Keep It Up, or Drop It?

Happy New Year, everyone!

Here’s a nice question to start the year off right: is it better to have the tailgate up, or down?

Some might say it’s better to keep it down because the truck might drive better, but actually, it’s better to keep the tailgate up!

According to SAE International, it’s actually better to keep the tailgate up rather than put it down. 

Their study suggests that keeping the tailgate down increases drag, lift and the yaw—left and right rotation—on the truck.

Figure 1: Air stream moving across a GMC Sierra with the tailgate up (left) versus the tailgate down (right). (Image courtesy of Linear Logic, LLC/GMC/General Motors)

As you can see in the image above, the air travels much more smoothly with the tailgate up (left) than it does with the tailgate down (right), indicating greater air turbulence and, as a result, causing increased drag, lift and yaw.

Need a deeper dive into aerodynamics? Check out the “Going with the Flow” section in our article The Art of Mastering Driving.

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