Does a hard shell toneau cover increase gas milage?

I bought a after market hard shell toneau cover (very nice) for my 2012 Dodge Ram crew cab. Looking at my average economy, it looks like I'm picking up about .5 to 1 mpg better gas milage in city driving. Does anyone think this is right? I also notice that the truck seems to want to coast longer when I get off the gas. It seems to keep it's speed up.

 

Good to know; thanks for sharing! We're looking at a Lund FG cover painted body color to match. We were hoping it may improve mileage as a side benefit.

 

i had a cover on two different trucks i had.....one had a 6 cyl and one a 4 cyl. there was an increase from what both trucks were rated at outta the factory. cpl miles per gallon more but over time itll add up.

 

I think it is more that you are paying more attention to how you drive.

The mpg gain most people claim from a hard cover is usually offset by the extra weight of it being carried around.

 

What he said

 

Not sure a tonneau would change city MPGs (not enough speed to make aero a factor). I had a soft cover on my '97 and drove it with and without - never saw much difference running on the Interstate.

I'd actually believe that the cover might cause moe downforce/resistance. I'm sure someone's done that math.

Ultimately, it's very difficult to quantify changes that lead to signifiicant MPG changes as scientific repeatability is very difficult due to the factors at play. Proving would require a larger sample that would be best proven using a fleet of vehicles and months of metrics.

 

Hey, if it only offsets its own weight, thats great. Imagine if those huge aggresive tires some guys run offset their weight in MPG.

 

I'll post some info on tonneau covers, let me go find it. I have it in another thread.

 

The Tonneau Cover Fuel Economy MYTH | Tundra Headquarters Blog


Pay close attention to one of the last paragraphs....

 

I was told "Myth Busters" show did a piece on this and proved tonneau covers had no affect on mileage....