Tail gate up or down for fuel economy
 

Do you think there is a difference?

Myth busters said no

Makes no difference.

I got so sick and tired from arguing this with some pals of mine, that I finally broke down and did some CFD analysis. Conclusion: It's actually better to keep the tailgate up (although the difference is negligibly small).

IMO, keep it up. Bedcovers are not suppose to help any either!

The Myth Busters conclusion is that by having the tailgate down you lengthen the bed and have more down force on the rear tires.


That said, I wonder what the difference would be between tonue cover and no cover, and no tailgate vs tailgate up...


Another good one they did was windows down (turbulence) vs A/C. The CPU #'s said there was a big difference (with A/C using more fuel), but raw data showed that the CPU #'s were off. A/C still used more power, but it wasn't by much.

The momey saving isn't really worth all the thought that goes into it. I say run tailgate up and A/C on:)

its been proven over and over. Leaving it up creates a low pressure zone in the bed pushind air out and making truck more aerodynamic. Leaving it down creates turbulence low in the bed. watch a cup in the back as you drive. It will slowly move around and then if it gets higher gets sucked out fast. That is the low pressure area in the bed acts like a bubble.

and yes running with the Ac on if far more economical than windows down. Air coming in the windows creates drag and high pressure in the cab.

Yeah, the higher engine load with AC on was offset almost as much by the less wind turbulance as with the windows down.

Another test was following a semi at different distances. Tailgating real close showed no fuel savings. ( even if there was a savings, be offset by the rock chip repair :) )
Seemed the sweet spot was a little less than normal distance.

+1 :coolcowboy:

and you are worried why:evilb:

Saw this episode a few years back on a oval track, I think it was a Nascar track...

They also did the test to AC on AC off while driving.....

Who know's really.... but their results show'd tailgate down did nothing to improve fuel economy...idk

Same thing w/ AC and MPG...

Since we are talking mythbusting...

Is it less expensive to keep furnace at a constant temp or to turn it down 10 degrees while away or night then when returning or morning turning it back to normal?

I had seen an episode a few years back on leaving lights on or off. It was always less expensive to turn lights off then on no what the circumstance was....even if leaving the room for a split second. They even factored in cost of light bulbs burning out and replacing.

Bingo, just like air going over an airplane wing.

Depends on the truck. Deisel Power did a test of all truck brands with the bedcover and Dodge won with 1 1/2mpg more.

get a net, airflow and tailgate at the same time.... next!!

Mythbusters is TV, not science.

Keep your tailgates up.

Kevin Cooper from the National Research Council of Canada has a good technical paper on this subject (SAE 2004-01-1146) Here's a summary of the paper - http://www.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/eng/news/n...down-myth.html

Road and Track (or Car and Driver...I forget which one) did a study and they concluded tailgate up. It was a few years back but I remember the study since I drive a pick-up as my main vehicle.

Just trying to save more money to bouild a faster boat Mike. Got to catch you!

buy a Yugo :kiss::evilb:

The last time I checked, driving in Fla with the gate down will get you a ticket.

Geez guys, this discussion should have ended after CigDaze's post. Mr.Rocketscientist said he studied a Computational Fluid Dynamics experiment and gate up wins.

If Nick says something based on pure science, I suggest you trust in his answer. Unless any of you are rocket scientists that is. Then please feel free to debate him on the subject. :)

[QUOTE=wjb21ndtown;3411722]The Myth Busters conclusion is that by having the tailgate down you lengthen the bed and have more down force on the rear tires.
/QUOTE]

Hmmmm so Mythbusters should have installed trim actuators to the tailgate before running their test. :lolhit:

Wonder if someone could do a study on why we don't worry about getting 1 mpg running a boat but we will experiment with tailgates up/down looking for an improvement. Things that make you go hmmmmm. :coolcowboy:

Now this guy makes sense! :ernaehrung004:

Up Up UP UP its been tested and proved!

Read this at work today, and got a good chuckle! Thanks.....:D

What if the tailgate is 10' tall ?

Did the airplane ever take off of the treadmill?:evilb::evilb::evilb::evilb:

see post 10, that was my point. i have seen Tom burn 200 gallons of fuel in one day of boating and he is worried about 1 mile to the gallon.:eek::lolhit:

Tailgate was stolen lastnight so i get to see if my MPG goes up or down:angry-smiley-038:

MIT had done an analysis of this many years ago...

best was an angled topper (like the military hummers look). next best was a full topper.
next was a flat topper
next was tailgate up
worst was tailgate down

LOL :D :drink: