Custom Flow Tailgate

[Mike101]

Bought a Custom Flow Tailgate (by a before my trip last Friday. $513 at Truck and Van world in Ottawa. Easy to install and works amazing. As a newbie towing 5ver, it worked amazing. another great RV purchase. sure other may have paid less or even more but I am very pleased with the gate and recommend it to all newbies or wnyone thinking about one.
Advance Manufacturing - Custom Flow Tailgates

[boubou]

What's the advantage of this over the regular tailgate?

[Rsgtivr6]

The louvered tailgates allow air flow through, though I think Mythbusters busted the tailgate down=better mileage myth, see also Keep That Tailgate Up

[RickV]

I have been looking at them. I have a Sidewinder on my 5ver and with a 5th wheel tailgate I could hookup at more angles.

[Filthy Beast]

I like mine just because you don't have to worry about forgetting to put the tailgate down before hooking up and unhooking. I don't believe it does anything for fuel milage.

[Herk7769]

Perhaps a follow up post from Mike after he tows for a bit to see if any mileage gain was worth the expense of the air gate...

[Mike101]

After 4 hours of pulling the 5ver, I got the same gas milage as I did pulling a 28 foot ultra light travel trailer. I may have even got 1/2k per 100L better. So, is it the gate or the trailer....time will tell

[Dave_Monica]

Originally Posted by Mike101

After 4 hours of pulling the 5ver, I got the same gas milage as I did pulling a 28 foot ultra light travel trailer. I may have even got 1/2k per 100L better. So, is it the gate or the trailer....time will tell

The TV and fiver combo is a much better aerodynamic package than TV/TT so I'd attribute that for any fuel mileage improvement. I found that our fuel mileage was close to the same although the fiver was about 2500 lbs heavier than the TT.

The down-side of those tailgates is that you can't keep anything in the truck bed out of sight. That's a big enough negative for me.

Dave

[RickV]

I found a great deal on Amazon on one but their "Make sure it fits" thing says it won't fit my 2003 F250 and by checking the part number on the manufacturer's website it says it will. I sent this email to the manufacturer hopefully I can get some advice.


Hi,

I have a question regarding your Custom Flow VEL28 5th Wheel Custom Tailgate. I have a 2003 Ford F250 Super Duty Pickup and your chart and every chart I have seen shows it will fit my F250. I found it on Amazon atr a great price with free shipping but the Amazon make sure it fits menu says it will not fit my F250. I would really like to save the money but, don’t want to order it and have to send it back (probably at my cost). Here is the link to it on Amazon:

Amazon.com: Custom Flow VEL28 5th Wheel Custom Tailgate: Automotive

Any advice would be helpful

Thanks, Rick

[KyDan]

So just to summarize, those flow thru tail gates do help with hitching
and added clearance but they don't help with reducing drag.
I've also read where Ford did a drag test and said the drag is actually
less with a tail gate up. The Ford test did not include a hitched trailer.
That might change things but it seems that there is probably no real
savings in fuel when towing either.

I have read where a large spoiler on top can make a difference in MPG
but it was on a suburban towing a TT. Probably also work on a pickup with
a topper and a spoiler towing a TT.

Not trying to steal the thread.... sorry.
Guess I'll just keep my factory tail gate on there!

[RickV]

Originally Posted by KyDan

So just to summarize, those flow thru tail gates do help with hitching
and added clearance but they don't help with reducing drag.
I've also read where Ford did a drag test and said the drag is actually
less with a tail gate up. The Ford test did not include a hitched trailer.
That might change things but it seems that there is probably no real
savings in fuel when towing either.

I have read where a large spoiler on top can make a difference in MPG
but it was on a suburban towing a TT. Probably also work on a pickup with
a topper and a spoiler towing a TT.

Not trying to steal the thread.... sorry.
Guess I'll just keep my factory tail gate on there!

I am not looking at one to save on fuel just to make it easier when in those tight campsites. With my Sidewinder I can hookup at just about any angle except for one thing with my tailgate down there is not enough clearance between the tailgate and the 5ver I learned this a few weeks ago

[RickV]

After about a 10 minute call with Amazon CS they called Advanced Manufacturing and verified that it would fit my 2003 F250 SD so I just ordered one

[Mike101]

The reason I bought it was to make hooking up a little easier. 1st weekend we camped, it was easier...goal achieved