The tailgate on my truck is in rough shape and instead of replacing it or fixing it I thought about looking into a louvered or flow-thru design tailgate. The two I've been eyeing up closer are the Custom Flow or the Handy Elite. Anyone have any experience with these gates? As far as how they hold up, do the louvers get bent up? I do haul materials but it's not something that I'd beat the hell out of.

And as far as the whole controversy, tailgate up or down(or flow-thru or net), from what I've heard an older truck like my will benefit by becomming more aerodynamic, but on a newer truck such as a SuperDuty will incure increased wind resistance and lose mileage.

I'm open to suggestions!

 

Mythbusters did a segment on it and I think having a tailgate down lowers gas mileage no matter what the design of the truck. However, it's not much no matter what truck you have. I have a coworker who has the louvered one and it's made of thick PVC and has held up nicely for years.