Tonneau and MPG

[LaBalbe]

I have had Access soft tonneau covers on both my Ranger and my previously owned Tacoma. I didn't notice any difference on mpg. As I recall, there was a Myth Busters episode on this topic. They found no mpg improvement either. I think the air swirls in the bed and creates an air dam that is basically the equivalent of the tonneau cover for aerodynamics. Now one interesting thing that Myth Busters did find was that with the tailgate down, you got worse mpg than with it up.

I remember that episode:

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[ambit]

I do the same 100 mile drive pretty frequently and swear I see about 1mpg improvement with the hard cover on my 6' bed at ~77mph

 

[Forever Blue]

No difference at all, keeps the weather off my stuff and collects dust inside. I sometimes drive with it open and that blows the dust outa the box.

 

[Grumpaw]

I love reading the posts about the obsessive quest and concern over mpg's and the "why does your Ranger get 1/64 mpg better than mine".
These are TRUCKS that weigh over 4000 lbs !!! Thats more than some full size, all steel cars and trucks from the 70's and 80's.
If your Ranger does what you need it to do, tow/haul/off roading, than just live with the mpg....it is what it is.
Tonneau/no tonneau, full bed/empty bed....what does it really matter ???
I have a soft tonneau and it does what it's supposed to do....keeps stuff in the bed dry/out of sight.
Never saw adds where it was supposed to increase mpg's.
I'm going on 3 years of ownership and not once have I even checked or been concerned about the mpg. It's a daily driver, and it tows a heavy camper and it does just fine.....it gets to 1/4 tank and I fill up....I switch between mid-grade and go to premium when towing.....never concerned about the mpg.

 

[dtech]

Rumor has it that if you add a tailgate damper it will double fuel mileage.. But on a serious note, the tonneau cover made no difference for me either.

Mention of a damper, that's a name I've not heard in long time, come to think of it maybe as long ago as the defrocking of the Damper Man.

 

[gtyates]

No difference at all, keeps the weather off my stuff and collects dust inside. I sometimes drive with it open and that blows the dust outa the box.

If you add a tailgate seal kit it will take care of just about all of the dust. Added one to mine and am truly surprised at how well it works.

 

[Mlemos89]

Had the Truxedo low profile roll up for about 3 months now and have reluctantly come to the conclusion that it's made zero impact on my MPG, which is stubbornly stuck at 22.5. No complaints, that's pretty good, and must be a reflection of my amazingly precise and consistent driving style Just wondered if this is due to my tonneau being soft roll up rather than hard folding. Wondering what difference it made to your MPG if any?

My average is 18.0 on the Ranger infotainment and last fill up was 15.67 MPG on Fuelio with a tonneau cover lol so 22.5 is great. Mind you I remote start the truck each morning to take my kids to school lol

 

[Beach]

Had the Truxedo low profile roll up for about 3 months now and have reluctantly come to the conclusion that it's made zero impact on my MPG, which is stubbornly stuck at 22.5. No complaints, that's pretty good, and must be a reflection of my amazingly precise and consistent driving style Just wondered if this is due to my tonneau being soft roll up rather than hard folding. Wondering what difference it made to your MPG if any?

I had that one on my last truck (not the weinermobile) due to sports bar and upper lights, worked great but never noticed any mgp change. I know have a hard fold RC on the Ranger and can't say that I've noticed anything there either.

 

[Retirednavy2010]

I suspect the impacts of a tonneau cover depend a lot on the shape of the cab, guess the rangers are more aerodynamic than other, more boxy looking trucks. I'm planning on replacing my tonneau at some point with a canopy (i really don't like the limited storage of a tonneau), so curious to see if it makes any difference, but since highways around here are 80 mph plus, i'm not exactly going to be holding my breath.

I've had toppers and/or tonneau covers and they don't change mpg plus or minus. I like a fiberglass topper for security reasons.

 

[dtech]

People actually conduct studies on this type of thing, but unless the results are from a scientific study like those fine gents in Boulder CO (TFL) are known for I'm not convinced, the link to the article even conveniently includes a tonneau cover savings calculator and references a DOE study, good to know taxpayers $$ are being wisely spent. Can't wait for a study that examines whether tailgate dampers save money by preventing things like rotator cuff tears and other upper body injuries resulting from having to manually lower a tailgate.

https://tonneaucoverguide.com/do-tonneau-covers-save-gas-mythbusters/

 

[Grumpaw]

People actually conduct studies on this type of thing, but unless the results are from a scientific study like those fine gents in Boulder CO (TFL) are known for I'm not convinced, the link to the article even conveniently includes a tonneau cover savings calculator and references a DOE study, good to know taxpayers $$ are being wisely spent. Can't wait for a study that examines whether tailgate dampers save money by preventing things like rotator cuff tears and other upper body injuries resulting from having to manually lower a tailgate.

https://tonneaucoverguide.com/do-tonneau-covers-save-gas-mythbusters/

But, those savings would be offset by having to hire a professional trainer, and gym classes to replace muscle loss due to the atrophy occurring by the addition of the damper and your never having to manually support the tailgate,,,,,,,
And, lets not forget the extra $$$ spent for fuel to drive to these classes, more frequent oil changes, and having to replace tires more often due to extra mileage.....

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