up, down, or off?

[JasonCzerak]

Going over to Chicago from MSP for one day. 900 miles of I-94 round trip. Curious as to the benfit of taking the tail gate off vs down. or just plain leave it on and up.



I know at the race track I got about . 200 of a second quicker 1/4 mile with it off. The gate deson't weight much more then 50 pounds I'm sure, so that would translate into . 050 for the 1/4 time. I'm assuming it's a huge wind resistance.



I'm not hauling anything but my self and the GF. so the back will be unused.

 

[CMBOld]

Everything I've read says if you don't have a cab-high cap on your truck then tailgate up is the way to go. The "studies have shown" theres less drag on the truck with the gate up, supposed to be about how the air acts in the truck bed. They said they tried it both ways and gate-up made a difference. Mike

 

[JMetzger]

I agree with CMB. Trailer Life ran an article awhile back & they found less drag with the tail gate up, something about body design. Sounds funny though because one would think that with the tail gate down it would be less drag.

 

[klenger]

Replacing my stock tailgate with a vented tailgate sure didn't hurt my milage.

 

[JasonCzerak]

Everything I've read says if you don't have a cab-high cap on your truck then tailgate up is the way to go. The "studies have shown" theres less drag on the truck with the gate up, supposed to be about how the air acts in the truck bed. They said they tried it both ways and gate-up made a difference. Mike

hmmmm, I saw this one 1/4 mile video. The one guy had stacks on his truck. blowing all kinds of coal on his 11. 30sec run. He was running with no tail gate as far as I can tell, the way the smoke was carried it went from t he stacks down to the bed and right over the bumper.



And I keep thinking about my . 200 increase at the track. Maybe i'll take it off for giggles sake.



But that proves nothing as far as MPG is concerned... .

 

[TRAMPLINEMAN]

I watched a show about this on the Discovery channel. After all the testing they did, the best mpg was with the tail gate up. The wind flows over the top of the cab and angles down toward the middle of the tail gate, just like Jason saw with the smoke. The constant motion of the wind reflects off the tailgate and pushes against the back of the cab pushing the truck down the road.

 

[Grizzly]

I had to buy a vented tailgate for my 95 Dodge because pulling my 5th wheel created a lot of turbulence with the stock tailgate. The V notched vented tailgate erased the problem completely. The 2nd generation vented tailgate will not fit the 3rd generation truck and besides I now have a cab-over camper. The chrome vented, V notch tailgate is for sale, cheap.

 

[Alan Reagan]

I remember reading about a group of college students doing this study several years ago. They put different pickups in a wind tunnel and the results were better air flow (lower drag) with the tail gate up.

 

[HeavyHauler]

There was a big article in one of the TDR mags about this a while back. Look through the last 3 or 4 issues to find it. The results were that having the tailgate down actually created more drag than having it up.

 

[brods]

Also noted in the May/June Truck Trend mag article "The Great Tailgate Myth", besides better mpg with tailgate up, was that the tailgate stabilizes the bed sides on most trucks. Driving around with it down and bouncing seems a little silly... . up or off.

 

[wcjp]

Tailgate up or down made no difference on my 2nd Gen. It also made no difference with/without a canopy.

 

[Stomp]

I wonder if the same theory applies to us First Genners? We don't have allot of aerodynamic features if you know what I mean.



Stomp

 

[NVR FNSH]

Tailgate up or down made no difference on my 2nd Gen. It also made no difference with/without a canopy.

Hmm, cab high shell on my '85 Toyota 4wd P/U is a solid 2mpg difference.



Brian

 

[wcjp]

I had an old Mazda B2000 p/u with a cab high canopy that was good for 2mpg. However, it made no difference on my Dodge. The dealer where I bought my Dodge canopy claimed a mileage benefit on his Powerstroke.

 

[amnewsom]

Cap on mine is a little taller than the cab, MPG was about the same for a long time, then it broke in, solid 18-19 no matter what. I guess I could pull it and then see what happens but who knows. Check reader rides for pics.