Ford air tunnel testing: tailgate myth and tonneau cover (aerodynamics / MPG)

[K5Blazer]

I know what you were referring to, I was just giving another example of what the stylist thought aerodynamics were.

You have it backwards, aerodynamic engineering dictated the style of the cars I mentioned.

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[surfstar]

Funny how everyone will thank and agree with ford on this but still half this forum will go to their graves insisting that fords 10k mile oil change intervals are insanity and quack advice. Lol

Spot on.
"Automotive engineers are only correct when their science aligns with my beliefs."

 

[Ren E Gade]

 

[XLent]

My personal experience: 90% highway & 65mph on cruise control
With tonneau: 32mpg
W/out tonneau, tailgate closed: 33mpg
W/out tonneau; bed loaded, tailgate on short cable open: 35mpg
W/out tonneau, bed loaded, tailgate closed, towing 4x10 loaded trailer: 29mpg

 

[bake]

Click 'n' Clack, the Tappet brothers, years ago got a question asking about putting a cargo net in place with the tail gate open. They answered that, of course, that was a very good idea. The next week they jokingly "ate crow" saying that an engineer from GM had called to tell them that they were totally wrong. His explanation was a little different than the video, but actually about the same thing if you watch the wind tunnel smoke in the video. He said that with the gate closed a 'bubble of air' forms in the bed letting the oncoming air slip over the truck more easily. That makes sense if you have ever taken your dog in the bed when driving. The air around the dog is very still, even at high speeds.

 

[bake]

Just occurred to me that some younger readers may not remember the Saturday morning radio show on NPR, CarTalk.

 

[Old Ford Guy]

Interesting. I saw this topic and watched the video while at work today, then driving home there were a few leaves in the bed and I noticed in the rear view mirror they were swirling around back to front in the 'air bubble' that forms in the bed. Most of them stayed in even on the highway stretch.

nothing like some 'real world' observations. i use a soft rollup bed cover and dont give this much thought i must admit.

 

[Old Ford Guy]

You will, and I do. I have a couple of business trips that are very regular, and over 100 miles each way. I'm not guessing that my tonneau cover saves 2mpg at 85, I know it does.

I don't use fuelly but when I make the same trip 2 or 3 times a month and have done it with and without tonneau cover, I'm sure.

Edit: the reason I sometimes don't have my tonneau cover is that I might have my MTB tailgate pad installed, instead. And the company pays for gas on work trips, so no one complains when others are using trucks and SUVs that get way worse highway mileage than my ecoboost AWD Maverick.

that must make you a hero around here. i would speculate that far more fleet operators would choose Mav's if they could just get their hands on them.

 

[Guv]

Click 'n' Clack, the Tappet brothers, years ago got a question asking about putting a cargo net in place with the tail gate open. They answered that, of course, that was a very good idea. The next week they jokingly "ate crow" saying that an engineer from GM had called to tell them that they were totally wrong. His explanation was a little different than the video, but actually about the same thing if you watch the wind tunnel smoke in the video. He said that with the gate closed a 'bubble of air' forms in the bed letting the oncoming air slip over the truck more easily. That makes sense if you have ever taken your dog in the bed when driving. The air around the dog is very still, even at high speeds.

I had a clapped out, Ugly 72 F-150 with hopped up 428 CJ from a 69 Ford Cobra. One night (after I sold it to one of my mates) at 120 with the side windows down, all the empty beer cans in the bed decided to come flying through the open sliding rear window! Scared the shite out of us, young and dumb. We found out, airflow in a pu bed is a strange thing.

 

[Bad Bart Man]

A lot of independent testing has been done and the number that seems consistent is 7, 7% improvement in mpg over no cover. That's a 2 mpg gain on my Maverick not to mention the other benefits.

 

[DeanoBravo]

Just some math, for fun a 2mpg improvement as reported by several on this post is roughly 5% at 40mpg average (less if you are getting more)
At 40mpg, a 2 mpg increase saves 1 gallon of gas per 20 gallons or 1 gallon of gas for every 800 miles.
this translate to 10 gallons of gas for 8,000 miles, 100 gallons for 80,000 miles, 200 gallons for 160,000 miles.
so, if you drive your truck for 80,000 miles, you would multiply 100 times your average gas price (move the decimal 2 places) so $3.599 gas saves you $359.90 per 80,000 miles. We can also do the division to find how much money you can save per mile, which in this case would be your price per gallon of gas divided by 800. 3.599/800=0.0045 which is a 0.45 cents per mile savings at $3.599 per gallon of gas. To find break even mileage, divide the final cost of your cover by .0045 and that will give you your break even mileage. $450 cover would break even at 100,000 miles.

Dickhead knows his math.

 

[K5Blazer]

He left out the cost of items in the bed that were ruined by inclement weather or stolen due to no cover.

$450? Who cares?
Money well spent.

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