i dont want to argue the point about pulling the tailgate on a dually, but i have yet to those 5th wheel v style tailgates with lights on them. are the cops just turning a blind eye? then again, i only travel on the west coast.

 

Did they try it with the tailgate up and the bed filled with snow? That's what I'm dealing with right now, not by choice mind you

 

...but do they make a tailgate cargo net WITHOUT a NASCAR logo on it?

 

The facts is most police officers do NOT know all the laws. There are hundreds of laws and most are overlooked.

 

Yeah, they only get you for the worst things possible

 

getting off track here, but i have been quite lucky with the police, the few times that i have been caught, i tell them the gods honest truth. it is amazing how understanding and willing to overlook somethings they can be then.

 

I don't know how anybody gets their trucks inspected with anything other than a stock tailgate and no lights. My dad's truck has an expanded metal tailgate and the truck was 15 days past inspection, they said get some lights on the tailgate and it will pass, until then keep this piece of paper and hand it to the officer that pulls you over (paraphrased).
As for the aerodynamics I have learned some from this page http://www.airtab.com/. It doesn't say what the airflow is like on a truck box, (it makes sense for my flat bed, the more I think about it I wonder what my mileage would be with the stock bed on) but I think it's something to the affect of the tailgate down will add more bed length to clear along with the vacuum created under the tailgate from the air flow dropping around the sides of it, creating drag. This might be testable by adding straps long enough to drop the end of the tailgate with the bumper. (I would love to have a wind tunnel)

 

What no one wants to dispute my theory?