How to improve fuel economy with a tonneau cover

[kach22i]

The tonneau cover on my S-10 4x4 saves me a couple of mpg hwy.

I take it off in the winter months so it lasts longer. It's getting old, might have to replace it in a year or two.

[sc2dave]

Yeah, that's what i meant.The sheet metal would barely lay on top of the tailgate,just level with it.

[jakobnev]

It seems like wing+cover could be made with very little effort, and also be made so that it could be reconfigured or removed easily if it got in the way of cargo.

[sc2dave]

I don't see nothing done in the "basic redesign" graph and that has the most effect.what am i missing here?

[PaleMelanesian]

I think they just used the same picture. Things like rounding the front end (1997 F150), tapering the back of the cab, a lip on the tailgate, etc...

It doesn't really matter to us unless we're in the business of designing trucks.

[mnmarcus]

Basic redesign has the largest range of improvement too, as high as 20% drag reduction down to zero.

[kach22i]

Could someone give me an idea of what this roof wing from the chart looks like?

[d0sitmatr]

Originally Posted by sc2dave

what if you were to place a piece of sheet metal from the middle of the bed,to the top of the tailgate? The low side would be at the bed and the high part would be at the tailgate.

I did this with my old b2200 longbed, it did NOT help any

I def saw a huge improvement on my old ranger with a hard cap over open bed.
as I mentioned in another post, driving from my home town (naples, fl) to Miami int airport:
w/o tonneu: 3/4+ tank, just to get there
w/ tonneu: less than 1/2 tank

I made that same trip more than a dozen times over the course of 2 yrs as the woman I was dating at the time was studying in Europe. a few trips were made before getting the tonneu, and 1 trip was made w/o due to picking up a moped. all in all, most of my runs were made with close to the same weather conditions, including wind direction and time of day. as well as our lovely summer storms

however, I think all in all, when I get another truck, it WILL be getting an Aeroshell, Im probably going to closely copy that Mitsubishi one that someone posted a link to about 1/2 a yr ago.

[TX_Dj]

Tonneau seems to be the easiest way to gain a small percentage without adding ugly to the aero. IMHO, tonneau or caps add to the looks of the truck, I just can't justify a cap since I often haul things in the bed or in the future will have gooseneck/5th wheel attachments in there, and removing a heavy cap makes less sense to me than a lightweight tonneau.

Hoping it helps, I just bought the cheapest tri-fold I can find, and hoping it adds a little to the whole setup.

[brucepick]

The "simple wing" seems to get decent results as shown, but...

I think the "simple wing" could be improved a bit by angling it down slightly towards the tailgate's top edge. The ideal would be a rounded transition going to maybe a 10-12º angle downwards. But even a straight line panel, about 10-12º downwards, should be better than the straight wing.

And of course combine it with the bed cover for a nice improvement.