After further deliberation, it may have been Gordon Payne who told me about the testing, by Ford engineering, to evaluate fuel mileage, a big concern by the manufacturers with the government setting fuel economy goals. 

John - "The Hoosier Hurricane"

I think Mythbusters did a segment on the tailgate issue and found that it really made no difference for everyday driving. They didn't test drag or LSR. Chuck in NH

Y's guys rule!
Looking for McCullouch VS57 brackets and parts. Also looking for 28 Chrysler series 72 parts. And early Hemi parts.

MoonShadow, 292 w/McCulloch, 28 Chrysler Roadster, 354 Hemi)
Manchester, New Hampshire

I read or heard somewhere that wind tunnel testing of a pickup with the tailgate open and closed showed that the closed gate caused a large air bubble to be carried in the bed, and the moving air passed over it with little resistance.  Shot down the theory of running trucks at the drags with the gate down.  Of course, a lowered gate moved a little weight to the rear for traction help, and some gates were found to have added weight in them.

John - "The Hoosier Hurricane"

Good question about the bed cover.  In modified, you can do some things different than in production, but not as much as you might think.  The bed cover rules for modified pickup are the same as production pickup.  You can cover the bed but no higher than the bed rails and the rules say that it can have no aerodynamic advantage.  You can run with the tailgate up, down or off.  I never thought of running the tail gate at 45* to give you some kind of spoiler or wing effect.  The bed cover is best, but if you felt you had enough run opportunities, you could do experimental runs?

Charlie Burns Laton, Ca (South of Fresno)







BurnsRacing981@gmail.com

yes, that's great, what class are going for? can you use a bed cover or drop the tail gate for less drag. mabey even use the tail gate like a air foil to keep the rear hooked up better at speed.    

     say charlie, are you alowed to run a bed cover that goes from the roof of the cab down to the tail gate since you GMC is modified?

 good luck to all, and happy new year.

 lincoln/merc. y-blocks &mel's                                                               bucyrus, ohio.

Nice photoshop job.  Now you and Todd should show them the real thing!  You guys are doing some great work there and you should share it.

Charlie Burns Laton, Ca (South of Fresno)







BurnsRacing981@gmail.com

You mean like this?

bla bla bla

   God Bless.   Tim                           http://yblockguy.com/

350ci Y-Block FED "Elwood", 301ci Y-Block Unibody LSR "Jake", 312ci Y-Block '58 F-100, 338ci Y-Block powered Model A Tudor

tim@yblockguy.com  Visalia, California    Just west of the Sequoias

Tim & I sure hope so!

http://fordtruk.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=19250

 

Todd in Central California...about half way between Fresno and Sacramento

1956 Thunderbird - 1960 F-100 - 1961 Starliner - 1961 Imperial

say charlie, would a 61-62 long wheel base uni-body f-100 work better for production class, they look a little slippier than a 57?

 lincoln/merc. y-blocks &mel's                                                               bucyrus, ohio.

I have a mag that states the Y was a dealer option, and show one installed in Fords personal vehicle..

Harry in Mesquite, TX

Brother and I own/operate 1957 Ford Fairlane 312/4x2 and two 1963 Falcons 302 rollers carburated 600cfm, FE427 sitting in shed..