was watching mythbusters and they put the tailgate up or down myth to the test. They was using 2 F-150's. One with the tailgate up and one with the tailgate down. Now a little history from me. I have owned a truck my whole life, and i always had my tailgate down, it just makes sense. less wind resistance. Well i was wrong, on mythbusters the truck with the tailgate up got 30 miles per tank more then the tailgate down truck. Everytime! They did a few tests and even switched trucks, each time the tailgate up went a average of 30ish miles more. This surprised me, but the theory is a spiral vortex that keeps wind from coming into the bed of the truck. Which the tailgate down the wind coming off the cab goes straight down and actually has downforce on the tailgate creating drag. Little tid bit for everyone

 

Sorry man, you are watching a re-run. You need to be on DTR for the latest news!

https://www.dieseltruckresource.com/...ight=tail+gate

 

They need to test one of these 5th wheel tailgates with the loover slats .

Maybe I shoud take it off and put my stock tail gate back on when im not towing my 5er.

 

I could careless if that makes a difference in mileage... I like it for ease of hooking up the trailer!

 

Hello All
I leave my gate up! Right or wrong, but that show does alot of things that are proven other than there outcome! Not to dis the show if you like it, Red heads are good But I wouldn't bet my life on there outcomes.
Don Hammond

 

They only tested the new f150.
The bubble that forms in the bed is only for that specific setup. Each change to bed height, bed length, cab length and cab height will make a big difference.
The real diffence that is near and dear to this forum is the available power. If your lame-oh gasser is pushing it's little heart out to maintain highway speed downhill with the wind behind you then 1/2% drag change will make a big difference. On the othe hand if you are smart enough to have a real engine that puts out enough torque then you may never see a difference no matter what you do in the bed including putting a face cord of split oak firewood (true story).

 

or ya could just get a flat bed and not worry about it


this also took 1400 bucks a year off of my insurance. Thats a lot more savings than ANY fuel miliage

 

oouch!!!! I don't pay close to that a year!

 

i dont either. it was about 900 every six months. now its under 400 a year. and im 15 with full coverage

 

When the new Ram body style first appeared in '94 it was touted as being designed in a wind tunnel for mpg saving aerodynamics figured with the tailgate up.
If you can drive around with the tailgate down it indicates to me that you don't really need a pickup since you're not hauling anything around. If you are concerned about the minute amount of fuel saved tailgate up or down you would probably be miles ahead with a sedan.

 

So you can get a discount on insurance with a flatbed? Interesting. Maybe I should look into it, since I want a flatbed. Who do you get your insurance through? I guess that my insurance is $450 a year for full coverage, but that is under my parents, for a 92 model.

 

farm buaru has the farm flatbed rate. dont know about the rest

 

Very well put Bill

 

Having the tailgate down is also more problems than its worth in an urban area.

If you get rear-ended with the gate down you can mess up your whole box, cab and mounts for each of those components. If the tailgate is up or gone, then the bumper takes the brunt and is made to bend down out of the way, not turning your box into a crumple zone..

 

What are you a freakin stunt driver? I don't pay that in a 2 year's time.