^^X2!!!
Gas Mileage With and Without Roof Rack (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter mister bean
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^^X2!!!
That would be great. How do you remove the roof rack anyway? I've owned this thing almost 10 years and never even looked at the roof rack until now. I don't see anything bolting this thing in.
i can't imagine the oem roof rack alone would make more than .2-.3mpg difference unless you were running around 80 all the time. And if you're doing that, you aren't worried about mileage.
- Thread starter
- #24
This is what I had when I removed the Yakima feet that were on there. It seems that when the previous owner put it on he replaced some of the hardware with lower grade stuff, so there's some rust on one of the bolts there. There's a pad of some sort of material between the bolts and the body, and there was a good amount of red sealant of some sort on all of them.
Does anyone know if there's a cover available for these? I park under a tree and it seems like it might a good idea to try to keep some of the leaves, twigs and dirt from collecting in there.
Does anyone know if there's a cover available for these? I park under a tree and it seems like it might a good idea to try to keep some of the leaves, twigs and dirt from collecting in there.
7555760010 is the p/n for mine. I had the 6 mounter rack.
- Thread starter
- #26
Okay. After a couple weeks I have some before and after data. The rack had a fairing and three Yakima bars with ski attachments (flipped flat) and two bike carriers.
* A typical tank of gas with the rack was 12.5 mpg.
* The best tank I ever got with the rack, all highway, was 14.1 mpg.
* The first tank after removal, which included some time with the rack, in town, highway, gravel road and offroad was 14.7 mpg.
* The next tank, which was mostly highway, but included a lot of time on highway 70 and going through the Eisenhower tunnel twice was 16.1 mpg.
These are all uncorrected numbers. You can add 5%, but the percentage of improvement won't change.
* A typical tank of gas with the rack was 12.5 mpg.
* The best tank I ever got with the rack, all highway, was 14.1 mpg.
* The first tank after removal, which included some time with the rack, in town, highway, gravel road and offroad was 14.7 mpg.
* The next tank, which was mostly highway, but included a lot of time on highway 70 and going through the Eisenhower tunnel twice was 16.1 mpg.
These are all uncorrected numbers. You can add 5%, but the percentage of improvement won't change.
Last edited:
re_guderian
SILVER Star
2000UZJ said:
that's ~$600 a year in gas.
re_guderian
SILVER Star
re_guderian
SILVER Star
Just re-reading this thread. Since I use my factory rack 10-ish times/year, I (obviously) have kept it on. However, I have a set of Yakima rail-grabbers, just need some 58" crossbars to go in 'em. I could remove the factory cross-bars, keep the front-to-back rails, and throw the rail-grabbers on in a matter of minutes to use as attachment points for the roof bag. I'll have to give it a shot and see if it makes a difference in MPG's. 
re_guderian said:Just re-reading this thread. Since I use my factory rack 10-ish times/year, I (obviously) have kept it on. However, I have a set of Yakima rail-grabbers, just need some 58" crossbars to go in 'em. I could remove the factory cross-bars, keep the front-to-back rails, and throw the rail-grabbers on in a matter of minutes to use as attachment points for the roof bag. I'll have to give it a shot and see if it makes a difference in MPG's.
That is exactly how I ran my setup prior to getting a Front Runner. I never tracked mpg gain but it looked a lot cleaner on top.
I just took my factory cross bars off for a 700 mile round trip across Northern NV. I fueled three times and got some surprising results. No passengers or third row seats, light load, 40 psi cold (up to 48 psi hot) 285 Revos, stock lift, 75 mph gage (probably around 79 mph), 89 octane.
Reno>Winnemucca 17.5 mpg
Winn>Elko>Winn 15.8
Winn>Reno ..... 19.6!!
No s***. I calculated the economy at each fuel stop, so I had the numbers right in front of me, and I double checked each one, quadruple checked the last one. For the last one, I even google mapped the exact route to compare the distance with my 285 conversion (1.06), and it matched within about half a mile. i also recalculated that one assuming that the last fill was half a gallon light, it still came to a whopping 18.7 mpg. To make this even more surprising, the last leg is usually the windiest, and even tho it was light wind relative to normal conditions, I still had a steady 10-15 mph headwind the whole way with a couple of higher wind speed sections.
For comparison, I got 17.5 mpg last time i checked, which was a 600 mile trip right after i installed headers and O2 sensors - this was about a 2 mpg improvement from before the headers and sensors - but i havent checked highway economy since. The average of these new values is 17.6, so I cant say that removing the cross bars improved anything.
Reno>Winnemucca 17.5 mpg
Winn>Elko>Winn 15.8
Winn>Reno ..... 19.6!!
