I'll throw in another shout for my long-wheelbase Expedition. I can fold all the seats in 30 seconds and put full 4x8 sheets inside, completely out of the elements. Or I can pop the seats back up and haul up to 8 people. It also tows 9k pounds.
Yes, it has heated and cooled leather seats and all the electronic bits and baubles. So what? It can still do "truck stuff".
In reply to Tom_Spangler (Forum Supporter) :
Hey Spangler, I need a vehicle to have a top loader drop a yard of fertilizer into. Think you can help me out?
In reply to codrus (Forum Supporter) :
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.
I think this is a huge part of it. Crew cab trucks have largely replaced full size cars. I will say that in my 20 years of owning a crew cab short bed truck (04' Nissan Titan) the shorter bed size has been made up for many times over by the bigger cab. For me that is much more useful than another 2' of bed. Plus- the tailgate goes down. And it's level with the bed. And it has an extender that adds a couple feet with the gate down, And if that's not long enough, it has all kinds of places to anchor tie downs to. I've hauled some ridiculously oversized items in that truck that would have been oversized for an 8' bed. But I think the winner was when I hauled a 14' diameter trampoline across town. Height was bigger worry than bed length, I had to choose my route carefully.
In reply to Kreb (Forum Supporter) :
I've got you
My dad was giving me crap when I bought my Ford Maverick; "You can't even fit a 4x8 sheet of plywood with the tailgate up!" he said. Well, I can haul 18 sheets in the bed with the tailgate in the half up position. I asked him when the last time he needed to haul plywood. It was 1995.
To be fair, his trucks were used for hauling the family and pulling a camping trailer.
If I needed a full size truck to do "truck stuff", I'd buy a work truck spec pickup. Right tool for the job and all that.
I wasn't happy with the current crop of 1/2 tons so I searched for and found a low mile example of the very last V8 Tundra. I'm super happy. As a '21 it has no trans cooler but I can add that myself. It does have a drinking problem but it's really no worse than my underpowered for today's highways, manual transmission, '13 JKUR Wrangler. I can average 17 day to day if I'm gentle. Bed is 6.5
Snowdoggie (Forum Supporter) said:dps214 said: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.
What about motorcycles?
Liter sized bikes? Lots of old smaller 4x2 stuff. Currently I think perhaps maybe just the Ford Maverick would do that easily without reversing up to a loading dock, embankment, or breaking your neck with steep ramps. Personally, I prefer a small drop deck trailer for that.
Kreb (Forum Supporter) said:In reply to Tom_Spangler (Forum Supporter) :
Hey Spangler, I need a vehicle to have a top loader drop a yard of fertilizer into. Think you can help me out?
Sure can. That's what the utility trailer is for! 
I am a carpenter. I haul plywood all the time. I have a 5 1/2' bed. I live in my truck. It's significantly nicer than a work truck spec, and far more versatile. I tow with it frequently.
My best friend is a carpenter. He has an 8' bed. He hates it. It's awful to drive.
8' beds always become rolling trash dumpsters.
I doubt I will ever have an 8' bed again.
Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) said:
Old vs new with the same size bed:
That picture just pisses me off.
Yes, I know it's intentionally emphasizing the size difference. It may even be a half ton hiding behind a 3/4 ton.
But no one can argue that older truck wasn't capable of working for a living. So how much - if any - more actual ability comes with all that extra bulk? Despite all that yuuuuge frontal area, I bet there is no more space in the engine bay at all.
Especially the extra height. Let's see you put a ladder rack on top and get a ladder on it by yourself.
In reply to Duke :
I thought the new 2500's have something like double the capacities of the GMT-400 2500's. Hell, I think the current 1500's even have higher capacities than those old 2500's. The taller frame rails needed to do so push everything higher. Then add the bulkier body structure to similarly improve survivability.
I don't like it any more than you do, but the reality is those tidy dimensions we love to reminisce about could only exist with flimsy frames and paper mache bodies by comparison.
Duke said:Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) said:
Old vs new with the same size bed:
That picture just pisses me off.
