Foo - pick-up truck drivers

What is it with people who drive pick-up trucks and always leave the tailgate down? Are they trying to make the truck look bigger or longer? Is it because they feel "inadequate"?

They seem to think that dropping the tailgate lowers wind resistance. I believe its just a myth.

I dont know, but I have heard that they think it gives less wind resistance and therefore better gas mileage....but they proved that it doesnt on myth busters :D

What is it with people who drive pick-up trucks and always leave the tailgate down? Are they trying to make the truck look bigger or longer? Is it because they feel "inadequate"?
It's actually to reduce drag and improve gas mileage. You get a 1-2 mpg increase in fuel mileage with the TG dropped.:D

It serves to clean the junk out of the back of the bed.....that's my guess.

It's actually to reduce drag and improve gas mileage. You get a 1-2 mpg increase in fuel mileage with the TG dropped.:D
This is from evidence produced from when I drove a pickup truck:eek:

It's actually to reduce drag and improve gas mileage. You get a 1-2 mpg increase in fuel mileage with the TG dropped.:D

Not true, Tom. Mythbusters did several tests and proved you actually get ~1 mpg LESS then with the gate up. Truck engineers design them to take advantage of the airflow in and around the empty box.

If you missed it, they first used a wind tunnel to examine the flow of air and how it affected the truck's aerodynamics. Yeah, big deal, right? then they took two duplicate trucks and drove them until they ran out of gas. Same speed, same roads etc. If I remember right, they did it twice, swapping which truck had it's gate down and both times the truck with the tailgate down ran out of gas about 30 miles before the one with the truck up. Given a gas tank somewhere between 15 and 30 gallons, that's around 1 mpg or less.

My brother's ute gets very very bad mileage either way. :D It does though go faster with the tail down (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZwRTRVPDZE&mode=related&search=).

Not true, Tom. Mythbusters did several tests and proved you actually get ~1 mpg LESS then with the gate up. Truck engineers design them to take advantage of the airflow in and around the empty box.

If you missed it, they first used a wind tunnel to examine the flow of air and how it affected the truck's aerodynamics. Yeah, big deal, right? then they took two duplicate trucks and drove them until they ran out of gas. Same speed, same roads etc. If I remember right, they did it twice, swapping which truck had it's gate down and both times the truck with the tailgate down ran out of gas about 30 miles before the one with the truck up. Given a gas tank somewhere between 15 and 30 gallons, that's around 1 mpg or less.
Mythbusters did a followup and tested hard bed covers, tailgate off and a net type tailgate and found the net tailgate was the best.

I didn't shut mine all the way and it dropped down.

See- Toilet Lid.

See- Toilet Lid.

That only applies to female pick-up truck drivers, though. :eek:

I always figured thier latches were broken...

1mpg is too little a difference from one test to validate or invalidate it. It would take a closed track to truly validate it, so both drivers can be going exactly the same speed, and do the exact same maneuvers.....then they could validate it at "real driver" speeds (aka too fast) to see if it's just lead foots that see any benefit.

Really, I do think the tailgate up or down does not matter much at all, I just thought MB's tests were lacking, much like how their ice bullet test was. They do really well on some myths, but medicore on others.

and some folks just don't care to flip the tailgate up at all, whether out of laziness, or maybe the latch ont he tailgate is broken and they don't care to fix it.

What is it with people who drive pick-up trucks and always leave the tailgate down? Are they trying to make the truck look bigger or longer? Is it because they feel "inadequate"?

If so, then the ones driving pick up trucks doing wheelies must have put Viagra in the tank! :eek:

I've got a Hillbilly Hotel (cap) on mine, so the issue id moot to me. :)

Also, it's to hide the license plate so popo can't see that it's expired.

No, they aren't trying to make it look bigger. Most likely they load stuff in and out a lot and probably get tired of throwing the tailgate up and down.

Its really not a good idea to leave the tailgate down while driving. It can bounce around a lot, putting a lot of extra stress on the cables and joints, not to mention the gate could possible even come off while driving.

When down, though, it is easy to see things that are right behind you so maneuvering in tight spots can be a little easier.

I drove my old F150 about 4000 miles one week a few years ago (NJ to CO and back) and didn't notice any difference in gas mileage between tailgate up or down.

Also, it's to hide the license plate so popo can't see that it's expired.
its illegal here to have your tailgate dropped when you are driving.. and even if you remove it, you have to have a net or a pole or something in case anything in the back slided out.

