I am thinking about buying a Tonneau cover for my Frontier. I am on a budget and am looking at the Extang black max. Any suggestions? Where to buy? Will it really give me 2 miles per gallon? Thanks for the help!
Do a search on Tonneau cover and you will find many posts on this subject. When I purchased my Truxedo LoPro for my '05 Nismo CC, I found the best price at http://www.vehiclefx.com/. There are comparisions / opinions on the various brands and a post regarding MPG.
I am thinking about buying a Tonneau cover for my Frontier. I am on a budget and am looking at the Extang black max. Any suggestions? Where to buy? Will it really give me 2 miles per gallon? Thanks for the help!
I got my ExTang from a local truck shop where I paid way too much ($240: for that price I could have gotten the hinged soft cover -- I've seen the model I bought on the Web for $160 shipping included!). I was thinking that if I had any fit problems it would be easier to take it back. But, the cover fit great and was a piece of cake to install (not really an installation, just a minor assembly and then a bolt on).
Anyway, I'm really happy with the ExTang. It's a very nice quality product. It's the one with the snaps. I've seen the snapless ones and they're pretty nice too.
There are a bunch of threads on tonneau covers; just do a Search and you'll probably get a lot of good info.
FWIW, I didn't notice any MPG difference with the tonneau cover. I've since installed cruise control and a FlowMaster muffler and with one or some combination of those three things, I'm seeing about a 2-3 MPG increase (recently got 30 MPG on a highway trip).
__________________
Jerry
2004 Frontier, King Cab, XE, 4x1, 4-cyl, 5-spd My Frontier Page
I am thinking about buying a Tonneau cover for my Frontier. I am on a budget and am looking at the Extang black max. Any suggestions? Where to buy? Will it really give me 2 miles per gallon? Thanks for the help!
In short, get the tonneau if you want. Here are the minuses...
It will NOT get you an extra 2 mpg. It limits what you can haul in the bed. (not that the frontier bed is very shallow to begin with). It really screws up rear visibility (I've got an '02 lwb crew cab frontier)
Here are the pluses...
You can put crud in it and lock it up....
Thats about the skinny on it...
I've got mine as an accessory on my '02 and I find it to be a pain. If I had to do it again, I'd go without the tonneau and invest in a decent removable rear tool-box instead...
disregard wut the peson above me said. It does give u more gas mileage and it doesnt decrease visibility (for mine newayz). The reason it increses gas mileage is becuase with your tailgate up it creates a ton of drag at the back of your bed, this is why you see alot of people with their tailgate down or they have the little net things in the back. By adding a bed cap it makes the car more areodynamic car. So yes it does increase your gas mileage. Its a good investment in my eyes
disregard wut the peson above me said. It does give u more gas mileage and it doesnt decrease visibility (for mine newayz). The reason it increses gas mileage is becuase with your tailgate up it creates a ton of drag at the back of your bed, this is why you see alot of people with their tailgate down or they have the little net things in the back. By adding a bed cap it makes the car more areodynamic car. So yes it does increase your gas mileage. Its a good investment in my eyes
A tonneau cover may well provide slightly better fuel economy, but you're passing some bad information about the tailgate. It absolutely DOES NOT create "a ton of drag". You do indeed see many folks with their tailgates down, but that may actually decrease fuel economy and definitely weakens the structural rigidity of the truck as the tailgate functions to support the rest of the bed structure. To see some excellent information and research on the subject check out these links: Popular Mechanics Motor Trend Pace-Edwards Moment of Science
__________________
jack <><
05 Frontier K/C LE 4X2
http://www.reverendbiker.com/frontier/frontier.htm
I put a Fold-a-cover tonneau on my LE KC and it did not
affect my rear vision at all. I love it because now I can
lock my whatever in the bed without worrying about it.
I have not noticed much difference in my gas mileage, but
I put my tonneau cover on right after I got the truck so I did not have much driving time on it before I made the change.
Maybe my dual exhaust installation next week will help me
a little.
