5er tailgate or not for better mpg?
A thread yesterday spoke of louvered tailgates eliminating the lose of loose cargo in the bed due to turbulence. That got me wondering but I didn't want to hijack the thread. If a louvered or lack of ...
Forum Discussion
I think the problem is there are too many variables:
- Long or short bed
- Standard or extended pin box
- Lower riding 4x2 vs higher riding 4x4
- is the trailer riding level or nose high
- Is the bed otherwise empty or full of stuff
- Wind conditions (for, against, crosswise)
- Style of 5er front end (low, mid height, tall along with squared off or rounded)
- Dually or single rear wheels
- Regular cab vs crew cab
All of these things affect wind resistance in some but not all situations. If you are worried about fuel economy, go a little slower and it will almost always result in better fuel economy (even then you will get people arguing they get better milage at 75 over 55 because the gearing puts the motor in it's ideal rpm range, though I'm not buying it when wind resitance increases with the square of the speed)
- Long or short bed
- Standard or extended pin box
- Lower riding 4x2 vs higher riding 4x4
- is the trailer riding level or nose high
- Is the bed otherwise empty or full of stuff
- Wind conditions (for, against, crosswise)
- Style of 5er front end (low, mid height, tall along with squared off or rounded)
- Dually or single rear wheels
- Regular cab vs crew cab
All of these things affect wind resistance in some but not all situations. If you are worried about fuel economy, go a little slower and it will almost always result in better fuel economy (even then you will get people arguing they get better milage at 75 over 55 because the gearing puts the motor in it's ideal rpm range, though I'm not buying it when wind resitance increases with the square of the speed)
