I have an 08 Fx4 and was considering getting an air flow tailgate. Didn't know if anyone had any pics or opinions about said feature.

 

barnards,

i don't know the reason you want a new tailgate. They do not increase mpgs as you probably know because the solid tailgate will create an air bubble to reduce drag. Are you looking at a metal grate or the rubberized cloth? Some are used to help accommodate a goose neck trailer others for ease of loading. Let us know what you were thinking and we can give better input to you.

Cherrs

 

I guess my knowledge of "air bubbles" has failed me. I thought the reason people got tonneau covers and such things was for better gas mileage. I was going to go with the air flow gate because I also want a truck box and do not want to spend 600+ dollars on a tonneau cover that will fit one.

 

I wouldnt. I had one on a previous truck of my. dumbest thing i did to that truck. When i needed to haul something in the back i would have to change to the regular tail gate. I felt no diffence with and without the "air gate" as far as drag will going down the high way. If you ever need to haul things in the back like i did, it was a pain. Unless you have a 250 or 350 that needs a metal air gate that has a depression in the middle to give clearance for a goose neck trailer so you still have somewhat of a tail gate, i wouldnt put one on. I think my truck would look trashy with one, but thats JMO.

 

When at speeds of over 40(ish) mph, air circulates in the bed causing the drafted air off the top of the truck to skim off of it. No it is not as efficient as getting a toneau cover but I would imagine you actually could see reduced fuel economy with an "airflow" tailgate since there will be no vortex in the bed and you will have the drag of the newly installed gate.

To better understand this (if need be)- put a small peice of string or rope in the bed of your truck and watch it when you get up to highway speeds. It will circle around in the bed instead of just blowing out right away. Inevitably it will leave the bed but you will see what I mean.

 

Im gonna have to say if you get reduced fuel economy it might be very very very minimal. Meaning you wont see any 2 MPG difference or better. The use of a air gate just to reduce wind resistance works about as much as putting a wing on the trunk of a mustang to help performance. Unless you are going 100+ MPH in your mustang that wing isnt going to help push the rear of the car against the pavement to any degree to help performance. Only Indy cars reach speeds where the rear wing is usefull in control around the bends of a track. If you are purchasing it for looks its fine but if you are looking for a reduction in fuel economy its a waist of money. I know i had one and saw no difference.

 

Right, I didn't mean you would see anything significant, but a gain in economy is more likely than not an idealistic dream.

 

thanks for the posts

 

Yep, airflow tailgates and tailgate down has been shown to be less efficient than standard tailgate up. Airflow tailgates are slowly disappearing from trucks around the US.

 

I was watching myth busters probably around a year ago and they did a show on this very topic they took 2 exact Pickups filled with exactly the same amount of gas 1 w/tailgate 1 w/o the truck without tailgate ran out of gas first If I remember wright by quite a bit too they claimed it had to do with that vortex thing in the bed of truck