redtanrt10 said:"every homeowner needs a truck."
You can equally replace "homeowner" with "race car owner" :) Aside from hauling the trailer to the track, a truck is invaluable for taking tires to the tire store, transporting engines and transmissions, replacement body parts, etc.
Why do we need to have a reason for everything these days? Can't we just have something because it makes you happy?
I've had 6 Rangers and Mazda B-series, a Nissan D21, and an 81' F-150 standard cab flare side. I like trucks, but small ones that do small truck things, as I've never needed a big truck to to do big truck things, unless it was a Uhaul box truck. I have my wife talked into a Maverick for her next vehicle, because it does small truck stuff and has 4 doors.
People write songs about trucks or make videos featuring trucks where I live.
Local musician makes video and drives his truck.....
My Honda is out in the parking lot with a lot of expensive trucks right now.
For me, it's just personal preference. Back when I bought my first truck, a used 91 2wd S10, it was the plain Jane styling. I got it with an underpowered 2.5 and 5spd, which made it enjoyable to drive. Parts are plentiful and cheap. It's a literal anvil in simplicity. It could be modified any number of ways and really nobody had the same identical thing.
Since then, I've had my 96 ranger, 97 f250, 95 Dakota, and 13 Avalanche.
If I hadn't bought the mustang, I would have gotten another truck, a f150 2wd rcsb. I would have bought it to limit the crap I carry in the passenger compartment. I would lower it, add mustang cams and oil pump gears to the 5.0, tune, boost, and generally go fast.
PS- that Ford Wrangler abomination is as much "truck" as my mustang is.
As my wife would say, "don't yuk my yum".
Let people be happy with their lives. They're paying for it. They're living with it. What business is it of mine ?
I got way more important matters to deal with than worrying about what someone else is doing.
I live 6 months in a beach town in North Carolina. I see a LOT of full sized pickups there.
I live another 6 months in a mountain town in California. I see very few full sized pickups there.
A lot of it I think has to do with the regional pop culture in the south/central US romanticizing pickup ownership. We also get it from our family history. Daddy/Granddaddy was a farmer and had an F100/C10 and I remember it fondly as well as the stories he told.
I don't "need" a truck, but I legitimately use it for things an SUV wouldn't work for. I had four 55 gallon drums in it the other day. Another day I was moving 10'-12' Stand Up Paddle Boards. Fringe case I realize. I would really prefer a full sized van, but that opens another can of worms with my requirements...
you need a truck , because "some day' you will need it .....
For when you build your new shed
When you get some off road motorcycles
for when you pull your travel trailer to the Grand Canyon
When you need to buy a boat and need to take it to the lake
Etc Etc Etc....
And most of these could be a full size truck , but not the new "fuller" size Monster truck that makes my Chevy Express van look small .
BlueInGreen - Jon said:Sometimes I forget that normal people don't usually have more vehicles than drivers in their household :P
I think this has a lot to do with it. I never owned a truck until I needed one to haul karts around. I couldn't afford a truck and a "fun" car, so my truck was also my daily. I prefer single cab short beds, so mine weren't "luxury" trucks by any means, but were all comfortable to be in.
The demise of the land yacht probably has a lot to do with it too. But, how much of that is/was driven by the manufacturers. Ford/GM/Dodge have been building trucks for 70+ years. In that time, the basic design hasn't changed. There's been better engine development and the regular sheetmetal refresh and sure, lots of "clean sheet" design changes on occasion, but the actual production line itself probably hasn't changed much. 20+ years ago, I had a friend that worked for Chrysler and he said back then the profit on trucks was way more than anything else they produced and I've heard it's still the case for the big 3 today.
So, as a manufacturer, it's probably cheaper for me to throw leather, ventilated seats, infotainment, etc into a truck than it is to try and create a new family car. So, of course they'll do whatever they can to promote the vehicles with the largest profit margin, which happens to be body on frame trucks. (The Maverick, however, seems to be on par to change that drastically, only time will tell)
-Rob
Actually, the Lemmings bit is too cliche. Old school.
In todays world, pretty much all answers follow the money trail to "shareholder value" . Pickup trucks are very profitable. Consumer data analysis has made marketing very good at marketing; almost down to the individual level. There a re a million reasons to not own a truck, but the marketing department only has to find the ONE that triggers YOU. And they are very good at it.
Some days you just need a basic truck to pick up mulch at Home Depot.
NOHOME said:Actually, the Lemmings bit is too cliche. Old school.
Who is the Disney employee throwing Lemmings off a cliff in this analogy?
NOHOME said:There are a million reasons to not own a truck, but the marketing department only has to find the ONE that triggers YOU. And they are very good at it.
I think you're ascribing too much power to the marketing departments. They can't force people to buy cars they don't want, nor can they force people to want things.
I agree that part of it is that people are buying trucks instead of big family sedans, but I don't think that's the cause. It's the other way around -- big family sedans basically died because people started buying trucks (well, SUVs) instead. Government vehicle requirements are part of it too, things that are classified as "trucks" by the government have a different set of standards so automakers can deliver a "big family truck" at a lower cost than a "big family sedan".
Yes, the margins on pickups are high, that's partly because of the lower standards, but it's also partly because of the super high volume. Ford sells something like 3/4 of a million F-series trucks a year, and that's a huge volume to spread the fixed costs over. The profit margin on a Fusion/Taurus/Crown Vic/whatever would have been a lot higher if they could sell 750K of that model in a year too!
