Why do people leave tailgate down?
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Aerodynamic drag makes your truck (or any vehicle) get less mileage per gallon of gas. Others believe driving a pickup truck with the tailgate down lets the air flow more efficiently therefore lessening the drag.
Can you leave tailgate down?
Some pickup truck owners prefer to drive with the tailgate down even when the bed is empty. Most states do not outlaw this practice, but a handful of states do have laws forbidding this. The laws appear to apply to both the tailgates of trucks, the hatch doors of an SUV, and the trunks of cars.
Can I drive with my truck tailgate down?
Is It Illegal To Drive With Tailgate Down California? In California, it’s not illegal to drive with your tailgate down. If you have an item that sticks out of your truck bed through the tailgate, what you have to do is: get a red flag or something bright — use either of those to mark it.
How do you protect your tailgate when driving down?
What you could do is buy a sheet to the dimensions of the tailgate and cut it out to match the tailgate with the cutout for the tailgate handle and all. Then when you are going to be driving any distance with the tailgate down you could pull this out and put it on. You can even buy it in different colors.
Does driving with your tailgate down save gas?
The net is attached to the back of the truck with the tailgate lowered. According to a test conducted by Mythbusters, it improved their truck’s gas mileage by 5%.
Can I drive with my tailgate open?
Driving with your boot open is not illegal – however there are precautions which have to be taken. If you are driving with your boot open to transport something motorists must take care that nothing is protruding more than 6 inches to the side or three feet to the rear of the outline of the car.
Does removing your tailgate save gas?
(Learn how we test cars.) We found that adding a tonneau cover or lowering the tailgate hurt fuel economy, rather than helped it. With the tailgate up and no tonneau, we got 22.3 mpg. Dropping the tailgate decreased efficiency to 21.5 mpg.
Does driving with tailgate down save gas?
Do tailgates cause drag?
Driving with the tailgate open is disastrous for the bubble effect, essentially negating any positive wind effect. The air is pulled toward the truck bed resulting in more drag instead of deflecting the wind. So, there you have it. The commonly held myth about keeping the tailgate open has been destroyed.
Can you drive with something sticking out window?
Having things sticking out could be considered dangerous as there is more chance it could hit another car, a pedestrian or even distract other drivers. Dangerous Driving carries severe penalties (with imprisonment being an option in some cases) so it is wise to err on the side of caution.