Ok, i dont know how many of you watch MythBusters on Discovery Channel and i don't know if this has been discussed or what not, but i couldnt find anything and i thought id just inform some that may not know..
Do u drive with ur taillgate down whenever u can? cuz it reduces drag and ur saving gas? Well sorry to tell you but u have actually be making ur gas milege worse! On Mythbusters they tested this theory.. with some researching they found out the tailgate being up was more gas efficient than driivng with it down.. The bed creates like a air bubble that spins teh air in the bed, allowing the air flow to go right over top of it.. as with it down makes the air bubble disappear and the air drops and goes behind the cab.. They tested this using a model truck, in a fishtank, with a propeller, blower oats in the water showing this bubble.. Now i wish i woulda took pics or had a vid to vid this but instead i just decided to do a diagram for those who dont understand what im talking about..
Top tailgate down, bottom tailgate up
Ok in teh diagram the lines and arrows are teh air flow.. not actual but u get the idea..
Now u can see in the tailgate down one where teh airflow drops behind the cab.. creating some drag.. Now in the one with the tailgate up illustrated, u can see the "bubble" i was talking bout, making a spinning ball i guess u can call it allowing the rest of the air flow to go over it.. This reduces the drag and is more fuel effiecent than with the tailgate down..
I'm bored and figured id post this.. maybe inform some people.. the way gas prices are so unstable and will continue, any gas saving is needed im sure.. esp for them big trucks.. Also i must add in the tests they used 2 identical 05 ford trucks but it should apply to all trucks..
I love Mythbusters but must have missed this episode. I don't have a truck, though, so it doesn't really matter to me.
Good to know, I'll be telling buddies and family about this.
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MYthbusters isn't scientific... and they can't reproduce their theory on that, or on the windows up/down gas mileage.
Unless they can repeat the experiment and get the same results, their data is worthless.
Points for originality, but F for form and follow-through.
If it's not network news, it's probably the truth getting out.
Some people are like slinkies: Not really good for anything,
but they still bring a smile to your face when you push them
down a flight of stairs.
I've known this since I was about 12, but it still isn't as good as using a tonneau
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Does anyone recall seeing a concept truck that had a tailgate that lowered so many degrees when you reached a particular speed?
my truck doesnt have a tailgate ATM... but then again it doesnt have an engine, front end, or interior either, so i guess gas mileage is the least of my worries
btw. if anyone has a 5 spd that'll mate up to my chevy 350, that'd be grand. lol
Sorry.....
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I get about the same with it up or down, the most it differed was MAYBE .5, but there are other factors ofcourse. But I dont ever drive with the tailgate on until I need to haul something.
and yet my 81 scottsdale got better mileage with a pro-net and no tailgate than it did with the tailgate up...
yea when i watched that episode the other day i nearly @!#$ when the myth was busted. That actually makes more sense, I just never thought of it that way.
Later
David
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themarin8r wrote:Saint wrote:I've known this since I was about 12
x2
A Saturn engineer confirmed this same topic. He was part of the team that did the 1994 S-10.
I even suggested this to some racers at Moroso Speedway with their huge turbo-diesels HD trucks and told them if you guys MUST have it open, I suggested them (if they can) to leave it at a 50-60-degree rake, so the tailgate acts like a spoiler for their RWD.
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DropTopPaul wrote:I saw it, blew my mind!
Sivler06Cobalt (David Neal) wrote:yea when i watched that episode the other day i nearly @!#$ when the myth was busted. That actually makes more sense, I just never thought of it that way.
Yes, i was surprised myself.. I didnt really believe the bubble they were talkin bout till they did the model.. then i thought well its a model.. its gonna skew the actual reality of this.. and they tested it and their results were teh same as they thought.. its a nice piece of info to know..
strat81 wrote:and yet my 81 scottsdale got better mileage with a pro-net and no tailgate than it did with the tailgate up...
Was weather, driving habits, and and weight the same? cuz those are factors that will throw off teh results.. I don't doubt it though, it acts similar to the trunklid im sure with the bubble but then lets air in or underneath that bubble out also..
