November 4, 2010
Does leaving a tailgate down on a truck save fuel?
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Filed under Gas Conservation FAQ by on Nov 4th, 2010. Comment. 
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Comments on Does leaving a tailgate down on a truck save fuel?
Minimal at best.
no. who told you that?
not enough to compensate for the damage your tailgate can get from road debris hitting it.
Yes, it reduces drag.
it’s supposed to something about wind resistance…
not sure about the savings but in alot of states its illegal
yes… but very little….
No.
No..but it does cause twisting on the tail gate..
Yes, it is less wind resistance.
Actually, It decreases gas mileage because it changes the aerodynamics and increases drag on the truck.
NO! I saw this thing on the show Mythbusters, and they tested it and it actualy used more fuel with the tailgate down! Who knew?
no it does not and it was proved on top gear a while ago they tested the theory and it actualy had the opposit effect costing fuel
Mythbusters did this a couple of months ago.
lol is the glass half empty or half full ????
the fuel ratings for your truck are with the tailgate up, putting it down doesnt change it much, you want to save fuel, get a bed cover
Not at all. Combining trips, public transportation, walking does.
This has been an issue of debate for some time. The Car Talk guys answered this question on their radio show a while back. They said that there is no conclusive evidence that proves or even suggests that leaving the tailgate down increases gas mileage.
I was just thinking about that today.I doubt it helps much as the entire front of a pickup catches the wind,so letting down the tailgate wouldn`t make much difference.The wind resistance you have from the front would stiill be significant.
It does. Many take the tailgate off and replace it with a net.
yeah a very very small amount because of areo dinamics.nothin rely worth it tho.u cud just drive a smaller car which wud b more sensible
very little. but a lot dents on the tailgate.
It makes the truck more aerodynamic.
I had heard this for years, so I did a test. We have 4 pickups in the family. Everyone kept track of mileage over a 5000 mile period with the tailgate up and again for 5000 miles with it down. 2 were up at the start of the test and 2 were down so weather would not come into play. The results were that the tailgate up produced better mileage. If you watch your truck bed you will notice that not a lot of air really flows through there. The gate down creates more wind in the bed for some reason. The best results overall were by the 2 people that put a soft cover on the bed of the truck. They increased mileage over either of the previous tests.
some say yes but its only about a gallon pure tank’
NO.
Watch Mythbusters on Discovery channel. They tested identical trucks with tailgate up and down and found that tailgate “up” had measurably better gas milegae.
They later verified the result with electronic equipment that measured fuel consumption in gallons per hour.
It has to do with the dead space in the box formed by the trunk. Air there is trapped and forms a rotating “bubble”. Air passing over the truck slide over the “bubble” instead of dropping down into the bed of the truck. The effect is a reduction of drag. If you lay the gate down, the air passing over the cab of the truck drops down into the bed, creating a suction force that increases drag and lowerd fuel efficiency.
Go to http://www.mythbusters.com and you can see the details for yourself.
No it does not, that was a crackpot theory from a while ago and it isn’t true. It may be true on some very old trucks but new trucks are so aerodynamically tuned that it will actually make you get worse gas mileage.
NO NO NO NO! The tailgate creates a counter-clockwise/front-to-back wind current in the bed of the truck. The air then flows over the hood of the truck and the current in the back. Tailgate down actually creates MORE DRAG! Remember, the designers of trucks make their trucks as efficient as possible. THEY know what they’re doing!
I was before chocolaho…, I’m just a slow typer.
no. that is a myth. trucks are actually designed to create air flow over the tailgate. if the tailgate is down, air flow is actually limited. sounds odd, but it is proven.saw it on a mythbusters show.
Certainly does. I’ve been driving pick ups since ’75. When the air come down over the cab with the tailgate up, it cause a drag because the air has to rise up over the tailgate. My 91 S10 has a campershell on it and the 98 S10 has a tonneau cover on the back. The 91 gets 1 mpg better with the camper shell on it. The 98 has had the tonneau cover on it since it was new. It is a 4cyl. 5 speed manual and I get 30+mpg on a trip!!
no it does not, it almost makes sense that it would but myth busters did a show on it and it actually saves gas to leave it up. this was due to the airflow around the whole truck not just the tail gate.
wow if i would have remmembered what was on mythbusters (a discovery chanel show) a week a go i would have told you, they had the whole show on that
Maybe it used to, before trucks got tested in wind tunnels and fuel mileage became important.
I thought it did on my old 1979 F150, but it was in- conclusive then. Myth busters says it is for sure now.
Pulling in those huge old billboard mirrors did help though.
Yeah, look the thing up on Mythbusters. By leaving the tailgate down you basically ruin the aerodynamics of the truck (too hard to explain). You actually increase drag and decrease gas mileage by leaving your tailgate down.
yes, but at 140 miles an hour you don’t have as much down force on the rear tires .