What is the exact procedure for removing the tailgate? How much would switching it to an air gate affect my mileage?

 

pull the little silver things off of the bolts at the top of the gate, then unbolt the bottom. However this will not aid in gas mileage as much as one thinks.

 

I DONT THINK IT HELPS THAT MUCH ON GAS AND ALSO THE BEDSIDES WILL LOOSEN UP AND START TO WIGGLE IF YOU LEAVE THE TAILGATE OFF......IT NEEDS THE TAILGATE FOR THE SUPPORT

 

you will only have a problem with weak bedsides if theyre all rusty and crap. youve got an 04 you shouldnt be worried about taking it off. i have a hard tonneau so i dont have to but my old truck id drop it all the time. get get about 500k per tank on my old beater, with the tailgate down it was almost 600.

so just lower the tailgate and drive around a bit, see if you notice a difference. but those tailgate nets look like ***.

 

Agreed, it does look like *** that way. Either just put down the tailgait, or get a tonneau. Eithe rof those look much better

 

well the truck got about exactly zero MPG better with the tailgate down and it got scratched... I cannot use a hard tonneau because I actually use my bed to transport my dirt bike dogs etc, though a soft tonneau might work.

 

There was a column in Road & Track, September 2004 (the one with the new 'vette on the cover) about tests done in a wind tunnel to study aerodynamics of trucks and various configurations of tailgates/covers. They found that the truck was most aerodynamic as follows:

1. (best) tailgate up and a full tonneau cover on.
2. partial tonneau, tail gate up.
3. tail gate up, no cover.
4. mesh tailgate
5. tailgate down
6. (worst) tailgate off

The article says that having the tailgate off or down can increase rear lift by 60%. (This is the opposite of having a spoiler on a sports car I guess.) (The column is called "Tech Tidbits" by Dennis Simanaitis, page 156, first paragraph. There's a grpahic showing the wind tunnel test results that is pretty interesting.)

Also, an article in my local newspaper cited a study that says gas mileage is affected in the same way that this R&T article says aerodynamics are worsened. The better the air flow over the truck, the better the gas mileage.

Aside from removing the tailgate, you might sometimes just want to drop it down to touch the bumper, kind of like a ramp. Just release the cables without lifting the tailgate off, I think.

HTH,
Mike

 

What are you doing worrying about gas mileage? It is a truck isn't it? I know I don't have mine for the gas mileage (usually around 11mpg). Just messing with you! Your best bet is a good taneau cover! I would try to find one that has velcro on the sides and clamps underneath the bedrails...they make them with aluminum bars atatched to the cover itself, so all you have to do is pull in little locking tabs on the end(with the tailgate down) and pull a release cord, then roll it up out of the way. This also looks really clean and I know most people don't want to have aluminum rods across their bed, that really defeats the purpose of having one(if you really use your bed)

 

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