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My husband and I are watching Mythbusters on Discovery ... they're testing the myth of the tailgate down vs. tailgate up as it relates to gas mileage for trucks. The myth is that you'll get better gas mileage with the gate down (the thinking is that it makes the truck more streamlined). They tested it two ways and found that the myth is false.

Leaving the tailgate down actually creates major drag. With the gate up, air gets trapped in a circulate motion bubble in the bed and actually creates a streamlined flow of air. When the gate is down, the bubble is lost and the air falls right on the gate, creating major drag. Their tests showed that you could get 30 more miles on a tank of gas with the gate up.