It's an image thing. Like a plumber flaunting his butt crack.

Oh, my eyes. I can't see again!

What is it with people who drive pick-up trucks and always leave the tailgate down? Are they trying to make the truck look bigger or longer? Is it because they feel "inadequate"?

You know, did it ever occur to you that some of us drive trucks because we use the capacity to haul stuff and/or people? Geeze, some of you guys try to present an image of what you think a cyclist might agree with, and instead insult most of forum.

And you're a Mod?

To answer your original question...

To save gas. It works. All I have to go on is my gas milage calclations. 2 -3 mpg. Mostly freeway driving.

I know what hapended on Mythbusters, but they weren't driving my truck.

And you're a Mod?


Hmmm... good point. Hadn't noticed that. Kind of inflammatory post for a mod to be making.

Mythbusters is full of beans, which is often the case. My toyota would get about 2 MPG better mileage with the gate down, but a tonneu cover gave me a solid 6 MPG better. This was averaged in each case for 6 months, tailgate up, tailgate dropped, and tonneu cover. I stayed with the cover until I put a cap on it.

The cover really showed the air flow. At anything over 30 MPH you could see therear portion of the cover sag down with the air coming over the cab, and it dropped lower as speed increased. It doesn't take a rocket scientist or a Mythbuster to understand that without the cover, that airflow would be directly assaulting the front of the tailgate.

The same reason I leave the door to the fuel filler open. My short term memory is verkakte.

Oops, my bad. I thought this was a thread about pickING up truck drivers. Guess I'd better save that story for another time. :rolleyes:

Mythbusters is full of beans, which is often the case. My toyota would get about 2 MPG better mileage with the gate down, but a tonneu cover gave me a solid 6 MPG better. This was averaged in each case for 6 months, tailgate up, tailgate dropped, and tonneu cover. I stayed with the cover until I put a cap on it.

The cover really showed the air flow. At anything over 30 MPH you could see therear portion of the cover sag down with the air coming over the cab, and it dropped lower as speed increased. It doesn't take a rocket scientist or a Mythbuster to understand that without the cover, that airflow would be directly assaulting the front of the tailgate.

You're full of beans, which is often the case. My toyota gets 2MPG better with the tailgate up on the highway, and no noticable difference in the city.

Mythbuster's techniques were flawed - but it shows you something. Every car is shaped differently. Some of them are shaped to get optimum gas milage with the tailgate up. Some of them are shaped to look pretty. Every car is going to be different, so I suggest everybody (if it's legal where you are) test with the gate up and the gate down, highway and city driving.

I'm going to see what a Napa hat does to my fuel mileage..

Its really not a good idea to leave the tailgate down while driving. It can bounce around a lot, putting a lot of extra stress on the cables and joints, not to mention the gate could possible even come off while driving.
Absolutely true! Newer truck tailgates are removed by unlatching the cables and lowering the gate down far enough for one side to slide out of the pivot. Tailgates fall off every once in a while when the cables fatigue and break. There was even a class action lawsuit against Chevy a few years ago after a few dozen Chevy owners pulled this stunt, and the tailgate bounced through someone's windshield on the freeway.

You're full of beans, which is often the case. My toyota gets 2MPG better with the tailgate up on the highway, and no noticable difference in the city.

Mythbuster's techniques were flawed - but it shows you something. Every car is shaped differently.

Mine was an '87, what about yours? As you point out, there could be a vast difference between mine and yours. I tracked mine for 6 months (about 7,000 miles) each way, not over a couple of days or a few tanks of gas. I would think that anything new enough to be called a Taco would be different enough to give different results.

I doubted Mythbusters based on personal experience versus their conclusions which they present as faultless. Why the personal attack on me?

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Mine was an '87, what about yours? As you point out, there could be a vast difference between mine and yours. I tracked mine for 6 months (about 7,000 miles) each way, not over a couple of days or a few tanks of gas. I would think that anything new enough to be called a Taco would be different enough to give different results.

I doubted Mythbusters based on personal experience versus their conclusions which they present as faultless. Why the personal attack on me?

