New Tonneau Cover! Extang

Grabbed an Extang Solid Fold tonneau this weekend. Loving it so far.

Immediate improvement to the drag/driving feel on the truck. I can imagine I will see some MPG improvements quickly.

I hesitated on a tri-fold, hard top tonneau because I was worried about those times I need the full bed.

Here's why I went with this one.....

It's light weight (50 lbs) and installs SUPER easily. I can just as easily take it off and set it aside in my garage anytime I need the whole bed or if I intend to do some moderate 4-wheeling and don't want to take a chance of damaging the cover etc. It just folds right up, unscrew the clamp downs near the cab and off it goes. Putting it back on is just as easy.

Highly recommended so far!

The roll top models I was looking at require hardware installation along the side rails and you lose about 2 inches of bed width on each side and you can't take that off if ever you need the entire space of the bed.

 

Pretty sweet cover, but don't expect any type of increase in MPG unfortunately.

 

I have been considering this model, but had a question. Does this model only clamp at the front and back of the bed. In doing so, does it allow for someone to grab the middle of the cover on the side and lift it any at all...or does it not allow it to bend because of the tension of holding it down?

 

@tacomamike37 - why no MPG increase? I have read time after time that tonneaus do increase fuel efficiency (maybe not a lot but certainly some).

@ssilence - there is no lifting going on with the middle panel. It is TIGHT.

 

Sounds good...that's what I was hoping to hear.

 

The aerodynamics on late model trucks take the open bed into account by routing the air over the truck, then over the bed, some air that goes into the bed actually kind of rolls around like a cylinder and helps the airflow over the tailgate. IOW, the aerodynamic work negates any improvement from covering the bed.

Vendors still use the marketing from older trucks, like they do with air intakes to make the marketing statements, but newer trucks and engines don't see much, if any improvement.

FYI, I've had 3 different covers on 2 different trucks (Tacoma and Dakota) with no mpg affects by the addition of a cover. Also, I think there was a Mythbusters done that showed no mpg gains from a cover.

 

Scott: Looks sharp on your truck. Hard tonneaus are definitely the way to go.

 

The biggest proponents of increased mpg are the sellers of tonneau covers!

Check out some wind tunnel testing of pickups. Pretty interesting stuff. Most of the air is directed completely over the bed and the air that does get "trapped" in the bed is negligible at best..

 

OP can you report back on your MPG? Unchanged or slightly better?

 

I had heard about the wind roll affect in the bed before also. Cover looks good though. I was thinking of pickin one up.