[Diesel Washington]

Not sure if this is a myth or not, but i was wondering if anyone is planning on taking the tailgate off of the Ram 1500 in order to increase fuel efficiency.

Does that trick even work? I remember them testing it on Mythbusters once, but I can't remember the result.

 

[L.O.A.]

I think this would be pointless, the truck is already really heavy, plus with a big heavy vehicle we can't only make fuel economy better to some point. Good driving habits will go a much longer way.

 

[Accused]

yea it works, you get better air flow, heres a crude diagram

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you get air flow that comes over the top and then swirls around in the box before going up over the tailgate. This creates drag...

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if you have that space open then you get smoother airflow...

There are options to replace the tailgate, like a mesh option so the box is still useable...

 

[tugboat]

I've seen some guys just straight up leave their gate down.

 

[jhardie]

Mythbusters proved that tailgate removed was the same as tailgate up. They think the weight savings helped. What did surprise them was that gator net had the best results.
Tailgate down: 5.2 gallons/hr @ 55mph.
Tailgate up: 5.0 gallons/hr @ 55mph.
Hardcover over pickup bed: 5.0 gallons/hr @ 55mph.
Tailgate mesh: 5% more efficient
Tailgate removed: about the same as tailgate up and hardcover
Mesh was most efficient by 5%

 

[Accused]

Mythbusters proved that tailgate removed was the same as tailgate up. They think the weight savings helped. What did surprise them was that gator net had the best results.
Tailgate down: 5.2 gallons/hr @ 55mph.
Tailgate up: 5.0 gallons/hr @ 55mph.
Hardcover over pickup bed: 5.0 gallons/hr @ 55mph.
Tailgate mesh: 5% more efficient
Tailgate removed: about the same as tailgate up and hardcover
Mesh was most efficient by 5%

so if its weight savings why are up and down not the same and removed not betteR?

 

[jhardie]

The up vs down was all in the air flow over the truck. With the gate up, it creates a pocket of air that helps direct the air flow up and over. When the gate is down, that air pocket's not there and gets sucked into the bed creating drag.

Then you'd think w/ it off it creates the same back flow of air--but this is where they think the weight was the difference.
But we're talking a difference of 5.0 vs 5.2--I guess if you drive a lot of miles it would start to add up.

 

[Accused]

The up vs down was all in the air flow over the truck. With the gate up, it creates a pocket of air that helps direct the air flow up and over. When the gate is down, that air pocket's not there and gets sucked into the bed creating drag.

Then you'd think w/ it off it creates the same back flow of air--but this is where they think the weight was the difference.
But we're talking a difference of 5.0 vs 5.2--I guess if you drive a lot of miles it would start to add up.

fair enough, going off those numbers had me a bit confused.

See I was always under the idea that the gate up was creating the drag...

wonder why the mesh doesnt behave the same as tail gate down...

although wasn't the rams box and cab designed to optimize air flow over the truck?

 

[tugboat]

if you remove the tailgate it kind of kills the point of buying a truck.