Yes, I know it's intentionally emphasizing the size difference. It may even be a half ton hiding behind a 3/4 ton.
But no one can argue that older truck wasn't capable of working for a living. So how much - if any - more actual ability comes with all that extra bulk? Despite all that yuuuuge frontal area, I bet there is no more space in the engine bay at all.
Especially the extra height. Let's see you put a ladder rack on top and get a ladder on it by yourself.
I liked your post. I get why it pisses you off and it doesn't give me a warm fuzzy feeling either. But there are a couple things to point out:
first, the new truck is substantially closer to the camera. Next, and not to politicize the thread, but I believe that at least some of the outlandish dimensions are there to incorporate some less than well thought out government standards- and lack there of.
Same thing with Curtis' picture. Yes the ZR2 is a lot larger. But look at the shadows around the curb. It's also a lot closer to the camera lens.
Driven5 said:In reply to Duke :
I thought the new 2500's have something like double the capacities of the GMT-400 2500's. Hell, I think the current 1500's even have higher capacities than those old 2500's. The taller frame rails needed to do so push everything higher. Then add the bulkier body structure to similarly improve survivability.
I don't like it any more than you do, but the reality is those tidy dimensions we love to reminisce about could only exist with flimsy frames and paper mache bodies by comparison.
W-900 Kenworth has way more capacity than either one. Maybe those are what we should all be driving 
This discussion again?
It's pretty simple, I like having a truck around to do truck things and I don't want an old truck, so I went to the dealer and bought what they had. They don't carry 1985 single cab long beds, so I couldn't buy one of those.
stanger_mussle (Supported by GRM undergarments) said:My dad was giving me crap when I bought my Ford Maverick; "You can't even fit a 4x8 sheet of plywood with the tailgate up!" he said. Well, I can haul 18 sheets in the bed with the tailgate in the half up position. I asked him when the last time he needed to haul plywood. It was 1995.
The plywood example is so weird to me. The last couple times I needed some, I paid the $35 delivery charge and had it delivered to my house, along with someone to help me unload it to the right spot. Even if I had a long bed pickup I wouldn't have used it to pick up the wood.
If a long bed was the true key to doing "truck things", we'd see a lot more of them on the road. But the reality is the current bed offerings are very capable.
Another note: A Maverick has the approx the same payload capacity as a mid 90s 1/2 ton (depending on options)
I get a new company vehicle (1/2 ton "work truck") every 3ish years. I've had a single cab long bed, 2 extended cab 6.5' beds and just got my latest, a "crew cab" 6.5' bed last week. Mine have been Fords and Chevy's. My coworkers have all found the misfortune of ending up in Dodges of late. I personally own a "work truck" 1500 Chevy single cab long bed ('17) and an XL trim single cab F-550 with 12ft dumping flatbed ('06), both of which were purchased from my employer after they were pulled out of the "fleet".
You could say I'm expert in bottom of the line, white trucks with steel wheels. Anymore, they're VERY nice, in relative terms, and very capable. Would I like the option to have heated and cooled seats but maintain vinyl floors? Yes. Do any of the manufacturers seem to agree that the working man deserves climate controlled nether-regions? No. But otherwise, you can option most of the "work truck" trims to have most every other option these days. One coworker's RAM has adaptive cruise to go with his vinyl seats and floors. Most all of the trucks have some version of lane keep assist. The Dodges all have pretty sizable screens. Etc etc. On the flip side, if you just want a bare bones truck, you can get it. Drywallers on a prior project got their foremen new 2020ish F150's that had hand crank front windows. My new leftover '23 Chevy I got last week doesn't have steering wheel radio controls.
All that said, I don't think a short bed makes a truck useless for MOST people, but on the flip side, having a truck in the driveway with an 8ft (or 12ft) bed that isn't your daily driver, but is available for use, works really well for me. I personally want an 8ft bed, and wouldn't mind the daily driver concerns (put 100's of thousands of miles on a pair of crew cab long bed F-350's). Lets me mount a toolbox and still have "plenty" of bed space.
