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Old 10-16-2018, 09:18 AM   #9
fjr vfr
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Join Date: Sep 2018
Location: Hanover, VA
Posts: 83
About 20 years ago when the tailgate down fad was at it's height, Consumer Reports did a very complete report on the subject. They used two full sized pickups and two small pickups. They drove each pickup with their gates down and with them up. Each time they measured an exact amount of fuel in each tank. They further drove in varied conditions to simulate normal usage.

What they found was one of the large pickups and one of the smaller got about one mpg better fuel economy with the gate down and the other two pickups got about one mpg better with it up.
Their conclusion was the difference was slight enough to make it just personal preference to which appearance the owner liked.
Now about 20 years later I would think it would be less of a wash. The auto makers are doing everything to claim their truck has the best economy. I would bet they do extensive wind tunnel testing to that end. I once read an article written by a Ford and a GM engineer explaining why the bed lengths and widths vary between manufactures. It is due to adjustments made to get the best results for airflow.
So, I would side with tailgate up, but there is a lot of variables.
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