Jerry
PowerDork
11/22/24 11:53 a.m.
I had the 10K maintenance this morning for the GR Corolla, oil change and inspections so only took about 45-50 minutes. Gave me time to wander the showroom a little after I got bored with my phone.
I saw a Tundra and Tacoma, can't remember which was which, rear seats in both but only one had realistic legroom. Judging by my wingspan of my arms both beds seemed to be about 6' long. Which seems less truck-like, while both vehicles seemed huge (to me).
This is the first dealership I've been in that sells trucks since 2008 with the Scion xB. Are all trucks fashion statements now or do the Big3 have bigger beds?
You can still get a truck with an 8 foot bed. Usually for a half ton (Tundra, Titan, F-150, Chevy/Dodge 1500) you can get either the big cab or a long bed, but not both. Usually a long bed is limited either the regular cab or the short extended cab (with tiny back seats). The full size 4 door crew cab only comes with a shorter bed. If you want the big cab and the long bed, you have to go up to a 3/4 ton or bigger (F-250 / 2500).
Whether the difference in bed length matters much depends on what you want to use the truck for. If you want to put long stuff in the bed or tow a gooseneck / 5th wheel trailer, you want a long bed. If the bed is just for smaller but heavy or dirty stuff or anything big would be on a trailer anyway (or the truck is just for towing a trailer) then the more comfortable cab is likely to be more useful than a longer bed.
Just a personal observation not based on fact:
Recently, trucks seemed to have evolved into quasi-SUVs that just happen to have a truck bed. I don't think it's inherently a bad, just more of a buyer preference trend.
I've seen a few people on social media pointing out that Kei trucks have bed sizes comparable (maybe bigger? I don't completely remember) to modern trucks.
Jerry said:
Are all trucks fashion statements now or do the Big3 have bigger beds?
There are non-fashion reasons to buy trucks that don't involve picking up sheets of drywall at Home Depot, you know. :)
Consider that while the proportion of trucks with smaller beds is much larger than it was in say the mid-80s, the proportion of trucks as a percentage of total vehicles sold is also much larger. It's possible that the number of long bed pickups sold is actually about the same as it used to be, but you're just losing track of them in the much larger number of small bed pickups. That's really a new class of vehicle compared to what was available 40 years ago.
As a current and long-time "work truck" driver...yes, there are still very much trucks that aren't fancy/useless. As was mentioned, the 8ft bed in a half-ton all but requires a single cab (think Ford and Toyota are the exceptions to that with "extended cab" versions). A 6.5ft bed is now considered the "standard bed". 8ft = long bed, 5.5ft = short bed.
Around here at least one each of both Ford and Chevy dealers have completely separate "Commercial Vehicles" sales lots. That's where you'll find a sea of white trucks with steel wheels and vinyl floors.
dps214
SuperDork
11/22/24 1:29 p.m.
Long bed trucks are for towing gooseneck trailers or if you're carrying plywood on a daily basis. Aside from that, 95% of "truck stuff" works just fine with a 6-6.5' bed. And that extra 2' of length makes them extra suck to drive in the real world, no matter the use case.
They do, but it ticks me off that in order to get one, it comes with a behemoth truck.
Old vs new with the same size bed:
Good luck towing a 10,000 pound trailer with the Kei truck. :)
You can still get a Regular cab with the big bed from ford with a decent motor. I had to go and get a 2017 XL 5.0 without th epower pack to get it. But it does all the truck stuff you could ever imagine. I just wish I had 4x4 about 0.5% of the miles I drive but I put better tires on it and it has yet to get stuck with the locking rear.
My truck has a 6'4" bed, but it does lots of truck stuff. There's a lot more to truck life than just how long the bed is. And a proper cab means I can tow two race cars as well as carry four people. I very much did not want a longer bed, the vehicle is long enough as-is.
I have carried plywood in it, you just don't carry it flat. Not a big deal.
Ram 1500 Classic.
The Dodge pickup truck of 2009 that you can still buy new today.
Route 30 across central Indiana this week.
Whatever you do, if you're in the Dallas area, do not race a modern rcsb ford F150!
yupididit said:
Whatever you do, if you're in the Dallas area, do not race a modern rcsb ford F150!
This goes anywhere really, and there are a few 4 doors that are silly fast as well.
Comparing current trucks to 70's 80's truck is silly; current are better at doing everything. Yeah, everything. I don't need an 8' bed; I rarely buy wood and when I do I can set the gate down. I've towed with a 78 f250, a 84 d250, a 97 dodge 2500, a 2002 Chevy 2500 and my current f150 is better than all of them. And, yes it can double as a daily driver.
You're not going to find a truck truck in a dealership showroom. They show off the shiniest bit of kit there. The real trucks are in the back of the lot with the fleet vehicles.
Driven5
PowerDork
11/22/24 5:05 p.m.
Regular cab long bed trucks are a one trick pony. If that's the trick you need, there is no substitute. If not, they suck at pretty much everything else.
Maybe my truck needs just aren't 'manly' enough, but I actually even prefer the reduced length and added maneuverability of the 5.5' bed over the 6.5' bed for most of the 'truck stuff' I use my crew cab for too. Not just the 'minivan stuff'. There are plenty of spots the shorter length and reduced turning circle made a real difference getting my travel trailer backed into, including my own driveway, but only once or twice I would have really benefitted from an extra 12".
Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) said:
They do, but it ticks me off that in order to get one, it comes with a behemoth truck.
Old vs new with the same size bed:
While I'm practically first in line to mock current trucks and their bloat, in fairness, the sane thing can be applied to practically any long running vehicle. Park a 1978 Honda Accord next to a 2004 model. Or a 1994 Rav-4 next to a new one and what do you get?
Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) said:
They do, but it ticks me off that in order to get one, it comes with a behemoth truck.
Old vs new with the same size bed:
That's not really a fair comparison. A modern single cab 1/2 ton will tow as much or more than that single cab Chevy pictured. And it'll be substantially closer in size than the crew cab 3/4 ton pictured.
Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) said:
They do, but it ticks me off that in order to get one, it comes with a behemoth truck.
Old vs new with the same size bed:
Not quite fair, that Colorado is the ZR2 version, they're taller than all of the other Colorados. You used to be able to get them with a diesel, and it ticked pretty much *all* of the boxes for the overland crowd.
I'm casually looking for one.
To answer your question yes. But no one wants them. OK, contractors or people who use them for actual work do. But the popular choice is to have a truck as a fashion statement. A walk thru my neighborhood illustrates this. How many driveways have 2 pickups. No one wants to carry mulch or plywood in their Raptor or 60K new truck so they keep the old beater for actual truck work. The manufacturers are not to blame, they make what sells.
Only one time in the past 10yrs the 8' bed really helped. Hauling some 20' deck boards I didnt need to use the trailer. I moved to a quad Cab short bed shortly after and the rear seats are more useful than the extra bed.
