Being open minded is not the virtue it is cracked up to be.

This is the wrong place to wax philosophical, but if your interested, read "Fountain Head". The philosophy expounded in the book has it's shortcommings, but it's an excellent eye opener on some of the seriously misguided things being promoted by society today.

Obviously, we are all having a bit of fun on this unimportant topic.

Actually, I don't have really strong feelings on the subject... other'n the fact that your more likely to see me buying a minivan than a topper.

 

I'm a landscaper and I frequently carry empty garbage cans in the back of my truck.

If I put the bucket upside down, just behind the cab, the force of the wind will hold it steady.

If I put the bucket on its side with the opening against the back of the cab, the force of the wind will hold it steady.

If I put the bucket on its side, against the cab, with the opening pointing towards the tailgate, the wind coming from over the cab will come back and toss it around.

If I put the bucket against the tailgate, no matter what orientation, the wind will try to throw it out. This happened to me on the freeway when I started my business.

My unbiased scientific conclusion...

Most of the wind traveling over the cab creates a downforce on the bed. Even though it may travel out the back smoother with the tailgate off or down, all aerodynamics are lost long before the air even reaches the back of the truck.

 

Tailgate up......
Reason why I don't have it down:

1. I don't want the car behind me hitting me in stop and go traffic especially at night. Don't you hate when they say their sorry for hitting you...
2. Pot holes in the road that I seem to hit, I don't want the tailgate bouncing up and down.
3. I do not have an issue with gas mileage.
4. If I wanted my tailgate down, I would remove the entire piece all together.

 

5. Road debris (sand, rocks) scratch and nick up the tail gate. Take that from me.... I know. I drove with the tailgate down alow and now it looks like someone has shot my tailgate with a 20GA shotgun.

I also read the same "Scientific Study" article that NIck mentioned and also seen it somewhere before. It actually hurt gass milage to put it down compared to leaving it up.

 

I think Blkfrd... and Khendrix have finished this thread, hopefully forever.

Thanks guys!

Chris

 

Hey Rocky - The difference can be attributed to - the road to CO from the East is uphill vs. downhill on the way back!! You got better gas mileage cause you were coasting downhill!

 

I have to agree, I took a trip MI to FL and back. When I came out of (I think) Kentucky, I doubled my gas mileage.

 

Because I don't want to smell my dive gear for the 3 to 12 hr drive home and that bed provides a little safety from flying tanks / weights etc should I happen to get in a wreck or roll it.

 

I like to watch people with Suburbans and wagons try and load fridges and xmas trees in their autos.

Toppers are also very good for traveling and camping.

 

Crawl, Reminds me...this weekend I saw a guy with an Escort trying to load, what looked to be, a >32" TV (in the box) into his car. The kid from the store kept shaking his head. Pretty funny

 

For what it's worth... The mileage difference does vary significantly in all the tests I've read, but here is a constant. If you have your tailgate down and are ever rear-ended, you destroy the entire bed, and push it into the back of the cab. If you have it up, and get rear-ended they have to fold your bumper, its mounting brackets, and any tow hitch (frame mounted) you may have before they will do any significant damage. Just a thought...