Do Tonneau Covers Really Help With Gas Mileage?

Tonneau Covers Will Help With Gas Mileage

Gas used to be under 1 dollar per gallon. Today, it is over double that, and sometimes even more.

It seems like everything is expensive. Food costs, soaring utility bills, housing costs and so is the gas for your truck. Owning a fuel-efficient vehicle is vital to saving money, but is fuel efficiency even realistic for pickup trucks?

The answer is yes, of course. The key is to make sure that your truck is mechanically sound, has good tires and is aerodynamic so it doesn’t guzzle unnecessary gas. You can do this with the help of a Tonneau Cover.

How Aerodynamics come in to play?

Aerodynamics is the study of forces and the resulting motion of objects through the air (or more specifically, the way your vehicle accelerates through the forces that surround it).

There is little that a truck owner can do about the weight and mass of his truck without crazy expense, but a truck bed cover is one way you can reduce drag.

What Is Drag?

When a vehicle is driving down the road, it is being met by a wall of wind that produces what we know as drag. On very windy days, the drag increases and this wall may seem more like re-enforced concrete than say flimsy plaster. There isn’t much we can do about the wind, though.

Another factor that can affect drag is the shape of the vehicle. Less aerodynamically shaped vehicles will increase the drag of your vehicle. For early car manufacturers, aerodynamics was of no concern.

It wasn’t until 1921 when German engineer Edmund Rumpler created the Rumpler-Tropfenauto that aerodynamics was considered. This car (which translates to “teardrop car”) was designed to take the shape of a teardrop, the most aerodynamic shape in nature. Today, all cars are designed with aerodynamics in mind, but what about trucks?

Tonneau Covers

Trucks are inherently designed to provide drivers with a bed that allows space for hauling various cargo. Even though this is undoubtedly great, it does hurt the vehicle’s aerodynamics. The extra walls of the truck bed pick up extra wind resistance, making your truck work harder and expend more fuel.

The key to minimizing this resistance is picking up a Tonneau Cover. Tonneau covers eliminate these extra walls and provide a smooth surface that allows the wind to glide right over.

In a recent study by Megan McKernan of The Specialty Equipment Market Association, she concluded: “The most important result to take away from this wind tunnel test is the fact that the Tonneau Covers did reduce drag, which would help to improve fuel economy.”

Companies like Access and Truxedo even boast that their Tonneau Covers will improve fuel economy by 11%. If you’re looking to improve your truck’s fuel efficiency, the first thing to do is pick up a Tonneau Cover.