Pickup caps and wind resistence.
I was wondering if you might get better gas mileage when towing a travel trailer when you have a cab high of higher cap. I have a hard flat cover now. Has anyone had any info? or comments.
Forum Discussion
Dtaylor wrote:mlts22 wrote:
Wind tunnel tests show the air flying over the bed anyway so a cap doesn't help.s.
most wind tunnel test I have seen show the truck only, not with anything behind it. Would love to see one with a tt behind it to see what really happens to the air flow.
And those test that I know of, have an empty bed as well!!! Allowing the "bubble" of air to form that helps the rest of the air "flow over" the truck bed. What happens when the bed has a couple coolers, firewood, maybe couple bikes???, etc in it?
I would still like to see Myth Busters do another truck test, Truck #1-tail gate up, Truck #2- tail gate up with some "things" i the bed: maybe a couple coolers, larger rubbermaid tub with some luggage in it to stay dry, etc. Truck #3- same as #2 but with tail gate down: secure cargo items obviously!!!
With that said, I have had a cap on the last 2 trucks, and while I didn't notice an increase/ decrease with/without the cap, it is more practical than a tonneau cover for storing things in the bed, and way better than an open bed in terms of hiding and keeping things dry!!!
The '13 will probably get a cab high cap due to the reasons mentioned, though I don't like what the prices are now!!! Looking at Century and A.R.E. as of now.
Chris