No s***. I calculated the economy at each fuel stop, so I had the numbers right in front of me, and I double checked each one, quadruple checked the last one. For the last one, I even google mapped the exact route to compare the distance with my 285 conversion (1.06), and it matched within about half a mile. i also recalculated that one assuming that the last fill was half a gallon light, it still came to a whopping 18.7 mpg. To make this even more surprising, the last leg is usually the windiest, and even tho it was light wind relative to normal conditions, I still had a steady 10-15 mph headwind the whole way with a couple of higher wind speed sections.
For comparison, I got 17.5 mpg last time i checked, which was a 600 mile trip right after i installed headers and O2 sensors - this was about a 2 mpg improvement from before the headers and sensors - but i havent checked highway economy since. The average of these new values is 17.6, so I cant say that removing the cross bars improved anything.
Just re-reading this thread. Since I use my factory rack 10-ish times/year, I (obviously) have kept it on. However, I have a set of Yakima rail-grabbers, just need some 58" crossbars to go in 'em. I could remove the factory cross-bars, keep the front-to-back rails, and throw the rail-grabbers on in a matter of minutes to use as attachment points for the roof bag. I'll have to give it a shot and see if it makes a difference in MPG's.
Thats what I do with my Thule Crossroads (that grab the longitudinal rails). No factory x-bars for me. I have Thule 58" and 78" bars depending on my load. No fairing. Those 78"s make it look like a Cessna from the front or back, but I can get a cargo box, a 16' canoe and a 10' kayak up there with some fishing rods mixed in between.
My mileage is fairly consistent at 12.5 to 12.8, no matter what configuration since I drive mainly within a 10-mile radius of my home. I will note that one of my best tanks in 14 months of ownership came from a road trip, with the load I mentioned above, plus 6 people, plus a loaded 120qt cooler on a hitch carrier (see my Avatar). 14.5mpg (factored in the 6% for the 285s). Mostly an old highway doing around 60mph (except for the part where I got a ticket for 68 in a 45 speed trap).
Formulaonehd
NWZ - The storm is here
Is the loss in MPG mainly attributed to the wind resistance or the weight of the rack? Im tossing up whether to swap my steel rack for alloy to reduce weight but thinking it won't make much difference and just cost more $$$
Weight has very little to do with MPG - compared to aerodynamics... well, unless you're doing an inordinate amount of driving in really hilly conditions. Aero is the killer - bikes, cars, trucks... it's all about aero.
But, I'm still not convinced a factory rack will have a 2 mpg impact - on a truck getting 12-16 mpg.
The vast majority of "tests" are based on one or two trips (where the conditions aren't the same) and/or flawed means of measuring MPGs, e.g. "I got X miles out of that tank."
If we added up all the claimed MPGs attributed to various parts and mods - 3 MPGs for steels wheels, 2 MPGs for bigger/heavier tires, 2-3 MPGs for lift, 1-2 MPGs for winch bumper, 2 MPGs for a roof rack - I'd either be getting 0 MPGs now, or my stock 100 was getting 35 MPGs.
But, I'm still not convinced a factory rack will have a 2 mpg impact - on a truck getting 12-16 mpg.
The vast majority of "tests" are based on one or two trips (where the conditions aren't the same) and/or flawed means of measuring MPGs, e.g. "I got X miles out of that tank."
If we added up all the claimed MPGs attributed to various parts and mods - 3 MPGs for steels wheels, 2 MPGs for bigger/heavier tires, 2-3 MPGs for lift, 1-2 MPGs for winch bumper, 2 MPGs for a roof rack - I'd either be getting 0 MPGs now, or my stock 100 was getting 35 MPGs.
I've always wondered the difference between stacking a bunch of stuff on the roof, vs. pulling a small trailer instead. The trailer has the advantage of aerodynamics, I'm assuming, but extra weight and the bit of drag on the wheels.
I always pack all our camping gear in a 4x8 trailer, and wondered if I should get a hitch cargo carrier and beefier roof rack (currently stock), and ditch the trailer.
I always pack all our camping gear in a 4x8 trailer, and wondered if I should get a hitch cargo carrier and beefier roof rack (currently stock), and ditch the trailer.
Hmmm we don't buy Land Cruiser's for gas mileage 
I would rather have the rack "just in case". 
I would rather have the rack "just in case".
Formulaonehd
NWZ - The storm is here
Get yourself a wind deflector and gain some aerodynamic and you may get back 1MPG. Its not the weight of the rack its the shape of it and how close to your roof it sits. Ive seen some pretty good home made wind deflectors from the windscreen to the rack and then the rack has its own windshield if needed.
From their accounts they have made back MPG gains and lost wind noise at the sunroof aswell
From their accounts they have made back MPG gains and lost wind noise at the sunroof aswell
