Partial tonneau!?

[Sven7]

Originally Posted by ChadB

So you're saying burning fuel while sitting in one place and gaining nothing from it is bad?

Normally I wouldn't warm a vehicle but I had to get out of the truck because my dog was having trouble with his dog house in the middle of a storm and my son was already in the truck and needed to stay warm. I was already running late and my only other option was to take him inside put him in his bouncy chair, fix the dog house, run back before he cries too much, take him back to the truck and buckle him in his seat. So, yeah I broke my rule and did the illogical thing and left it running. I plan on adding a block heater when money allows but that's a future thread.

Being a broke a$$ single parent is fun.

Totally understandable. There's a big difference between being busy and deliberately starting your car a few minutes early.

[Frank Lee]

Not gonna pass judgement on Chad's situation at that time but now seems to be a good time to say:

1) It appears many people think that if it's cold out and you shut the engine off, the interior cools down to ambient temperature with the same speed as the time it takes for the engine to come to a stop. Well it doesn't... at least if you keep the windows and doors shut. Vice versa for a/c in the summer.

2) People- especially kids- should be dressed for conditions. That way 15 minutes of exposure to ambient temps (not to mention windchill) doesn't result in immediate death. Heck, proper dress and a person may not even experience discomfort. As one who has gone through many a severe MN winter in VW Microbusses/Bugs/and Corvairs with essentially no heat at all (including surviving infancy and childhood in those things too) I can personally vouch for the effectiveness of at least using a lap blanket (like they did in the horseless carriage days).

3) Block heaters = good.

4) Get Mom to throw 25% of her income into the pot. Fair's fair.

[ChadB]

Devils tower - I don't fit in any vehicle so it doesn't matter

Frank - 100% of his "mom's" income, if you want to call her that (I dont) is $0. Even if she showed up with cash in hand I'd call the police since she's not allowed contact with him, but that's getting off topic.

The question was how far back I need the extension to go to make a noticeable difference in fuel economy?

[KamperBob]

The rear third seems a rule of thumb. What I'd do is measure the height of the cab above the bed. Leave that length of bed behind the cab open. Close it off from there back. Why? The eddy bubble would be more circular than elliptical thereby robbing less parasitic energy from the vehicle's flow field to keep it stirred. YMMV but that's my 2c.