Well, after all that was said above, this probably wont matter. I took my tail gate off two years ago believing it helps in fuel consumption. I record everything about my truck and so far have found that my mpg has not improved. It is however, easier to back up on tight logging roads with my tail gate off. I like driving with it off. I may throw the tail gate back on for a few months to see it my mpg remains the same.

Jake

 

Ok...someome explain this to me. Why is it "illegal" to ride with the tailgate down? What in the heck is the big deal with this?

 

The placebo effect.. Some of you really seem to think that lowering your tailgate works. Even though the testing says otherwise. That's okay. I know some guys who swear they get better gas mileage when they run premium.

Explaining to them what the fuel is actually doing, I have found to be wasted breath.

And just because I'm ticked off: Telling someone that Jesus loves them (when you know that they don't believe in God) is against everything that is written in the New Testemant. Try reading it again (and I ain't talking about Bill needing to read it either).

And people wonder why religion gets a bad name.

98 F250LD 4X4

 

This has completly no relevance, but, My uncles 00 F350(7.3/6 speed) gets nearly the same mileage with 83 sheets of plywood on(even with the top of the cab) and empty with his pipe racks installed.... Now, my truck gets bettr mileage with the tailgate up and hood installed than with the tailgate up and no hood, but, watching stuff go on underhood is more than enough entertainment to make up the difference
Evan MacDonald
82 F100 FlareSide 2wd
HD 300-6 9.5:1 CR
Clifford 270H cam
Hedman Hedder
SBC valved 66 240 head
Headlight Relays - Delanty Style
NP435(6.69 low)
3.55 Geared ARB'd 9"
31x10.50/15 Cooper Discoverer LT's

 

Cab level caps? Ain't that an SUV?


https://www.ford-trucks.com/dcforum/User_files/MEPHISTO_XES/3b57c2103cd9b841.gif

"There's a little red button there,kid...don't ever, ever touch the red button!"

Garett

 

i think i read something in my ford manual that said the milage is better with the gate up, i was suprised, because common sence tells me otherwise

 

The intuitively obvious isn't always correct in fluid dynamics. One way to look at this situation is to imagine your truck punching a hole thru the fluid (air) and leaving little pockets of low pressure air / vacuum in it's wake. This turbulence can actually have the effect of "holding" a vehicle back. The most efficient streamlined shape is the teardrop / raindrop shape, which does not lend itself well to vehicle design. The "tail" of the raindrop reduces turbulence. I recall seeing some pretty exotic Porsche race cars on TV recently that had body panels extending approx 1/3 the length of the car back from the rear wheels forming a tail. They were weird looking and I am sure that the panels only function was to reduce turbulence / drag. Wind tunnel testing is the best real world way to study turbulence / drag. Fluid dynamics can be incredibly complex and predicting the turbulence / drag of a particular shape using intuition or math modeling just doesn't cut it sometimes. For example, according to some wind tunnel tests we conducted while I was still attending school, we determined that when carrying a small boat on top of your car, it is actually more efficient to have the bow of the boat pointed rearward, which is precisely opposite of what I would have expected.

 

I have a controversial solution -- Get a flat bed, then you have no tail gate to worry about..

{just the huge amount of wind resistance sticking out sideways behind the cab}
Wm
http://wsphotofews.excite.com/032/Mp/Wb/5M/EN89478.jpg
'96 F450 Custom Crewcab 4x4 Flatbed, Powerstroke, Banks Powerpack, Chip, Tranny control,Aux tranny, engine worked giving 340 hp and 660lb ft torque

 

Wow didn't know this thread existed this one's been here for awhile...My son has been asking me this very question. I told him that it did make a difference. (Not that it matters much in his truck...a four bangin' Ch*&#, I wouldn't have it) But I was surprised to see that it is illegal in some states. (Which states?? We live in Calif.) This could be a whole new argument. And what about just taking it off without a net? (Is this illegal also??) Any answers would be appreciated. (That is if anyone is looking...) Thanks All..

Deb

 

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 17-Oct-01 AT 09:10 AM (EST)[/font][p]
Aren't those hinges actually called pivot points? Or maybe rotating cusps? I think the term hinge is too loose for this application because a hinge is typically a two piece interlocking construction that swivels, not really separate parts that sit together like a tailgate. Though hinge is an easy term to use...tailgate hinge, yeah, that sounds easier than tailgate pivot point or tailgate rotating cusp

Ryan
1986 F-250 HD 4x4
4.10 gears, C6 trany
351W, Edelbrock 351 Performer intake
Edelbrock Performer 600cfm 4bbl carb
Edelbrock Pro-Flo air cleaner
Extreme 4x4 camshaft
Flowmaster 30 series dual exhaust
Custom headers
3" Warn body lift

 

Brought back to the top for the Tailgater's in the crowd.


