Tonneau Cover-increased Mpg?

fastracing21w · 07-08-2006, 07:23 AM

Hello,
I have a crew cab 2wd with utilitrack and wandered if a cover has helped anyone's gas mileage, and if so were you using a hard tonneau or soft?
thanks,

MuskyHunter · 07-08-2006, 08:15 AM

Yes, it seem to help. The most noticable for me is when towing my boat loaded with gear. That MPG number went up by 2-3 using a soft tonneau. I was getting roughly 10-11 towing the same without the cover.

baseballfanz · 07-08-2006, 10:33 AM

No increase that I saw of for me.

Gunner22 · 07-08-2006, 01:41 PM

I bought a soft cover for mine and it increased the mileage about 0.5 mpg on average. I was getting between 17.5 and 18 mpg without and now I am hovering between 18 and 18.5. Nothing special, I personally got it for looks and a little extra security when using the bed.

f00dstamps · 07-08-2006, 03:21 PM

fast,

i loved the look of my Truxedo (roll back softcover) but did not notice a significant increase if any at all. i'm now using overhead racks so my 5 month old truxedo is useless. i'm selling it for $255 pickup only... or in this case, i can meet you halfway since you live in kansas city.

DRTYAZN · 07-08-2006, 03:54 PM

It improved the look, no improvement during city stop and go driving, but it does help on freeway trips. The less drag in the rear end allows better fuel economy, no difference in city mileage but got another 1.5 to 2 mpg additional after having put on the hard cover. I don't think it really matters soft or hard, just that you eliminate the tailgate drag during higher speeds.

CHEIF · 07-08-2006, 04:03 PM

I put the Lund tri-fold soft cover on over a year ago. I haven't noticed any improvement. I check my mileage to the 'T' at every fillup. There are so many variables that the mileage never comes out the same, but I can predict about what it will be depending on how/where I've been driving it. If I were seeing even .5 MPG more, I'd say the cover helps, but I haven't seen anything.

**helomech** · 07-08-2006, 07:47 PM

I have the pace edwards electric cover and I haven't noticed any difference, but next time I am on the hwy with the cruise set I will open the cover and see if the scangauge notices the difference.

*TexasTitan05* · 07-10-2006, 07:40 PM

I thought the Mythbusters busted that (on the Discovery Channel)... They actually said that a truck with the tailgate up, helps better with gas mileage. There's some physics behind that, but they took one truck and drove it with the tailgate down, and another one with the tailgate up on a full tank of gas. The truck with the tailgate up got better gas mileage, than the one with the tailgate down. Anywho, I think the covers look good, and may consider buying one myself. On the other hand, I don't think having one really helps with mpg; it's a V8 - us Titan owners have to suck it up and pay for the gas...

fastracing21w · 07-11-2006, 09:49 AM

Texas,
thanks for the reply, I knew the airgate option wouldn't work, but I was not sure about the tonneau, and I would not use a tailgate spoiler either for those reasons. I have been wandering about throttle plate extensions and the TORNADO?

CHEIF · 07-11-2006, 03:42 PM

I remember that episode as well. 2 guys, 2 trucks, set on cruise. I wonder if they switched trucks for the clencher. The gate up created a rolling pillow that let more air flow over the truck.

I also wish I could remember how much further the gated one went, just guessing maybe 10 miles or so, but maybe a lot more. They ran them both until they ran out of fuel.

Your memory must be better than mine Texas T. Got any more recollection on how many miles more????

Cheif

jaho1979 · 07-11-2006, 03:51 PM

I seem to remember it was 25 to 30 miles, but could be wrong, its been a while since I saw it.

Hyperion · 07-11-2006, 04:11 PM

The mythbusters just tested tailgate up VS. tailgate down and the tailgate up went somewhere close to 25 miles further. If you search there are actually a lot of much more scientific tests comparing alot of different options such as tailgate position, spoilers, cab ferrings (spelling??? think Chevy Avalanche), and tonneau's. Personally I have seen maybe a 0.25-0.50 mpg difference when you average my MPG for 5 tanks before cover and 5 tanks after cover (I am really anal about calculating MPG for some reason, don't ask I can't explain). Most of my driving is on the freeway and I am averaging 14.85 mpg since I bought the truck.

POKER TITAN · 07-11-2006, 05:58 PM

I have a TEKStyle soft cover. Bought it mainly for looks and storage ability (water proof) but have noticed my MPH went from 15 to 15.5. I'm about 50/50 highway/city.

CHEIF · 07-13-2006, 04:29 PM

Thanks Guys,

That seems about right. (the 30 miles per tank part) Gonna have to figure out what that means in MPG terms.

Cheif