Better fuel mileage with tonneau cover?

[Joes2007ST]

Thinking about getting a tonneau cover and was wondering if it is true if I will get better fuel mileage with it on.

 

[JohnnyO]

It depends. Mythbusters says no and in fact tested on a pair of crewcab short bed Chevys, similar to a Sport Trac. Their take was that the bed fills with high pressure air and the rest of the air flows over it.

I think a tonneau would make the most difference on a regular cab pickup.

That said, my first truck was a '99 Ranger Supercab 4x4 with a 3.0, stick, and 3.73 gears, that was so slow that it couldn't get out of its own way. After I put a tonneau on it definitely held speed on hills better.

I think a tonneau helps. The little bit I know about aerodynamics tells me that your best improvement would come from a bed cap though.

 

[IZwack]

It makes a difference - look at the trucks on Ecomodder.com. But like any vehicle, the biggest savings can by had by driving slower.

 

[Joes2007ST]

Thanks for the replies back people. Think im going to get one regardless if they save gas or not. Love the idea of putting things back there and not getting wet.

 

[JoeCool6972]

Mine went up about 1mpg with the soft cover.

 

[GreenMando]

Thanks for the replies back people. Think im going to get one regardless if they save gas or not. Love the idea of putting things back there and not getting wet.

Or stolen! Out of sight - out of my mind

 

[Xjman1]

No noticable gain with mine off or on. Think the bed is so short the wind goes right over. My long bed Dodge was another story, picked up ~2 mpg's on the highway.

 

[10uhcST]

you'll get a slight increase (< 1mpg for the most part) but it will help, will take a long time to recover the cost of the cover in gas savings. You do gain the dry storage which was the main reason I got mine.

 

[UIN2IT]

No noticable gain with mine off or on. Think the bed is so short the wind goes right over. My long bed Dodge was another story, picked up ~2 mpg's on the highway.

Ditto~!

 

[JohnnyO]

Thanks for the replies back people. Think im going to get one regardless if they save gas or not. Love the idea of putting things back there and not getting wet.

That's big too. I use my Trac like a real truck, this is my second one, and I bought aftermarket vinyl covers for both because I often need to have the bed open.
The factory hard cover wouldn't work well in my case.

 

[lincolnlocker]

It depends. Mythbusters says no and in fact tested on a pair of crewcab short bed Chevys, similar to a Sport Trac. Their take was that the bed fills with high pressure air and the rest of the air flows over it.

I think a tonneau would make the most difference on a regular cab pickup.

That said, my first truck was a '99 Ranger Supercab 4x4 with a 3.0, stick, and 3.73 gears, that was so slow that it couldn't get out of its own way. After I put a tonneau on it definitely held speed on hills better.

I think a tonneau helps tonneau cover saves gas. The little bit I know about aerodynamics tells me that your best improvement would come from a bed cap though.

Just wondering if anyone has put a tonneau on their Lightning yet and been able to get a sense if there is any noticeable difference in the miles/kW with vs/ without? I know that the vast majority of the F-150 (Lightning or otherwise) aerodynamic shortcomings are primarily related to its boxy nature. However, given that even little changes in aerodynamics can have noticeable effects on the mileage of an EV, I was just wondering if anyone has had a chance to look at what kind of impact a tonneau might make (if any). I'm planning to put one on after I get mine so I was just curious.