RE: TOY: Pictures

["Payne, Mike K." <MPayne1@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Well, aside from my apparently flawed view of wind resistance the tailgate
weighs enough to the point where I have a hard time lifting it by myself...
while I am not a body builder by any means, that seems like a whole lot of
weight to add to the truck...  the spare I keep in the bed actually weighs
less and it isn't exactly light.  I am not sure what gauge of metal the bed
is made of, but I have lifted outboard-offshore boat motors that are lighter
than the tailgate.

Thanks for the input though... I have at least learned something interesting
and found something to argue about with my irritating Brother-in-law who
"knows everything".


 -----Original Message-----
From: 	Thom Singer [mailto:ntsqd@shocking.com] 
Sent:	Tuesday, October 03, 2000 3:41 PM
To:	toyota@4x4wire.com
Subject:	Re: TOY: Pictures

"Payne, Mike K." wrote:

> He told me if I could get a Toyota bed for the truck that he would buy
back
> this one, he wants to use it as a trailer.  I, however, have no illusions
> about finding a bed.  Would be nice though, I think this bed is probably
> quite a bit heavier than the OEM one.  The tailgate for it was in the fab
> process and had no latch yet.  I removed it and I have what I think will
be
> a good latching mechanism but I have yet to talk myself into adding to its
> already poor wind resistance.  I would also like to add roll bars welded
to
> the frame with KC's but mostly for cosmetic purposes.

This is apparently a common misconception about tail gates. Ford discovered
in wind tunnel testing that what happens with a tail gate in place is that
the air
in the bed stagnates and actually forms a tonneu cover-esque 'hard' surface.
The air coming off the back of the cab meets this 'hard' surface and flows
along
the top of the bed rails to again fall off the truck there. The theory is
that this is actually more aerodynamic than one large step off the back of
the cab
since the size of the vacuum bubble is considerably bigger w/o the tail gate
than the combined bubbles formed by the two steps of cab to bed rails and
rails to
ground. The key to this working well is that the tail gate not leak much
around it's edges which is why late model Fords have a rubber sealing strip
on each
side.
 

-- 
TS
Chico, CA

"It only seems kinky the first time" - bumpersticker seen in Lost Wages
4x4Wire.com Toyota Section http://www.4x4wire.com/toyota/