Mr.Goodwrench-G.T. wrote:themarin8r wrote:Saint wrote:I've known this since I was about 12
x2
A Saturn engineer confirmed this same topic. He was part of the team that did the 1994 S-10.
I even suggested this to some racers at Moroso Speedway with their huge turbo-diesels HD trucks and told them if you guys MUST have it open, I suggested them (if they can) to leave it at a 50-60-degree rake, so the tailgate acts like a spoiler for their RWD.
Well at twelve i wasnt concerned about gas mileage
So this also proves that mythbusters was right if the engineer came up with the same results then.
Also one thing that i think might have skewed their results is, they were to only accelerate with the cruise control.. and they were both driving highway.. now im pretty sure drafting would contribute to better gas mileage.. Even tho they stated before they took off to not draft in one of the shots they have one of the trucks behind a small semi.. so the only way we could really know for sure is more tests.. but i dont doubt their results would be to much off.. I think the truck with the tailgate up got like 30miles futher than the one with it down..
Again, I'd like to see reproduced results.
Until it's checked in a wind tunnel and not just on blue-paper, I'd think the abrupt halt of the cab would make for aerodynamic flow, and I'm sorry, 2 SFX guys that test in the elements without actually being able to prove their assumptions don't amount to much to me.
If it's not network news, it's probably the truth getting out.
Some people are like slinkies: Not really good for anything,
but they still bring a smile to your face when you push them
down a flight of stairs.
They did u a wind tunnel but with a model truck, it was like a home made wind tunnel but i still agree.. also i was gonna get u a place to email them ur argument cuz maybe they'll challenge it but i found there forum thing with some peoples points brought up in it as well
Mythbuster's Message Board: Gas Mileage test invalid.
good post.
and most of these idiots with their tailgate's down have stick on hood scoops.
dont drive a truck and you dont have to worry about using less gas
1989 Turbo Trans Am #82, 2007 Cobalt SS G85
Yeah, but you know what Rodimus, when you finally have to move all your trash out of your Parent's basement it's nice to not have to rent a truck, since you obviously have no friends, just so you can move your stuff.
Here's something else, it may come as a shocker, but some people, and here's the shocker, actually need a truck. I know that suprised me, I couldn't believe that people actually have the need for a truck, I couldn't believe that all of these farmers couldn't get their work done with a Cavalier, or that a Cavalier wouldn't be able to tow a camper or boat. I think I was in denial for about a month when I found that out.
Grow up and realize that sometimes a truck is required, and even if the bed is used once, or the 4wd is used once it's worth the extra cost in gas.
Yella02-I promise I will return to you in one piece and this will stay up until I am safely home
manta... actually... i lost the tailgate at the beginning of winter (the bed rusted out pretty bad and the tailgate actually fell off... the bed and such have since been replaced and a tonneau cover is on the truck now) same driving conditions, habits, and should have gotten worse gas mileage due to the colder temps and still did better.
of course in 1981, they weren't exactly making aerodynamic trucks... so i dunno
yeah I just moved a month ago and that 8 foot bed was nice to have. So was the 4x4 when we got 8" snow 3 days ago.
I'm getting 10mpg now that its winter, but meh... nice fully loaded 10mpg truck > tiny 35mpg cavalier IMO.
yea if you live in the country i can understand, the problem is for example this guy at work, single, lives in the city driving a F250, bed is clean as a whistle so its obviously not being used, and being in the city its not exactly off roading, which he doesn't do either, but he never complains about what the gas mileage is
if your complaining or concerned with gas mileage you shouldnt own a truck, and about a good 50% of the people that own them dont have a practical use for them, I dont have any items in my parents basement, oh yea and when we moved I moved EVERY item I own in a Pontiac Grand Am
1989 Turbo Trans Am #82, 2007 Cobalt SS G85
Would that be your Gundam models? J/K man. Trucks are good in situations like moving, blocked up traffic, etc... but yeah most peolple dont use trucks intended for there intended use.
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i think its all bs it would only matter when your hitting the air coming at you, once its off the front surface it wouldnt matter
besides were bitching about like .25 mpg who @!#$ cares
-Borsty
