I hate to break it to all three of you, but results from 2 of the big 3
automakers (you guess which 2) showed that covering the bed of a pickup
truck did little, if anything to improve the aerodynamics.
I know this sounds hard to believe, but with their experimentation the only
thing found to make a measureable improvement (and still very marginal) was
to cover the rear 2/3s of the bed with a hard, slick surface and leave the
front 1/3 UNCOVERED!
The theory is that there is just turbulence behind the cab at speeds where
it would make a difference, and not smooth airflow- disrupting turbulence
does nothing, it's already disturbed ;-)
So in theory, your ET's make go UP when adding a lid, unless the extra
weight gives you more traction that you need. Personally, I'd take it for
what it is- a TRUCK, and give up on aerodynamics, unless you're worried
about airflow into the engine!
Just my 2 copper/zinc discs...
Gary Shook
>True...however the lid will ad wait, and with the line, lookout heavy
>boy. That is one of my biggest concerns. That chute thing called a
>short bed. Even with the tail gate down or off, it will pull on the
>truck like a mother. I would slap a lid on it, but the slapping can
>only start w/ a few dollars from my end..... I was thinking of a mat
<snip>
> faster you run it. The more potential drag may arise???? The spray on
> kind is not getting my best thoughts either???? The spray on has a
> massive rough surface.... My opinion.....Leave it untouched and just
<snip>
> That is just completely ridiculous, in my opinion of course! in case you
> didn't know, having an open bed is like a dragging parachute, if you are
going
> to be eating fords of the road then you need to be installing a lid. I
drive
> a 98 sports plus with a rhino spray-on and a gaylord lid. once you have a
lid
> it doesn't matter what surface is in your bed and the real drag again is
the
> open bed!!!!
<snip>
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Fri Jun 20 2003 - 12:11:54 EDT