I was mimicing your silly statement. I know next to nothing about you. The truck I referenced is a 2001 tacoma, tracked over 10 identical trips (4,000mi) total on the highway, and over the course of several months to work and back (2400mi) total in the city, alternating TG up and down with every fill of the gas tank (I learned to be anal-retentive about filling my tank from my father, and I always put in as near to 14 gallons as I can finagle)

Mythbusters is an entertainment show, and that should be taken into account when hearing what they say - but they're not entirely wrong in most cases. Their "scientific method" is a little questionable, but much of what they do is valid.

I used to drive a F350 for work. We always had the tailgate up, because the bed would be filled with trash.

It's actually to reduce drag and improve gas mileage. You get a 1-2 mpg increase in fuel mileage with the TG dropped.:D
Mine was averaged over a period of months as well, with the gate up, and then the gate removed, mainly because I had a F-150 Flareside and the Arse that STOLE my tailgate to pay for his drug habit took the gate οff the truck in the parking lot at work while I was on the road......so much for the gates and security cameras where I was working at the time. It took me a while to get the replacement gate and have it painted to match, so I didn't have the gate at all and my mileage was noticeably better without it than with it.:)

Quick Edit: F-150m flareside TG's are rare as Hen's teeth, therefore expensive to replace and can get a decent $$ for them from a body shop for cash!

Mine was averaged over a period of months as well, with the gate up, and then the gate removed, mainly because I had a F-150 Flareside and the Arse that STOLE my tailgate to pay for his drug habit took the gate οff the truck in the parking lot at work while I was on the road......so much for the gates and security cameras where I was working at the time. It took me a while to get the replacement gate and have it painted to match, so I didn't have the gate at all and my mileage was noticeably better without it than with it.:)

Quick Edit: F-150m flareside TG's are rare as Hen's teeth, therefore expensive to replace and can get a decent $$ for them from a body shop for cash!

Hmm, stealing tailgates. If I'm ever in a tight spot and need some quick cash, I know what I'm doin!

I can't think of anything more american than people buying pickup-trucks and then arguing about aerodynamics:roflmao:

:beer:

I can't think of anything more american than people buying pickup-trucks and then arguing about aerodynamics:roflmao:

Reading this post, I suddenly realized that it is obviously better to have the tailgate up. You don't see them guys in the Craftsman Truck Series racin' with their tailgates down, do ya?:lol:

http://money.howstuffworks.com/how-to-drive-economically.htm

"Some pickup-truck drivers take it as an article of faith that they're saving fuel by driving with the tailgate down, or removed, or replaced by a mesh fabric or metal gate. False.

Aerodynamic studies show a pickup truck is most fuel efficient with its tailgate up. It seems the upright tailgate causes air flowing over the roof of the cab to collect as a stagnant "dome" in the cargo bed. As speed builds, this dome, which tapers in a teardrop shape near the tailgate, acts as an aerodynamic ramp that forces airflow over the tailgate, to the benefit of fuel efficiency.

Disrupt this flow by dropping or removing the tailgate, and air coming over the cab is left to swirl around in the cargo bed, degrading the truck's aerodynamics and hurting fuel economy."

Here is the mythbuster episode + another link.


http://kwc.org/mythbusters/2005/11/episode_43_seasickness_cures_f.html - it's half way down the page.

http://www.dailyfueleconomytip.com/?p=58

I used to drive a F350 for work. We always had the tailgate up, because the bed would be filled with trash.

This, rather its opposite, would be a good one for 'you know yer a redneck when...'

you clean out the pick-up bed by driving real fast with the gate open. That gets me to wondering. If you throw your empties into the bed are you then in compliance with the open container law?

This, rather its opposite, would be a good one for 'you know yer a redneck when...'




When ya got the chrome balls hanging from your trailer hitch.

Mine was averaged over a period of months as well, with the gate up, and then the gate removed, mainly because I had a F-150 Flareside and the Arse that STOLE my tailgate to pay for his drug habit took the gate οff the truck in the parking lot at work while I was on the road......so much for the gates and security cameras where I was working at the time. It took me a while to get the replacement gate and have it painted to match, so I didn't have the gate at all and my mileage was noticeably better without it than with it.:)

Quick Edit: F-150m flareside TG's are rare as Hen's teeth, therefore expensive to replace and can get a decent $$ for them from a body shop for cash!


the gate removed and the gate down are 2 different things.. If the gate had just been dropped there would be more drag from the downdraft off of the cab.. I wonder how all of this affects the traction on the rear. Mythbusters best results were with one of those net gates which is close to not having one at all. That also gets rif of some weight.