I to agree with the fact that I should only be concerned with the rear
of the bed and truck..... I personally fear the extra weight vs. air
flow on the track. Open high hay runs are more costly in the drag
factor when thinking in terms of gas mileage. I can see the line
between traction and excessive weight. I plan to make a few runs w/ the
bed as is.... And contemplate coving the bed with something after I
have a few ets in the book. Sorry, I hate to disappoint everyone, but I
can't take this one as a truck..... If I wanted a truck in it's name.
I would have kept my '97 Ram and all of its' dents & scratches.
Jason
1/7/99 3:57 PM
-----Original Message-----
From: Gary Shook [SMTP:gary.shook@mci.com]
Sent: Thursday, January 07, 1999 2:56 PM
To: dakota-truck@buffnet.net
Subject: Re: DML: RE: R/T bedliner
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>
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