Tailgate, Up or down?

[chris88]

I always thought that you were better off with the tailgate up for fuel mileage because it created an air bubble therefore minimizing drag. Today my friend bet me a cup of coffee that it was the other way around. So what is it?

Chris

 

[argve]

Some say it's one way and others another way.

Seen a post on this many many moons ago over at STD and some school did a research project on this and came up with Yep it's cheaper to leave it up but it would only save you about 1 dollar over the course of like year so really it's not that big of a savings. I remember this because they found out that the best bed cover/option was to have a topper that sloped from the back of the cab roof down to the top of the bed rails - this one really saved but again the payback schedule was so long out that it really wasn't worth it...

My response to discussions like this with my buddies is if I need to worry about that little extra fuel mileage then I need to sell and by a honda.

 

[Roland_Jenkins]

Up according to a test I recall reading about.
My best guess is it makes little difference. The turbulence takes place right behind the cab.

I know all my beer cans roll forward when I'm zipping down the freeway. Which reminds me, my son was pulling his wagon the other day and had some empty aluminum cans rattling around. Chip off the ol block he is

 

[Magoo]

Kids are big into the Myth Busters show. They did a show on this very topic. They did all the normal tests. Took two identical trucks filled them with fuel and simulated driving untill the tank went dry. Turned out the gate up did better. Myth Busted. Went back to the "lab" and did more test to show why. All a bit too technical for me but with the test they showed why. So there you go. May be some one here can explain it better.

 

[hesutton]

UP is best.

Heath

 

[chris88]

Well i just called to tell him that he owes me a cup of coffee and he says that the mythbusters are a bunch of idiots, which i agree with but a good show nonethe less, and that he'll prove me wrong. Thanks for the help


Chris

 

[hheynow]

HERE is a forum thread discussing this myth about the tailgate question from Myth Busters. IMO, tail gate up wins.

 

[highest_vision]

A couple people, probably in the same thread travis mentioned, said they have LOST tailgates driving down the road while 'trying to save fuel' by leaving it down. What's cheaper now
James

 

[krawlr]

he says that the mythbusters are a bunch of idiots

Yea, but I still like the redheaded girl.

 

[EMD Diesel Power]

A couple people, probably in the same thread travis mentioned, said they have LOST tailgates driving down the road while 'trying to save fuel' by leaving it down. What's cheaper now
James

Exactly.... a tailgate down is basically an unsecured load in my opinion.... you lose one and it goes into my car..... well I wont be dealing with cops...

Its amazing how many morons around here run with em down... and everybody is watching the things bounce up and down...

Its been proven time and time again that the tailgate up method works better economy wise. Those stupid tailgater webbing things dont work for crap either.

 

[budtoh3zo]

Yup up is better i tryied it and got about 1-2 mpg better

 

[The Warden]

and everybody is watching the things bounce up and down...

I'm surprised that no one else hit on that...I can't imagine that that's good for the tailgate by any stretch of the imagination. Not that my tailgate's any good in any event

My tailgate stays up unless I have a reason to leave it down (and, with the rack, that almost never happens)...

 

[argve]

I ran around in the Enterprise for a while with no tailgate because I had installed the toolbox at the rear of the bed for easy access for our RV'n junk - worked out pretty good until I started to notice that the bed sides were showing stress cracks at the bed side to bed floor mating surface - I quickly reinstalled a tailgate and moved the tool box. The tailgate is actually needed on the truck for support.

 

[Michael Fowler]

Put me in the "tailgate up" camp on this one.

Look at it this way, as competitve as the pickup truck makers are, do you think they would overlook the sales benefits of 1 or 2 mpg if the tailgate had that kind of influence? They'd design something to get that extra mileage for sure. ( Unless you still believe the oil companies have bought up all the gas-saving ideas)

 

[LUCKY_LARUE60]

Exactly.... a tailgate down is basically an unsecured load in my opinion.... you lose one and it goes into my car..... well I wont be dealing with cops...

Where in the world did you get that, even if the gate became un-secured there are 2 cables that still hold it on. Ya hit a bump hard enough to make the gate flip up that far you are airborne.

On another note anyone with emty beer cans in a pickup truck bed ought to be busted for DWI.