OkieScot
Quote:
Originally Posted by Scopulus
In short, get the tonneau if you want. Here are the minuses...
It will NOT get you an extra 2 mpg. It limits what you can haul in the bed. (not that the frontier bed is very shallow to begin with). It really screws up rear visibility (I've got an '02 lwb crew cab frontier)
Here are the pluses...
You can put crud in it and lock it up....
Thats about the skinny on it...
I've got mine as an accessory on my '02 and I find it to be a pain. If I had to do it again, I'd go without the tonneau and invest in a decent removable rear tool-box instead...
i have to ask one question, how does a tonneau cover kill visability, lol
Well, I was working on getting my brother's boat trailer (for a little two person boat) down the loading ramp and without the boat on the trailer (and it has no side arms for visibility) I couldn't see the trailer to tell whether I was backing it in straight or not. I could have rolled up my soft tonneau and dropped the tailgate but the trailer is so light I just got out and straightened it out and backed into the water blind.
It sounds like Scopulus might be referring to the hard tonneau cover. That certainly would not be easy to remove, could cause a blindspot (but no worse than that of a closed tailgate) and would certainly give more of a feeling of protection for belongings locked in the bed. My tailgate locks, but I certainly don't consider anything in the bed protected by my vinyl tonneau (I'm just hoping for the "out of sight, out of mind" factor).
Anyway, I gave my comments about my tonneau above but I would like to add; I like the look of the thing too. The covered bed is a much better look to me than an open one.
__________________
Jerry
2004 Frontier, King Cab, XE, 4x1, 4-cyl, 5-spd My Frontier Page
i have to ask one question, how does a tonneau cover kill visability, lol
The tonneau rises just above my bed (about 3-4 inches) - which is enough to obscure the area diretly behind my vehicle. It really enlarges my rear blind area. Note that I have a king-cab and the long bed. Shorter cabs and shorter beds will be affected less.
A tonneau cover may well provide slightly better fuel economy, but you're passing some bad information about the tailgate. It absolutely DOES NOT create "a ton of drag". You do indeed see many folks with their tailgates down, but that may actually decrease fuel economy and definitely weakens the structural rigidity of the truck as the tailgate functions to support the rest of the bed structure. To see some excellent information and research on the subject check out these links: Popular Mechanics Motor Trend Pace-Edwards Moment of Science
RB, I agree with your premise. We're talking practical vs best case. *Slightly* better gas milage is the key term here. Yes, the tonneau will reduce drag and *in-theory* provide better gas milage; However, the practical result will likely be insiginfigant unless you do much hiway driving. I check my fuel consumption rate with every fill up and the numbers don't make a difference; at least they have not in the last 3 years (and yes, the majority of my driving was highway / a round trip to my (former) job as roughly 50 miles per day)
I have an Access tonneau cover for sale. It is the roll-up model with black powder coated rails in perfect condition. I paid close to $500, will sell for $250 obo. basspro135@yahoo.com
Why the 'Black Max' works for me: My truck is garaged at home. I can look out my office window, and my truck is right there.
Plus; I can lock the tailgate when need be, to deter would be assassins.
__________________
- Greg
2007 Red Brawn Frontier LE CC V6 auto. * JVC KW-XG700 HU * aFe Stage II Cold Air Intake * Cherry Bomb Pro 1 into 2 custom exhaust * Passport 9500i * Truxedo TruXport Tonneau * MOBIL 1 (first oil change, of course)
I have not noticed any increase in mileage with mine.
I may be way off here and would appreciate it if someone tells me, but here is my thought. I notice when I am driving at highway speeds, my cover at the tailgate is trying to force its way down do to aerodynamics. Air coming over the cab and then down hard onto the cover. Of course, closer to the cab the thing is like a bubble do to the low pressure. Anyways, what I am thinking is that there might be a lot of turbulence created by the flexibility of the cover which might be creating some drag and neutralize any gain in mileage that a hard top would give you. I hope I made sense in my explanation.
It may sound crazy, but this is the only thing I can come up with as to why I don't see any increase in mileage.
Linear Mode