I think fundamentally it comes down to the fact that people want to own trucks, both for practical reasons (high seating/visibility as well as cargo utility) and for emotional ones (the adventure/lifestyle thing). Sometime in the 90s the automakers figured this out, started making trucks with nicer interiors, and once consumers had the option of buying those kinds of vehicles without the terrible ride, limited passenger space, and minimalistic interior features of 80s-and-early trucks... well, they never looked back.
Tim Suddard said:
Is there a valid reason why so many people love trucks?
No, there are many valid reasons.
I like old trucks. Cowboys and ranchers drive old trucks. They write country western songs about old trucks. Eccentric characters in novels are described by the old trucks they drive. Old trucks have character. I love my old truck.
New trucks are reliable, useful and just about as boring as a suburban SUV. New trucks come with huge monthly payments. The 4 door shortbed truck is the minivan for suburban dads. New trucks are way too tall. Who needs a vehicle that sits up that high off the road? I can't think of any new truck today that doesn't look kind of funny. I don't really care for new trucks.
msterbee said:Absent a logical need for one, I am completely baffled by the current craze for giant pickups and SUV's at all much less as daily drivers. In my mind it's a bit of an indictment of the people who own them that they care so little about the earth and the people around them.
I currently drive a sporty compact sedan with a manual (Kia Forte GT). If I could choose to daily drive any kind of vehicle it would be of similar size but in wagon form. Other than a large family, I can't imagine needing more vehicle for most people.
All that said, I have an irrational desire for a dajiban. The fact that I could track it and use it for house renovation needs is beside the point. :-)
Every time I see one of those I get evil thoughts about lowering the suspension on my Tioga II and making it a Dajimotorhome. 
I already have the front spoiler for it. I could track it and use it for a house.
How can you not like this?
For the same reason why many could give a ratz arse about the "answer". When one has experienced the truck dynamic regardless of the plus and minus's , the moment when one no longer resides in the stable the yearning reappears.....
I haven't owned any trucks newer than 99 ranger, but have had new Ram 1500 crew cabs as rentals and didn't find them to be unwieldy. Parking at the pier near St Armands circle was tight, but backing in to the parking spots addressed much of the maneuverability challenges one might face.
It may be that I learned to drive in pickup trucks (1980 C10 with 250 I6 and column shift 3 speed), or that my first car was that truck.
Or it could be that there were also many years where my father had a 13' slide in camper, and extension for the hitch to pull the boat. The camper went on in May and came off in September/October. Driving it in traffic and parking became second nature. Pulling the boat and backing the trailer also became a well honed skill so the cognitive load was low.
Either way, I miss having a truck and while a want a wrangler I'm second guessing it in favor of a truck for the convenience.
My dad bought a new '70 Chevy C20 pickup when he stopped drag racing. Camper Special, 4.10 gears, jet black with red interior. It was our family's only vehicle once the brakes went out on the '66 Pontiac Safari wagon and it took out a traffic light. He bought a cab over camper and a 17' Larson speed boat and would haul the three kids, my mom, and our dog from the South Side of Chicago up to Cass Lake, Minnesota for vacations with it. 7-8 MpG was rough with just the factory 20 gallon in-cab tank, so he bought and installed a pair of 15 gallon saddle tanks to increase the distance between fill ups.
When the company he worked for was sold and he got laid off, he bought a 1977 GMC G10 van in Buckskin Beige with a rear heater when he started his own vending business. I learned to drive in the C20, and drove through high school. Dad bought an '81 E150 with a 300 and an overdrive manual trans with that huge floor shifter. We would use it when I would race District 17 Hare Scrambles. We'd knock down 18-19 MpG with that thing running 70 MpH to get out to Danville, or Phrophetstown, or Peoria by 8AM on a Sunday. Or Coal Valley, which isn't anywhere near Coal City, in case you didn't know. We sure didn't. And there wasn't a Google to tell us otherwise. Trucks and vans were all I knew until I went to work with my uncle in Anchorage, AK. And all I drove when I worked with him were tracks, as well. Until I bought my first car, a 1971 Challenger R/T. Well, that's what the seller told me, but who knows?
When I started four wheeling (with a Jeep Scrambler pickup, go figure), I decided I needed a truck to haul it, as I had a baaaad experience with my dad's old '85 Chevy van pulling a 24' enclosed trailer and a crosswind, a semi on the right, and a Trailways bus blasting past me on the left. That's when I decided I wanted wheelbase, and plenty of it. I bought a '77 Dodge D200 Club Cab long bed with a 440, and never looked back. I have owned either a truck or a van (or more than one of each) ever since. I'm too busy either hauling or towing something too often to go without. With my Midcentury Modern resale business, I have to be able to pick up furniture at the drop of a hat. Picking up a non running car is so much easier if I don't have to worry about renting or borrowing a vehicle and trailer. Plus, I LIKE driving trucks. Yes, even the ones people think are too big for personal use.
But I really don't understand when people feel the need to pass judgment. No matter what someone else drives.
I've never made love in the back seat of a Miata.
Just sayin...
Trucks are awesome. Mine has taken me across the country to several race tracks in the last 8 years.
Super comfy. Everything works. Drives very well.
I have fun cars for fun, but the truck just works. It takes the entire family anywhere with all my race stuff and the car on a trailer at 80 mph.
How many people here have helped a friend move? How many times have you helped anybody move? It sure would have been easier with a pickup. Maybe it would have been worse?
Is there a valid reason why people should love a Miata?
I've never once heard anyone ask that.
But trucks? Yeah.... every time.
Truck hate on car forums is about as dumb as Miata hate on truck forums.
Let's just talk motorsport support for a minute...
That should cover it, without even getting into all the other activities my truck supports, not to mention it's a pretty darn comfortable place to go down the road.
If you don't want a truck, don't buy one. Just don't ask to borrow mine... 
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