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dadd75

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Ive been reading a lot and it appears the air needs a flat surface to hit to cut down on drag. Dodge did test to and having the tailgate closed was the best option for decreasing drag.
I agree. With the tailgate up, an 'air bubble' is created in the bed that deflects any air from 'dragging' against the tailgate.
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KeinoDoggy

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Same, i just ordered the ultra undercover flex.
Agreed. It always made sense to me that a tonneau cover would benefit air flow and thus better mpg. Perhaps this will quiet the naysayers.
 

colinl

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I reported what others said, lol. There are multiple truck forums and independent testers who threw out the 7% number. Its not hard to believe that if you decrease drag your mileage will go up. My awd ecoboost is driven 90% at 80-85 mph and gets 28.1 mpg. When i get a bed cover on im hopeful i will get an increase. If its 1-2 mpg i will call it a win.
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. 👍
 

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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.
So what you are telling me is my tonneau cover is literally paying for itself.
 

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Back in the late 90's I drove 900 miles from NY to GA. My truck had a 5.9L engine that got 15 mph on the highway, so I figured I'd leave the tailgate down the whole trip to improve my mpg by reducing the drag. Genius move. Live and learn. 😬
 

LSchicago

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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.
Not possible on a 4.5' bed. 8' maybe.
 

Automate

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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.
This assumes all driving is at highway speeds. The aerodynamic drag will not be the same at all speeds and increases with the square of the speed. In fact there may be some mileage decrease a very slow stop-n-go driving due to the added weight of the tonneau cover and the minimal aerodynamic drag at these speeds.
 

FloodingdowninTX

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You almost never see anyone driving around with tailgate down or a tailgate net these days. Plus if there's no load on it, the tailgate will bounce and I doubt that's good for it but I don't know if you're risking any dents or just the annoyance of hearing it banging open.

I definitely see 1-2 mpg improvement at 70 and 2-3 mpg at 85 with a tonneau cover.
I've seen a pricey ($49) tailgate boss. Not sure if it fits Maverick, but imagine there's a simple diy.
 
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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.
"Earthjustice strives to keep coal, oil, and gas in the ground."

What is the break even mileage if you follow this line of thinking??

"We go to where the fight is."

Must be one heck of a bike ride, or a loonnnnngggg walk or swim.
 

LSchicago

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100% possible just look at some of the threads on this site and people commenting in this thread. They did a virtual test on a Rivian, which is pretty close to a Maverick in size. The air does exactly the same thing it does vs a long bed.

https://insideevs.com/news/611642/rivian-r1t-aerodynamics-drag-coefficient-simulatiion/
Nope. Long bed has more time for the air path to lower and become turbulent. On a 4.5' bed air coming off the cab barely hits the top of the tailgate.
 

LSchicago

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