Post your MPG gains after removing your aftermarket roof racks
 

I'm going to remove my stock rails and have them painted to match my truck and also have the stock crossbars (the ones that were originally on there) painted as well. I haven't decided for certain that I'm going to take my Thule rack off (it's been on there since I bought it) because it's so convenient when needed. However, with gas hitting $3.03 here in Birmingham for premium and with the commute I've got to work each day (50 miles), this truck is killing me. If anyone has computed some numbers as far as MPG before removing the rack vs. after removing it, please post. I would think that I'd see a minimum increase of 1.5-2 MPG if I take it off. Later.

Matt

When I took off my yakima megawarrior for a road trip, I got a 2 mpg increase.

Cool....Keep em coming guys....

Matt

I hate you, 3.03 for premium? It's 3.50 here for 87 at chevron. Bleh, I hate CA prices, can't wait to leave after summer.

Anyways during winter when my ski racks are on, I lose I think about 1 or 2.

I just took off my stock rails, cross bars, etc. and repainted them black. I also did the rear spoiler while I was at it, it was pretty faded...

The mark on the rubber strip of the cross bar is from the needle nose pliers I had to use slide the piece back in place, that thing was tough to get back in!!!
http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j1...n775/racks.jpg

http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j1...775/racks2.jpg

Damn....$3.50 for 87 octane!!! I guess we don't have it that bad, but it is totally out of hand. We're almost back to post-Katrina prices!!!

Thanks for the info on the mileage and the painting. I thought about re-doing mine black, but if I'm going to go through the trouble of taking all that stuff off....I might as well have it painted to match the truck. Once they are done, here's a list of the stuff I'll have had painted to match the truck....

Front Upper Valence
Brush Guard
Piaa 520s on Brush Guard
Roof Rack Rails
Rear Wind Deflector
Rear License Plate Surround

It looks nice :)

Matt

BTW...However or whomever repainted your roof rack components did a great job!

Matt

Thanks, it was really easy. One solid afternoon's work. :great:

I took those 3 crossmembers off (that rest on the roof) and didn't see a mpg difference. Here's an interesting tidbit though: When we put the roof rack and bikes on the roof of our Accord, our mpg goes down by 4 during highway driving. I got to test that for 1000 miles, so it's pretty accurate. It surprises me how much of a difference a rack with accessories makes on a vehicle's mpg.

My next test is to remove my 4R's bugshield and sunroof wind deflector. I have heard undocumented reports of 1 - 1.5mpg gains when they are removed. Hmmm...

I removed the cross-rails that rest on the roof just because I didnt like them. I never checked my MPG afterwards, but I doubt it changed. I think my sunroof wind deflector deflected most of the air that went over those so it didnt really matter.

My best bet would be that removing the tall cross bars would make the biggest MPG difference on a stock rack.

Guys,
I'm not talking about the stock setup. In no way do I think that removing the cross rails that sit on the roof or the ones that stick up for that matter, will improve MPG. I'm just talking about big ol un-aerodynamic cargo racks like mine that are probably killing my MPG. Check out my avatar or pics.

Matt

I would have to agree that they kill your MPG. But your brush guard does too somewhat I would think.

I gained 4 mpg. I removed my 4 Hella 500s also. The roof rack is an old Thule.
The mpg increase noted on a 1200 mile trip, so the numbers are accurate.

Here is a pic before
http://community.webshots.com/photo/...38433579WrQJlG

how hard is it to take off the roof rack? does it leave any holes or anything? Thanks

yes it will leave holes in the roof, its not hard i've taken mine off just to wash the paint underneath it, it takes about 10 minutes. i would not take the factory lugage rack off for gas benefits though, only if you do not like the looks of it, i think the air resistance from the factory lugage rack is very insignificant. this thread has given me an idea though, it is difficult for me to remove the surco rack for highway trips because of the lighting wires, what i will do is put a connector/plug on the harness and just unplug it when i go on trips, i did not realize people were losing up to 4mpg! i thought 1-2 maybe.

I gained almost 2MPG with the loss of my Surco Safari rack. I miss it though, and plan on replacing it with a more low profile model, I'm thinking about the Yakima Basket Case:

http://yakima.com/Product.aspx?id=71

Lamm

I just took off my "bug flare" off the hood of my truck recently. Gained 1-2mpg from that alone.

I recently threw my Yakima Loadwarrior back on and with my 70/30 city/highway I didn't see any negligible decrease;I'm sure it affects highway more than city driving of course.

loadwarrior has that fairing that does help aerodynamics but not much.

i dont exactly have a load rack on top but i do have yakima crossbars and mako saddles up top.. thats prob hurting me some and my brushguard too. gonna take my guard off if i go on long trips and my rack

I remove the bars to my Thule rack when not in use. Not because of any noticable MPG gains, but because the whistling at 80mpg just gets annoying. It's not that it's so much loud as it's just.. well, annoying.

Not sure exactly what mpg's gains I recieved, but I did get 50-60 more miles to a normal tank.