Ladder Rack On,mileage In Half

painterofeveryt

2002 chevy with a v-8 been driving it without ladder racks for a month or so...mileage was not as bad as I thought it would be,put my ladder rack on (a topper galvanized one) and my mileage almost got cut in half...anyone else sen this as well ?

daArch

Well, let's see, it went from 8 mpg to 4mpg.

A 4mpg difference ain't that bad (sorry, couldn't resist)

You are correct. Any wind drag you add to the vehicle will make a significant difference, especially if you drive on the highway. At 30 mph, you will be adding the weight, but not significant drag.

Do you drive mostly highway or suburban streets?

I was most disappointed with the Caravan I bought last year. It was advertised as 26 highway, 19 city. well I got 18-19 everywhere. I took the factory roof rack off (actually somewhat aerodynamic) and thought my mileage improved by 2 mpg. But then it went down again. I then noticed on a long trip on some country roads (50 mph) I got 23 mpg. My latest best mileage was 24.6 mpg. I was REALLY concentrating on keeping my highway speed below 62 mph.

The trucks and vans we drive are just huge wind dams pushing air down the highway. Many of us drive at 70 - 75 mpg (I'm guilty) and some even faster. Those who ride motorcycles know the difference forward speed makes on wind resistance and buffeting.

Keep the rack on and the speed down and see if your mileage goes up. I'd be curious if my new theory holds for others also.

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