Just a (possibly worthless) thought. If you get better MPG with a bed cover, would it be worthwhile to create come kind of bedcover with plywood? Sort of a table looking thing that would be secured to the bed.

Something I coudl easily pop in or out of the bed depending if I plan on hauling anything.

Again, might not be worthwhile, not sure.

I know I saw Mythbusters prove that tailgate up is better than tailgate down but not sure about the bedcover, just going on what I "think" might result in MPG with this idea.

 

Hey Dave here. I had a 99 with the V-10 gas in it. I simply took a couple of pieces of 3/4 plywood for the cover. I know it was HEAVY but I was able to put a ladder on it to use it for a work platform....
Anyway, I took some 3/4 I believe...aluminum angle and screwed it to the inside lip of the bed side, so when you drop the precut sheet of plywood INSIDE the bed, it would lay flush with the top of the bedside. I put a piano hinge about 3/4 of the way back (short bed) and it then would hinge up and back on the front side. I also put heavy gate hinges back on the front of the bed and this allowed the whole shooting match to hinge up and gently lay againist the cab. I put some door rubber bumpers on the wood where it would lay on that when it was hinged up against the cab. I then painted a large confederate flag on the front section and a Harley Bar and shield on the back part. It worked FANTASTIC and was secure againist theft. I put a NASCAR style hood pin setup on the back corners and a simple padlock did the trick with a gate handle to lift it up and back. It worked fantastic TILL i bought a fifth wheel camper in Florida and had to take it off. With no where to store it, I had to tearfully leave it at the RV dealer. If I am able to find and scan some pics, it was a masterpiece to look at for sure...It did give me a couple of more MPG on the gasser so in theory it would do the same for a diesel...Good luck.....Dave

 

Not sure I would be as elaborate as your setup but the bolded text is what I was looking for!

Thanks!

 

They do got some cloth kind with the rails, had them on my previous vehicles that worked with some sucsess, about a 100.00 or so.

 

I found a couple of pictures.....and the only 2 that exist of what once was my pride and joy on my old blue truck. Both pictures are combined in one scan. The confederate flag was on top and the Harley bar and shield was on the bottom or back half near the tailgate. I miss it when it comes to putting the ladder on there and working in the garage. I put road sign posts on the underside for extra rigidity and a floor jack in the middle just in case. I also had bed corner tiedown rings so I could tie down the ladder when I used it to get to the ceiling of the garage. Definitely different and original..Take care, Dave

 

Damn, that's about as southern as it gets. Love it.

 

Holy schnikies batman, somebody put some attention and detail into the painting on that bedcover...

FWIW, there was a 2nd mythbuser where they showed that bedcovers do not save a whole lot on mileage. From what I recall, they found that the air circulates in a truck bed, and there is no added drag as the airflow just passes over the air circulating in the bed.

Doesn't mean they aren't cool.

 

last year I found a used soft cover on craigslist for $40. Might be cheaper than plywood, hardware and beer for the assembly process?

 

Found it!













Thanks, I didn't think about that.

 

AhhhHHhh! Glad I wasn't imagining that. Pretty bad if you are making up your own Mythbusters episodes.

Have you thought about a locking hard top bedcover? Those are cool because you can leave stuff in your bed and not worry about people taking off with it (unless they REALLY want it and smash the locks). The retractable ones are neat too, no big bulky pieces of plastic to remove in case you need to haul something big.

 

X2

I like that cover, NICE Work !!!!

 

Thanks a bunch, I sure miss it!!

 

FWIW, I measured a slight increase after putting a soft cover on the bed - but I was only about 1/4 tank into it being on when I filled up for this weekend.

Even if the gain ends up being negligible, it's worth it to me to have some protection for the contents in the bed (I play in a band and sometimes equipment ends up back there!), some slight measure of security (if you can't see it...), it looks good, and best of all - I can roll it up against the cab and the camper will still fit so no hardware removal required.