Does anyone know if a bed cover improves your gas mileage? I really don't like them because i like to throw stuff in the back. Just curious.........

 

I'm seeing a solid 2 mpg increase since I installed my Pace-Edwards JackRabbit tonneau. I wonder if you get better results with the soft covers that weigh less then with the thick fiberglass ones I see on a lot of trucks. Mine is mostly plastic and aluminum and weighs only 60-70 lbs. It is retractable so I can still throw stuff in the back as needed.

 

I got about a 3 MPG increase, but as stated above, mine isnt a hard cover so it is alot lighter, hence the extra MPG I am guessing. But yes it does work.

 

I took a 5 hour round trip drive and I do not have a cover but I did drop the tailgate and it seemed to help, exactly how much I don't know. I would think it helped just due to the lack of wind resistance. Have to make the trip again this week, I normally get about 14-16 on the highway and cruising at 75 the whole way.

 

Theres a post on here about the tail gate down myth, studies showing it doesnt really work. You may have gotten lucky and just got a good day on mileage. Mine does differant depending on wind, highway, traffic and temp outside.

 

yeah actually they did a mythbusters show on the tail gate down myth and they proved it to be bolgna. They got 2 exact same trucks and drove them the exact same time and distance on the exact same roads and they started with a full tank on both but one had the gate down and the one with the gate up made it just over 30 more miles before it ran out of gas. I guess with the models they had showing the wind flow over the trucks the one with the gate down makes the wind resistance go everywhere while the gate up makes the wind create a cyclone kinda thing and the wind revolves in a circle so it creates less resistance. Not sure HOW acurate that is though.

 

They definitely help. I have an Extang Black Max soft tonneu. That by itself picked it up from 250 miles between fill ups to 275. When I bought it, I was putting 1000 miles a week on the truck, filling up every other day. Believe me, it was worth every penny.

 

the tailgate down myth is just exactly that, a myth. if you do wind tunnel tests with dye or liquid you can see just exactly what happens. what the tail gate does is creates a vortex so that the air (if looking at the truck from the side) does a loop and that air will continue to circulate in the bed. the rest of the air will flow over top of it and off of the truck in essance putting a canopy on the truck, without the weight. it does add drag with the tail gate at high mph but only rm_indy is having to deal with that on the strip. the tonneau and canopy just change the air flow and reduce the drag but keep the vortex effect. you will see an increase in mpg simply because of the less drag. the lighter covers will add less wight and create the same effect but you will also lose lockability with the soft covers. and they are easier to break.

personally i'm looking at the hard fiberglass tonneau or a cap that has a sloped rear that i saw on a friends dodge but can't find it anywhere.

it's all about the air flow. damn engineering classes teaching me useless information on flows...

 

i have the soft tounnou from Truxport, i love it, rolls up when i dont need it but i always keep it rolled out and on for the gas mileage and keeping leaves and $hit out of the bed, if i take my dirtbike somewhere, rolls right up

 

Checkout an Undercover bed cover it's solid pvc weighs 58 lb and I gained about 2 mpg. really like it.