Comments on: Fuel Economy Tip – Keep Your Tailgate Up http://www.dailyfueleconomytip.com/aerodynamics/fuel-economy-tip-keep-your-tailgate-up/ Increase Fuel Economy and Save Money at the Pump Sun, 07 Mar 2010 01:23:46 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Sean in CA http://www.dailyfueleconomytip.com/aerodynamics/fuel-economy-tip-keep-your-tailgate-up/comment-page-2/#comment-63419 Sean in CA Sun, 31 Jan 2010 03:54:40 +0000 http://www.dailyfueleconomytip.com/?p=58#comment-63419 No MK896, I just hate to see the English language morph into an unintelligible jumble of malapropisms and newly minted verbs that are really nouns. I don't drive a VW (Chevy Colorado), don't go to Starbucks (Peet's) and don't own a laptop. Getting back to the point of this commentary, I am in the tailgate up camp, but I don't need to slam people who disagree with me. You are right, someone reputable should do a real world comparison test and perhaps put an end to the debate once and for all. No MK896, I just hate to see the English language morph into an unintelligible jumble of malapropisms and newly minted verbs that are really nouns. I don’t drive a VW (Chevy Colorado), don’t go to Starbucks (Peet’s) and don’t own a laptop. Getting back to the point of this commentary, I am in the tailgate up camp, but I don’t need to slam people who disagree with me. You are right, someone reputable should do a real world comparison test and perhaps put an end to the debate once and for all.

]]> By: mk89 http://www.dailyfueleconomytip.com/aerodynamics/fuel-economy-tip-keep-your-tailgate-up/comment-page-2/#comment-63418 mk89 Sun, 31 Jan 2010 01:42:03 +0000 http://www.dailyfueleconomytip.com/?p=58#comment-63418 You have to be the same guy using different names, I find it hard to believe that there are so many effeminate truck drivers in the U.S. that are more concerned about spelling than the issue of saving gas. Sean... close your laptop, walk out of Starbucks, get in your Volkswagon Beetle, drive off the nearest cliff. I would like to see a test (no reality shows or college student theorems), with 2 identical trucks driving down I-95 side-by-side from Virginia to Florida, one tailgate up and the other down. This would have to be operated and documented by a respectable source.. but that should settle the debate for those that rely on what they read instead of personal experience. You have to be the same guy using different names, I find it hard to believe that there are so many effeminate truck drivers in the U.S. that are more concerned about spelling than the issue of saving gas. Sean… close your laptop, walk out of Starbucks, get in your Volkswagon Beetle, drive off the nearest cliff.
I would like to see a test (no reality shows or college student theorems), with 2 identical trucks driving down I-95 side-by-side from Virginia to Florida, one tailgate up and the other down. This would have to be operated and documented by a respectable source.. but that should settle the debate for those that rely on what they read instead of personal experience.

]]> By: mk896 http://www.dailyfueleconomytip.com/aerodynamics/fuel-economy-tip-keep-your-tailgate-up/comment-page-2/#comment-63417 mk896 Sun, 31 Jan 2010 00:57:50 +0000 http://www.dailyfueleconomytip.com/?p=58#comment-63417 This has to be the same guy using different names, there can't possibly be this many effeminate truck drivers in the U.S. that are more concerned about spelling and less about the issue of saving gas. Sean... close your laptop, walk out of Starbucks, get in your Volkswagon Beetle, drive it off the nearest cliff. I would like to see a test, (no reality shows or college student theorems), just 2 identical trucks running side-by-side down I-95, one tailgate up and the other down. It would have to be operated and documented by a respectable source. Probably the only way this debate would be settled. This has to be the same guy using different names, there can’t possibly be this many effeminate truck drivers in the U.S. that are more concerned about spelling and less about the issue of saving gas. Sean… close your laptop, walk out of Starbucks, get in your Volkswagon Beetle, drive it off the nearest cliff.
I would like to see a test, (no reality shows or college student theorems), just 2 identical trucks running side-by-side down I-95, one tailgate up and the other down. It would have to be operated and documented by a respectable source. Probably the only way this debate would be settled.

]]> By: Sean in CA http://www.dailyfueleconomytip.com/aerodynamics/fuel-economy-tip-keep-your-tailgate-up/comment-page-2/#comment-63416 Sean in CA Sat, 30 Jan 2010 18:02:52 +0000 http://www.dailyfueleconomytip.com/?p=58#comment-63416 The prefix ir- (i-r) is a negative prefix, so if you add the prefix ir to a word that's already negative like regardless, you're making a double-negative word that literally means “without without regard.” Appear stupid at your own peril. Learn to spell trailer and moot while you're at it. The prefix ir- (i-r) is a negative prefix, so if you add the prefix ir to a word that’s already negative like regardless, you’re making a double-negative word that literally means “without without regard.” Appear stupid at your own peril. Learn to spell trailer and moot while you’re at it.

