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Old 11-30-2007, 06:19 AM   #21
bigmurf
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I have never bent my tailgate in 4 years of fulltiming. Of course it is in a building in Tennessee.g
 
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Old 11-30-2007, 08:57 AM   #22
bsmeaton
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Quote:
quote:Originally posted by waldo238

But with the fifth on the back and the gate up, how does the air flow around this with out hitting the back of the tail gate? Seems like it would act like a wall back there.
Waldo,
I'm no scientist, but I'm thinking that when I'm hooked up to the fifth, it's not the tailgate that acts like a wall, it's more like the 13'-3" tall, 8'-6" wide, 15,000 lb monster sitting just above that tailgate that acts like I'm pulling a wall
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Old 11-30-2007, 09:27 AM   #23
waldo238
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True, but the front of youre 07 and my 08 are more aerodynamic that most units out there. Look at some others when you see them they flat and boxy on the front. That is why I wonder is the rig pushing the air over the top or down and out? If down then I would think it is going into the truck bed. As we are not scientist or an owl trying to get to the center of a tootsie pop, the world may never know!
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Old 11-30-2007, 09:56 AM   #24
bsmeaton
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hahahahaha - I know what your saying, I just couldn't help making the comment after fueling up yesterday and seeing just how enormous that thing looks behind my truck. From the front, my truck looks like the toe on a cowboy boot behind it
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Old 11-30-2007, 09:56 AM   #25
Dave e Victoria
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I think you can pretty much guess that the air coming over the top of the cab will impinge directly on the front of the trailer and then flow up and out depending on the shape of the trailer front. This is because the pressure fields around the trailer are lower than the pressure looking down into the box of the truck. This will be especially true with the solid tailgate up. It also seems to me that that is exactly what you want to happen, The only improvement would be to generate some turbulence in the flow coming off the top of the truck cap to reduce the pressure of the stream of air hitting the front of the trailer. A very smooth "laminar" flow would create the greatest pressure on the front of the trailer.
dave
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Old 11-30-2007, 10:05 AM   #26
simonsrf
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Quote:
quote:Originally posted by richfaa

I have one for one reason only, same reason we have the bedsaver. I am a imperfect human being. I make mistakes. I need all the help I can get to prevent damage to my camper, Being imperfect outweighs any other reason not to have one for me. Charts, graphs, testimonials, wind tunnel test do not take into consideration my imperfection.
Hear, here.
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Old 11-30-2007, 12:47 PM   #27
TLightning
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I like the solid tail gate because when not towing I have an ExtangRT tonneau cover that covers everything in the bed. Hopefully, the hitch, etc is out of sight and out of mind.
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Old 11-30-2007, 04:16 PM   #28
Waynem
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The manual with my F-350 states that the tail gate up will provide better gas mileage.

Of course, I also do not know how that is affected whey you are towing, but I would "assume" that if it were not there, there would be more air against the 5er and increase the drag.

Semper Fi!

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Old 11-30-2007, 04:26 PM   #29
clutch
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Myth Busters did a test and concluded that tailgates are best when left up. I use the stock tailgate because the others won't hold up my quad when I load it in the back of the truck.

On a side note I do have a cleaner box when towing. It seems that everything that is not tied down just goes away while I drive down the road.
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Old 11-30-2007, 05:09 PM   #30
texdeano
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I SURE HOPE YOU GOT THE ANSWER YOU WERE LOOKING FOR.I use the louvered just because I want to.
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Old 11-30-2007, 06:05 PM   #31
stiles watson
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Hey, hey, texdeano, that is a great reason and you don't have to justify it at all. We can agree to disagree. I respect your choice. Happy towing.
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Old 12-01-2007, 12:27 AM   #32
waldo238
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OK I think we have beat this horse long enough. I will be keeping my stock gate!
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Old 12-01-2007, 03:44 PM   #33
dsprik
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Well I'm kicking it one more time (wait... I think I saw it move???).

I use a standard tailgate because most of my mileage is daily driving - not pulling. Throwing stuff in the back and keeping it private and out of site is my main goal. Just not convinced that the louvered gate is a justifiable economical investment for towing my Montana.
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Old 12-02-2007, 05:44 AM   #34
Blord
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I put a V tailgate on my 2001 Dodge and loved it till I actually towed. With the 5ver on it "whistled" to beat the band and was extremely irritating in the cab. I didn't have the problem unless the 5ver was hitched. I tried sealing the ends of the tubes with caulk to no avail. I finally cut out a piece of cardboard the size of the tailgate and using duct tape I solved the problem. I don't remember the brand but found that most people didn't have this whistling problem, but ran into 2 others that did.

With the new truck I'm using the stock tailgate and will continue.
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Old 12-02-2007, 05:47 AM   #35
mtnhntr
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I also use my stock tailgate. However, I believe that when pulling the 5er there is more air turbulance at the tailgate than when not towing. I say this because when I store my generator at the end of the bed, the wind will move it when going down the road. When not towing, the genrator will stay in place. I would think that the louvered tailgate would reduce that turbulance.
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Old 12-02-2007, 01:31 PM   #36
Dave e Victoria
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Remember TURBULENCE IS GOOD. Despite what you might think, turbulent air has less pressure on the surfaces it meets than does laminar air flow. If we were not pulling a trailer then smooth air that just flowed over and away would be fine given that we had a good shape like the smooth back of a car. But, we are pulling a big old wall behind us so it is good to get the pressure down. When not pulling the trailer, our trucks are pretty much awful in terms of airflow over and around the back of the cab. Again turbulence is good. It reduces the drag on the back of the cab. Of course if you are trying to keep things in the bed of the truck, that is a different story.
Dave
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Old 12-02-2007, 02:20 PM   #37
simonsrf
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Dave,

There must be lots of turbulence back there. We filled the back of the truck with dust from a dirt road; I wondered how I was going to be able to wash all that dust out of the Line-X bed. The solution was to drive about 50 miles attached to the trailer; couldn't tell that there had ever been any dust back there.
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Old 12-02-2007, 02:40 PM   #38
dsprik
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I ditto what Dave said - I was wondering when you were going to say something, Dave...
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Old 12-02-2007, 02:54 PM   #39
Montana Sky
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I guess I am the exception here... I average 1 to 2 miles per gallon better when running my V louvered gate. Because I have a stick house, I have a place to keep either gate when not in use.
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Old 12-02-2007, 04:07 PM   #40
Crossthread
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I've been trying to figure this out too. I know about the dust,leaves in the bed not towing. It'll be pretty clean after towing. But if running with a solid tailgate on and closed increases milage , why don't we see taller gates to capture more drag??? On my previous tv,5er, I made a rock guard that went totally across the rear bumper of the tv. It was 4" off the road. On a wet road, the air from the tv swept outwards, in a vortex manner and there was a definite heavier airflow through the v gate. I've had 2x8x14" blocks move from under the 5th wheel hitch to the rear of the truck. As for me, I'll continue to use the v gate. Bill
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