[font color=red]Dennis

FTE Assistant Adminstrator
[/font]

[link: motorhaven.autoanything.com|How YOU Can Support This Site]

http://www.clubfte.com/users/mil1ion/canada_flag_animated.gif

[link:www.clubfte.com/users/mil1ion/Mil1ion.html|My Website,"North Of The 49th"]

[link:www.ford-trucks.com/guidelines.html|Club FTE]
http://www.clubfte.com/users/mil1ion/Minimorleytruck.JPG
[font color=blue]78 F-150 429CJ,Silver,Explorer Pkg.
64 1/2 Mustang Pre-World's Fair Car #8092
68-Mustang 289 2v-Sunlit Gold
[/font]

 

I wanted to comment on why the talegate down thing is a law...

I believe one reason is that if you re-end a truck with the tailgate down, it's de-capatation city. Imagine being in a Toyota Camry and rearending and nice F150 with that gate down. Let's just say you would save a whole lot of money on ballcaps and hair products. A lady rearened me once while I was moving a couch. She was in a Ford tarus and only hit me going about 30 miles an hour at most. It totalled her car and did nothing except ruin my tailgate and one of the rear lights. It looked like she hit a brick wall at 120 miles an hour. I couldn't believe it. They had to get her out with the Jaws of life. Luckily she wasn't hurt, but I guess with the physics involved in hitting a horizontal piece of strong metal was a little much for her poor car.

This has to have something to do with it. Trash flying out is probably another (like it wouldn't fly out anyways :-)

Brad

99 f150 XCAB
K&N FIPK, GIBSON EXAUST, SWEET SOUND SYSTEM

 

Trash flying out
>is probably another (like it wouldn't fly out anyways :-)

Ever go a little extra fast and have beer cans start flying out of the bed?

Ford tailgates are designed to be quickly removed by opening them halfway (45 degree angle) and then the one side just slides off. If you drive with tailgate open and no load on it, then you could throw the gate of the truck on a bump if it flops up halfway and pops off.


INLINE SIX POWER!
300 Cubic Inches of Low RPM Truck Torque! And twin-I-beams too!
"Drive a stick young man! There'll be time for automatics when you're old and unable."

 

I have, on three trucks, had to haul long distance with the tail gate down or no tail gate. The gate position made no difference in net MPG. However the prevailing wind direction did. I recently had a bed top installed on my new F250 PSD and took a 1500 mile round trip to Houston, Texas. Interstate highway both ways cuuise set on 70 MPH. Same mileage as a previous trip without the top, but it looks good and keeps my tools and equipment out of the weather.
A pickup truck, or car can haul anything anywhere in the US with a normally sized tailgate down or a load trailing behind the lights,up to a point. Over 24 inches behind the lights, or if the lights are blocked you are required by DOT to put light markers on the load. Having a tailgate or bed sides is not mandated by DOT. If that were the case all flat bed trucks would be illegal. With flat beds you are required to bind your loads down, two binder minimum. Load hangover, overall length, weight and lights are some of the things that are checked at port of entry / exit stations in many states.

 

>Dropping the tailgate to try and get better gas mileage is a
>MYTH plain and simple .
>The aero dynamics of the pick-up have been gone over & over
>again by manufacturers to provide the best performance by
>design and within the law.
>The drag created by the vehicle itself with or without the
>tailgate up doesn't change.
>So why take a chance on a fine for no reason.
>I been invovled in discussions about this subject many
>times.
>The outcome is always the same.
>It's NO Better with the tailgate down.
>
>Dennis
>78-F150 429CJ

Actually, dropping the tailgate does decrease drag. It has been proven by aerodynamics testing. The big myth is that removing the tailgate helps. Dropping the tailgate is a little (but not much) better than having the tailgate closed. BUT, completely removing the tailgate is significantly WORSE that having the tailgate close.

Aerodynamics testing has revealed that having the tailgate in the open position stabilizes the airflow as it flows out the bed of the truck. Removing it causes a lot of turbulence and increases drag.

Check this link out: http://mars.wnec.edu/~ehaffner/did.htm