]]> By: mk896 http://www.dailyfueleconomytip.com/aerodynamics/fuel-economy-tip-keep-your-tailgate-up/comment-page-2/#comment-63415 mk896 Sat, 30 Jan 2010 17:46:14 +0000 http://www.dailyfueleconomytip.com/?p=58#comment-63415 Irregardless is a term I picked up from my granddad, it's been used since early 1900 like the word ain't. Most men know the term. Here it means using a Dodge Ram 2500 to deliver bicycle parts is going to use alot of gas with or without the effects of the wind, but I think you knew that. Here it means you're driving a large truck loaded down with metal parts on the back, making stops at bicycle shops (which are in town, not on the highway). Just like towing a trailor, fuel conservation goes out the door at that point. When you're carrying a load, the tailgate being up or down is a mute point. The tailgate issue only matters when you have a mostly empty bed, you're traveling down a highway at distance, and you're maintaining a moderate speed. Irregardless is a term I picked up from my granddad, it’s been used since early 1900 like the word ain’t. Most men know the term. Here it means using a Dodge Ram 2500 to deliver bicycle parts is going to use alot of gas with or without the effects of the wind, but I think you knew that. Here it means you’re driving a large truck loaded down with metal parts on the back, making stops at bicycle shops (which are in town, not on the highway). Just like towing a trailor, fuel conservation goes out the door at that point. When you’re carrying a load, the tailgate being up or down is a mute point. The tailgate issue only matters when you have a mostly empty bed, you’re traveling down a highway at distance, and you’re maintaining a moderate speed.

]]> By: ektomurphy http://www.dailyfueleconomytip.com/aerodynamics/fuel-economy-tip-keep-your-tailgate-up/comment-page-2/#comment-63412 ektomurphy Sat, 30 Jan 2010 04:21:02 +0000 http://www.dailyfueleconomytip.com/?p=58#comment-63412 There's no such word as "Irregardless" - please explain what you're trying to say. There’s no such word as “Irregardless” – please explain what you’re trying to say.

]]> By: mk896 http://www.dailyfueleconomytip.com/aerodynamics/fuel-economy-tip-keep-your-tailgate-up/comment-page-2/#comment-63411 mk896 Fri, 29 Jan 2010 23:11:30 +0000 http://www.dailyfueleconomytip.com/?p=58#comment-63411 murphy, Sorry I misspelled a word, I know that takes away all credibility. Your statement is confusing, first you say tailgate up or down makes no difference, but then you contradict yourself by saying there may be a 2-3% difference. Assuming you drive 80 miles on Hwy 99 for your deliveries, and I drive 1900 miles, a 3% difference in fuel expenditure for 1900 miles would equal about 1 tank of gas. The fact that you're using a Dodge Ram 2500 to deliver bicycle parts may be your downfall in this test. Dodge is the worst vehicle on gas irregardless of wind. The facts are- I used 5 tanks of gas going generally downhill with the tailgate up, and I used 4 tanks of gas going generally uphill with the tailgate down. The conditions were mirrored. I have nothing to gain by lying about the situation. I'm unbiased either way, I'd rather leave the tailgate up, but the facts remains. murphy, Sorry I misspelled a word, I know that takes away all credibility. Your statement is confusing, first you say tailgate up or down makes no difference, but then you contradict yourself by saying there may be a 2-3% difference. Assuming you drive 80 miles on Hwy 99 for your deliveries, and I drive 1900 miles, a 3% difference in fuel expenditure for 1900 miles would equal about 1 tank of gas. The fact that you’re using a Dodge Ram 2500 to deliver bicycle parts may be your downfall in this test. Dodge is the worst vehicle on gas irregardless of wind. The facts are- I used 5 tanks of gas going generally downhill with the tailgate up, and I used 4 tanks of gas going generally uphill with the tailgate down. The conditions were mirrored. I have nothing to gain by lying about the situation. I’m unbiased either way, I’d rather leave the tailgate up, but the facts remains.