A 401 CJ said:Driven5 said:In reply to Duke :
I thought the new 2500's have something like double the capacities of the GMT-400 2500's. Hell, I think the current 1500's even have higher capacities than those old 2500's. The taller frame rails needed to do so push everything higher. Then add the bulkier body structure to similarly improve survivability.
I don't like it any more than you do, but the reality is those tidy dimensions we love to reminisce about could only exist with flimsy frames and paper mache bodies by comparison.
W-900 Kenworth has way more capacity than either one. Maybe those are what we should all be driving
If we did, I'm pretty sure people would still find a way to complain that there's nothing justify the size vs 30-40 old pickups... The apparent pinnacle of all things truck.
My modern 'half ton' is not just generally more capable than the old ones, but also more comfortable, more efficient, and safer. I'd love for it to be smaller too, but we obey the laws of physics in this house.
The other side of the coin is that modern trucks are also really nice daily drivers. 80's vintage single cabs and Kenworths are both E36 M3ty daily drivers.
It's about balance. A modern truck is an excellent balance of capacity, comfort and convenience.
I get that many of you don't like trucks. The good news is that you don't have to buy one.
All the car companies have small-medium size trucks in overseas markets ,
I guess they could make them USA legal , pay the 25% Chicken tax and still sell them for a decent price ,
They probably worked the numbers and decided it did not pencil out for the amount of sales.
It's not the size of the the bed, it's how you load it. Every girl knows this.
Appleseed said:It's not the size of the the bed, it's how you load it. Every girl knows this.
I remember seeing an ATV fall out of the bed of the four door F150 that it didn't fit in with the tailgate closed.
I also remember picking up three 10' long pipes with my S60 and fitting them in the car with the trunk closed. You'd need an open rear window to do that with a pickup. Or you'd need a full size van.
Pete. (l33t FS) said:Appleseed said:It's not the size of the the bed, it's how you load it. Every girl knows this.
I remember seeing an ATV fall out of the bed of the four door F150 that it didn't fit in with the tailgate closed.
I also remember picking up three 10' long pipes with my S60 and fitting them in the car with the trunk closed.
I picked up a bunch of 10' pipe sections in this car:
If anything we should make another thread regarding the absence of small wagons that are useful, instead of bitching about trucks. Surely we have never discussed that before.
TravisTheHuman said:Pete. (l33t FS) said:Appleseed said:It's not the size of the the bed, it's how you load it. Every girl knows this.
I remember seeing an ATV fall out of the bed of the four door F150 that it didn't fit in with the tailgate closed.
I also remember picking up three 10' long pipes with my S60 and fitting them in the car with the trunk closed.
I picked up a bunch of 10' pipe sections in this car:
If anything we should make another thread regarding the absence of small wagons that are useful, instead of bitching about trucks. Surely we have never discussed that before.
Very specific scenario, but my longboard (surfboard*) fits in my wife's Golf Sportwagen for overnight secure storage. 9'-6" long, 2' (ish) wide. Granted it was front windshield to back windshield and required passengers seat to be laid back, it was a thing we did when she met me for an overnight stay at the beach, and I was driving my fullsize pickup. But there was no scenario where I could secure that surfboard in my truck...and her wagon handled it without a ton of effort.
SV reX said:I get that many of you don't like trucks. The good news is that you don't have to buy one.
I don't buy trucks, but I don't begrudge anyone who wants to buy a truck. I fundamentally believe that people have a right to do things I don't or wouldn't do. But I am very dubious of fads, and this smells like a fad.
I don't - or didn't (well, still don't, really) - understand what's driving the positively massive increase in size and overall bulk. It seems to me that if the design brief is for a 3/4-ton truck, it should be capable of hauling about 1500 lbs. It doesn't suddenly need to haul 3000 lbs. And given the incredible increases in packaging efficiency, why is the front of that newer truck so huge?
The giant increase in height really seems to come at the cost of usability of the bed. And that's completely ignoring the twi... errr, fine citizens who then see fit to make them even taller.
In reply to Duke :
Some people prefer a higher driving position. I'm one of them. So is my girlfriend.
I use my bed just fine.
- Fine Citizen
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