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Better fuel mileage trick

98K views 63 replies 34 participants last post by  Majeasy 
#1 ·
I am going to share some info. I have not done this mod yet but will for several reasons.

I was talking to my DM today and was talking about my new truck purchase. He was asking me about what mods I was going to do and I told him I won’t be doing any for a while for power but will be for Mileage. That got us on the subject and he told me a trick that another Service Manager had done to his own truck from one of my competitor stores.

He installed the tailgate spoiler from the 1500 trucks on his 2500. My DM and he got the idea from Chrysler themselves at a class in Las Vegas when they talked about new products. One thing that was talked about is why the G.M. trucks had been getting better fuel mileage than the Dodges. They said that in wind tunnel testing they found that the advantage the G.M. trucks had was the tailgate spoiler. That is why they have added the spoiler to the Dodge 1500 trucks.

Why did they not do it to the 2500’s and the 3500’s you ask? It’s because the government does not mandate that the fuel mileage averages to be advertised on the window stickers, so it has no advantage to Chrysler when making the vehicle.

I have not done this to my truck yet but will soon and Ill tell you what gains I find. Chrysler claims to have gotten a gain on the 1500’s an average of .7 MPG more. The other Service Manager that has done this to his 2500 Cummins is claiming to get .4 to .5 MPG more.

The other reason I will be doing the mod is because my truck is black and when I go to shut the tailgate I tend to scratch the center edge when the truck is dirty.

The part # for this is Mopar Accessory part # 82209867 and retail is 89.00. The dealership that installs it will ask for about a half hour labor so you will be looking at about 130.00 or so depending what the labor rate is at the store that does the work.

I think most of us could to the mod ourselves.

Enjoy. JOSH
 
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#4 ·
Just to clear the waters. This improvment is only going to be seen on highway averages not intown driving.

Yes I know but some might ask!

JOSH
 
#5 ·
Anywhere we can find pics of this? If it looks the ones they put on the chevys I am interested. I do a lot of highway driving so every bit helps. But if it looks like some of them spoilers them mescans and blacks have on some of them low riders or whatever you call them the ones with the big mufflers you can forget it.:eek:
 
#6 ·
The spoiler that I am talking about is the same that the 1500 trucks have on it. Yes it is simillar to the chevys. This is a factory part that Chrysler does not install on the 2500's and the 3500's.

I will look for a picture.

JOSH
 
#8 ·
I saw one on a 06' Ram1500 shortbed. It's flat on the top with a short lip extending out the back. Looked nice. Don't see how it could help with mileage that much. But then again, what do I know...:fist:
 
#9 ·
It has to do with the way the air comes off the back of your bed. From the way it was expalined, it it is not there the air tends to drop down past the tailgate and cause friction all the way down the back of the truck.

With the spoiler lip there, the wind does same thing but it drops off further from the tailgate and that way it does not drag down with friction. That is where the fuel mileage comes from.

JOSH
 
#10 ·
i put mine on a few weeks ago just cause i liked the way it looked. i will post pics tomorrow...only crappy part was drilling and installing metal "molys" in your tailgate...once you put this thing on, you really arent gonna wanna ever take it off.
 
#11 ·
I installed mine this last weekend. Your right, once its on there is no going back. I really enjoy the way it looks and I really like using it to hold on to when closing the tailgate. I was towing the last couple days so I really haven't had a chance to check if I got a mileage gain or not. I will post when I do.

JOSH
 
#12 ·
Lets see those pics!:hyper:
 
#14 ·
Sure. You can just as easily put them in your "garage" though.
 
#15 ·
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#19 ·
AK RAM said:
Now I see. For some reason I was thinking about the tall spoilers you see on the Daytona Hemi pick-ups. :coocoo Wonder if that could be painted. Hmmmmm.

I dont think paint would stick to well even with a good prep. It is molded with texture. Also I have to one simillar on my Silverado SS and it was smooth and painted from the factory. I scratched the crap out of it...

My truck is black and the spoiler lip is a matt black. It looks good, like its ment to be there even with the differance in color. It looks good on any color.

Thanks for the good pictures ROckitboy...

JOSH
 
#21 ·
I will be driving with out towing a lot this week. I should use 2 tanks full or more so I should have a good indication if it made any differance. I will post my findings later this week to keep you posted...

JOSH
 
#22 ·
An even better fix is to just get a roll up tonneau cover, like an Access cover, and keep that thing shut whenever possible. I have noticed increased mileage since I put mine on, and things actually stay dry and free of snow in the bed! This works well for me. I just roll it out of the way when I have to hook to the gooseneck. I've seen those plastic tailgate spoilers get smashed too many times. Just my $.02
 
#23 ·
Well so far since I installed the tialgate spoiler-lip I have been watching my mileage. I got a .4 increase. I think I could do a little better becuase I hammered down on the skinny pedal a couple more times than I usually do, but I wanted to drive it as close to normal as I could to get an accurate reading.

So Thats my story and im sticking to it. One thing i like so much better is the tailgate protection and having something to hold on to when im closing the bed. For that alone it was worth the money...

JOSH
 
#24 ·
I like the looks of that. Its too bad I didnt see that prior to having the Line-X dealer shoot the liner over the rails and the tailgate. I dont thing it would fit too well with that.
 
#25 ·
Greaseburner said:
I like the looks of that. Its too bad I didnt see that prior to having the Line-X dealer shoot the liner over the rails and the tailgate. I dont thing it would fit too well with that.
I installed one today that already had liner sprayed over the rail. It was only one coat on the tailgate edge so it was not very thick. Most do not go very thick on the edges.

It looked great when I was done.

JOSH
 
#26 ·
Haaaa! Bling bling parts that improve mpg…..:peelout
 
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