]]> By: ektomurphy http://www.dailyfueleconomytip.com/aerodynamics/fuel-economy-tip-keep-your-tailgate-up/comment-page-2/#comment-63407 ektomurphy Fri, 29 Jan 2010 00:14:54 +0000 http://www.dailyfueleconomytip.com/?p=58#comment-63407 I say we avoid independent tests performed by people who can't spell the word independent. The tailgate makes no difference whatsoever to gas mileage. All I do all day, every day is run up and down Hwy. 99 in my Dodge Ram 2500 delivering bicycle parts to customers. Since 2004, I've done it eight ways to Sunday - tailgate up, down, off, halfway down (tied) and with a tonneau cover for the past four weeks for good measure. I have to log my mileage and gas receipts for tax and reimbursement purposes so believe me, I know to the penny and the inch what my mileage is. The differences in my daily mileages are completely random and do not change more than 2-3% a day on average. I say we avoid independent tests performed by people who can’t spell the word independent. The tailgate makes no difference whatsoever to gas mileage. All I do all day, every day is run up and down Hwy. 99 in my Dodge Ram 2500 delivering bicycle parts to customers. Since 2004, I’ve done it eight ways to Sunday – tailgate up, down, off, halfway down (tied) and with a tonneau cover for the past four weeks for good measure. I have to log my mileage and gas receipts for tax and reimbursement purposes so believe me, I know to the penny and the inch what my mileage is. The differences in my daily mileages are completely random and do not change more than 2-3% a day on average.

]]> By: mk896 http://www.dailyfueleconomytip.com/aerodynamics/fuel-economy-tip-keep-your-tailgate-up/comment-page-1/#comment-63406 mk896 Thu, 28 Jan 2010 23:50:22 +0000 http://www.dailyfueleconomytip.com/?p=58#comment-63406 Some of you guys must work together in the same tailgate factory, because you're dead set that the great reality show Mythbusters has proven that putting up a metal canopy does not create drag but instead improves gas efficiency. Tomorrow they're blasting a watermelon out of a tube to determine if the melon has seeds, more at eleven. Typol if you really read my statement you'd know that the conditions and habits were exactly the same, the only difference being an incline going west, yet I still saved more gas with the tailgate down. Given the facts I've posted, how do you explain me saving an entire tank of gas with my tailgate down? And please, don't say I didn't drive the same speed, or that I was going downhill, or driving in weekend traffic, or hauling bricks, because I've already stated that both routes were mirrored; and if all you're going to say is 'everybody has known this for decades', or 'independant tests have proven' then please don't bother. This was an independant test, was it not? Some of you guys must work together in the same tailgate factory, because you’re dead set that the great reality show Mythbusters has proven that putting up a metal canopy does not create drag but instead improves gas efficiency. Tomorrow they’re blasting a watermelon out of a tube to determine if the melon has seeds, more at eleven. Typol if you really read my statement you’d know that the conditions and habits were exactly the same, the only difference being an incline going west, yet I still saved more gas with the tailgate down. Given the facts I’ve posted, how do you explain me saving an entire tank of gas with my tailgate down? And please, don’t say I didn’t drive the same speed, or that I was going downhill, or driving in weekend traffic, or hauling bricks, because I’ve already stated that both routes were mirrored; and if all you’re going to say is ‘everybody has known this for decades’, or ‘independant tests have proven’ then please don’t bother. This was an independant test, was it not?

]]> By: typol http://www.dailyfueleconomytip.com/aerodynamics/fuel-economy-tip-keep-your-tailgate-up/comment-page-1/#comment-63366 typol Tue, 19 Jan 2010 03:21:21 +0000 http://www.dailyfueleconomytip.com/?p=58#comment-63366 @mk86 Your test is flawed. You have to try both scenarios both ways in identical conditions with identical traffic, identical gas formula, identical stops for eating, identical traffic patterns... Driver habits are the single most important factor. Because extra speed requires extra wind resistance squared, driving 70mph part of the time and then slowing to 50mph can require many gallons more than varying from 55-65 even though both average to 60mph. So, in many pickups, you can double your gas mileage by driving 60mph instead of 75mph. Independent tests prove that that manufacturers are correct in their claims that you get the best mileage with your tailgate up. This has been known for decades. @Ram it "I use a tonneau cover on my Dodge truck and I feel it gets better milage with it on." Feelings have nothing to do with it. You will get better mileage with it off for aerodynamic reasons. It's a cargo cover to keep lose stuff in; not a mileage aid. The test has been done many times by many independent testers and the results are the same. @mk86
Your test is flawed. You have to try both scenarios both ways in identical conditions with identical traffic, identical gas formula, identical stops for eating, identical traffic patterns…
Driver habits are the single most important factor. Because extra speed requires extra wind resistance squared, driving 70mph part of the time and then slowing to 50mph can require many gallons more than varying from 55-65 even though both average to 60mph. So, in many pickups, you can double your gas mileage by driving 60mph instead of 75mph. Independent tests prove that that manufacturers are correct in their claims that you get the best mileage with your tailgate up. This has been known for decades.

@Ram it
“I use a tonneau cover on my Dodge truck and I feel it gets better milage with it on.”
Feelings have nothing to do with it. You will get better mileage with it off for aerodynamic reasons. It’s a cargo cover to keep lose stuff in; not a mileage aid. The test has been done many times by many independent testers and the results are the same.

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