Quote:
Originally Posted by schaf921
Seems some folks are taking my post as off topic. Just trying to answer the original OPs question about mileage. My point was that since the tailgate creates the 'dam' it is logical you lose that with a tonneau since their is nothing to stop the air to circle it back to the rear window.
Again, thought I was just helping a topic out.
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I'm not disagreeing with you, I'm just saying that the tailgate up/down thing isn't a valid comparison to have/not having a
tonneau cover. The distance from the top of the cab to the top of the bed (covered) isn't the same as the distance to the bottom of the bed.
I watched an interview with the Archer brothers when they used to race a truck in the SCCA sport truck series. The reporter asked them why they raced with tailgates up. He said that it made no difference, plus it gave more real estate for sponsors. It was a short lived series but towards the end, some teams started using hard tonneau covers.
I tried it myself (years before Mythbusters came along), I drove home to FL from NC with the tailgate down and back to NC with it up, there was no difference. When I installed the tonneau, I got about 20mi more per tank both ways. It wasn't a controlled scientific test, but over the course of 650 miles it should get you some result.