myth or fact ???tailgate off adds more drag and messes up the aerodynamic flow..
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From: Brighton ,CO
myth or fact ???tailgate off adds more drag and messes up the aerodynamic flow..
ive head this over and over again , that people who take off their tailgates or add covers mess up the flow of a truck...any thoughts?
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RE: myth or fact ???tailgate off adds more drag and messes up the aerodynamic flow..
no tailgate or tailgate down hurts mpg. I would assume a cover would help the airflow, so at least not hurt you in the mpg. But last time I checked our large non aerodynamic front far out weighs any wind issues with the tagate.
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From: Brighton ,CO
RE: myth or fact ???tailgate off adds more drag and messes up the aerodynamic flow..
ahh i see.. ya never really thought it would do much with without tailgate or with without cover. i think that a bed cover does look a little better though.
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RE: myth or fact ???tailgate off adds more drag and messes up the aerodynamic flow..
Yeah not having a tailgate or letting it down will decrease your mileage. Having the tailgate down increases the amount of drag that is on your truck. When automotive designers designed trucks that thought of that idea. Anyways when you have the tailgate up the air shoots down the cab and in to the bed and basically it creates a vortex that spins around the front end of the bed, any other air that comes over the cab hits that vortex and is pushed over the bed of the truck. Now having a cover of some sort does help out with mpg.
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RE: myth or fact ???tailgate off adds more drag and messes up the aerodynamic flow..
ORIGINAL: 04SLTWhitey
Yeah not having a tailgate or letting it down will decrease your mileage. Having the tailgate down increases the amount of drag that is on your truck. When automotive designers designed trucks that thought of that idea. Anyways when you have the tailgate up the air shoots down the cab and in to the bed and basically it creates a vortex that spins around the front end of the bed, any other air that comes over the cab hits that vortex and is pushed over the bed of the truck. Now having a cover of some sort does help out with mpg.
Yeah not having a tailgate or letting it down will decrease your mileage. Having the tailgate down increases the amount of drag that is on your truck. When automotive designers designed trucks that thought of that idea. Anyways when you have the tailgate up the air shoots down the cab and in to the bed and basically it creates a vortex that spins around the front end of the bed, any other air that comes over the cab hits that vortex and is pushed over the bed of the truck. Now having a cover of some sort does help out with mpg.
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RE: myth or fact ???tailgate off adds more drag and messes up the aerodynamic flow..
They did this on Mythbusters a while back. Used a Dakota to see what would give the best mileage. Tried with tailgate up, tailgate down, tailgate off, fibreglass tonneau on, and with one of those mess nets intead of the tailgate. The mesh net actually did the best as it slightly increased the mileage. Tailgate up was better than tailgate off or down. If I remember right with the tailgate off it actually got worse. Tonneau didnt do much (they also noted the cover was quite heavy)
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From: College Station
RE: myth or fact ???tailgate off adds more drag and messes up the aerodynamic flow..
well this a wierd thing...i just got into a coversation with a friend of mine about this...he says what you guys say..i say that it helps my gas milage about 1-1.5 mpg.i have done the math many different times or the past 6 moths and it all comes out saying that it helps[sm=feedback.gif]
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RE: myth or fact ???tailgate off adds more drag and messes up the aerodynamic flow..
I remember watching that mythbusters also, but if I recall correctly the mesh net actually was the worst of all the options with tailgate down being the second worst. I figured it to be because you lose the vortex by not having the solid tailgate and also create drag because the net catches the wind. Could be wrong, but thats how I took it.
