Just to let you know, I have been tracking my mpg ever since I got my runner in January. I have been averaging about 16.5 mpg in the city. However, I noticed that my bug shield/hood protector was causing my hood to vibrate quite noticably on the highway. I took the bug shield off and I have tracked my mpg's for 2 tanks now, and I have averaged 18.3 mpg in the city . Mind you that the deckplate mod was done immediately when I got the vehicle home. I do not know the brand of the bug shield, but it is not very 'low' profile as some of the ones that I have seen.

 

Interesting. The vibration stopped once you removed it? I've noticed my hood looks pretty floppy at highway speed, but I wouldn't have thought for it to be due to the bug deflector...

 

my hood shakes a bit too... no bugsheild, how many bugs did you have on it?

 

got any pics of the bug guard ? when i had mine before the wind snapped it in half my mileage was the same

 

The bug sheild on mine was attached with flimsy plastic screws into flimsier plastic push nuts.

The bug sheild would vibrate/flop around but wasn't attached tightly enough to the hood to make it shake/vibrate.

 

My deflector is stout. I've killed a bird with it with no damage at all to the deflector. Maybe that's why it shakes the hood loose.

 

The shield was attached in 4 places. The 2 middle screw/sleeve assemblys were stripped out, so I decided to remove the bug shield completely and look for one that is lower in profile or leave it off completely. My hood still shakes, however, it is not as bad as before. I intend to adjust the hood stops and hopefully that will dissipate the vibration even more...I will post pics later tonight when I get home...

 

I just inquired about this recently in another thread regarding hood shaking. I had my bugshield off and still have the hood shake. Still need to check the stops

 

was the vibration bad?? i may be thinking about this.

 

man no offense but i dont beleive the bug shield is the cause of bad gas mileage. i mean really, esp if you have one that is contoured with your hood. now if its one of those cheap ass flat ones then yeah i could see that. as far as hood shaking its NOT a big deal at all.. and you said that your mileage was poor in janurary.. OK a big reason is bc of COLD weather, now that its warmed up a bit your gas mileage very well could be better.. i noticed myself that i had poorer gas mileage in Jan than now.. you may want to rethink the whole bug shield.. also you said your city mpg was better. well at city speeds the bug shield wouldnt hurt a thing..imo

 

I agree, I think neither the areodynamic properties, nor the added wieght of the bug shield could cause much drop in mpg in the city. MAYBE on the highway....but over 3 mpg by removing a 1 pound (maybe) 3" tall (or so) piece of plexiglass? I think I just dont see it, I would attribute it to cold weather changes, and winter fuel (oxygenated gas) in Jan...

 

The vibration was bad, but now it is MUCH better. I think the problem was the 2 middle screws that were stripped. Elton, here is a picture of my bug shield. mk, perhaps the winterized fuel is the cause of the problem then. I am rethinking the bug shield thing by replacing it with a TJM bumper with Sonoran custom hoops .

 

I cant remember where I saw it...but there was a thread or ad that a guy was selling a bracket made to install on the underside of the hood to prevent the vibration. It was installed near the top (within 10 inches of the windshield wipers).
I too notice mine is vibrating, but its a higher speeds and usually is windy too. Its done that since day 1.

 

If the hood is deforming, check the welds on it. Looks, I dont have a runner or taco, but my 96 T100 (no one visits that forum anyways) had a badly deformed hood at high speed. Solution-polyurethane construction adhesive and it doesnt deform to much unless I hit 80.

I have a big shield too, it will push towards my hood at highs peed. Removed it and still same mpg..

 

I find it hard to believe the bug shield thing too since I have a Yakima load warrior rack that when it's on I get around 16mpg and with it off I get a mile per gallon back and it's more intrusive to air than a bug shield.

 

I'm sure that I was the only one who didn't know about this so forgive me if its old news, but. On the topic of shaking hoods. Mine did it so bad that people would point it out while I was on the freeway and I'd be like, Yes the hood is closed. Its supposed to do that. Then while at a friends shop who is a toyota guy I mentioned it. He opened the hood and unscrewed the two black rubber things that are circular and come into contact with the hood when it closes. He unscrewed them enough so that when the hood closed it was tightly up against them. The hood doesn't even shake while at freeway speeds now.... How did I not notice that one!!

 

When I had my bug guard I noticed a significant amount of hood shake at the cowl-end (next to the windshield) a highway speeds of 75-85mph. It would flap up and down pretty significantly, perhaps on the order of a quarter inch. I had to remove the deflector when it got damaged, and my hood stopped the shaking. I suspect the air stream coming off the deflector was catching the top portion of the scoop and causing the hood to bend.

I don't think I've noticed much in the way of a mileage increase from removal of the bug guard, but removing my Yakima roof rack got me up to around 21mpg hwy. Removing a bug guard will do nothing for your in-city driving, air drag just isn't large enough to matter at anything under about 55mph.

 

Yeah, last month it was really cold and my mpg fell, I dought the bug shield is your problem because my yakima ski rack with a pair of ski's and a snowboard doesn't impact me more than 1.5 or 2 mpg driving 70-80 and over 11,000 foot mountain passes, last ski trip I got 19mpg out of my toy and it was pretty cold out.

 

Cold weather = Worse Gas Mileage

"Winter Blend" gas = Worse Gas Mileage

Bug Deflector ≠ Worse Gas Mileage



imho