Improve Your MPG here

Out of curiosity, how much does having a cap over the bed affect the mpg's? I assume it would be for the better, however slight.

 

Wonder if just leaving the tailgate down will help increase mileage? I think I'll try it on my trip to Vincennes, IN next week.

 

Depends on the cap maker I think. I had one on my old ranger that sucked air down between the cab and bed. Lost about 1-2mpg.

 

I've always had soft tonneau covers on my trucks - and after the initial install of them on each truck, they gained 1-2mpg.

Mybusters did some testing on covers & such. They tested a hard cover but never tested a soft one. They always seem to miss things when they do their scenarios. The hard cover didn't do as well as you'd think - but I think the 'weight' of it hindered the results. They never tested pappy caps either.

 

I wouldn't think they'd need to test soft vs. hard covers. Their test wasn't weight related, but aerodynamics related. A hard cover is going to break the vortex of air created by an open bed with the tailgate up just as much as a soft cover.

 

It could be weight related.... they tested with tailgate up, tailgate down, hard cover, and tailgate removed w/ net.

The tailgate removed with netting was the best of all the scenarios.

You wouldn't think...but how else would weight not be a factor? You can't tell me that goofy netting was the reason.....

 

My mpg improved 2-3 with one of these. http://www.leer.com/100rpage.html
2.7, reg cab, 5 speed, combined city/hwy avg 27 mpg.
I wouldn't get the canopy for the mpg, but it's a nice bonus. Got it to protect my upright bass etc.

 

It could be a factor by still creating the vortex and allowing some air to pass through. Tailgate down was the worst (or one of the worst) due to air coming over the cab and slamming into the tailgate (due to no vortex) and causing more drag.

http://kwc.org/mythbusters/2005/11/episode_43_seasickness_cures_f.html

As you can see in this one, open bed with tailgate up was about the same as with a hard cover. So if no cover = lighter and hard cover = heavier, how is a soft cover going to be different? I don't see any difference in MPG when my wife and 3 kids are in the truck, so how is a tailgate going to make a difference? My wife weighs more than my tailgate!

http://kwc.org/mythbusters/2006/12/episode_64_more_myths_revisite.html

 

If that were the case, every auto maker in the world would call for premium gas (they don't care what you pay) and claim higher mpg numbers. Your OBDII is calibrated to run on a particular octane. I do question the Toyota 4.0, though, since the FJ uses the same motor/transmission and calls for premium What I am certain of is that mine runs great on what is called for, and I'm not dropping one extra cent for the oil companies...

 

If premium does help, it would be more cost effective today than a few years ago... 10 or 20 cents more a gallon is a pretty small percentage when you are looking at $4 per gallon vs. $4.20. When gas was $1.50, then $1.70 was a bigger jump. If you get some numbers on the comparisons, please post them...
Thanks for the info.

 

I've run 87 for the 2 years I've had it. A few months back I tried running 89 for a month just to see if it made a difference since it was only an extra 10 cents/gallon. I got slightly better mpg, but the cost per mile was the same so I was paying more for a proportionate increase in range. No real incentive to run higher octane for me unless I want to fill up 30-50 miles later (forget what the numbers worked out to be), and pay more at that time. Essentially for me it would mean 1 more trip to work or back home before a more expensive fill up.

 

New air filter, clean out the junk (weight is an MPG killer), tire inflation, synthetic oil and trany fluid (if automatic), ease up on the speed, Seafoam the gas and throttle body. I have a 2000, 2.7L, 5 speed, 4x4 Access cab and I get 25-26 mpg on the highway at 65-70mph on cruise control, no cap or tonneau cover, 235/75 r15 Geolander A/T at 35psi. Some tires rob MPG. Aggressive treads that are good for off road are poor for MPG, usually.