It is a guy thing. The more impractical a vehicle is the more we want it.
It is a guy thing. The more impractical a vehicle is the more we want it.
In reply to NGTD:
While still managing to be able to tow a miata, making for double miata goodness!
Bobzilla wrote:mazdeuce wrote:Agreed. Our CC has handled 7 adults (yes, illegal) for 2 hours to drop off people at the airport.dj06482 wrote: They're the perfect size, but utterly impractical if you need to have more than two people in the vehicle. I had two of these, an '89 C1500 RCSB with the 4.3/5spd and an '04 K1500 RCSB with the 5.7/4L60E and loved them both.That's not completely true. I have a crew cab, but often the whole family of six climbs in for things like a week long trip to the grand canyon and back. We do fine. The bigger a person you put in the middle the less comfortable it is, but that's true of back seats in pretty much all 2+2's as well.
With the 5spd in the '89, there was very little room for a passenger in the middle seat. Same with the manual 4WD shift lever in the '94 and the high tunnel for the transmission. It's very possible that the newer models have more space than the '88-98.
I've driven both with 3 passengers, and there's a picture somewhere of my '94 with 2 Britax Marathon car seats up front. I appreciated the shorter overall length of the regular cab short bed, but still ended up with a 4 door Dodge Ram.
I really like the Tundra TRD in this form. It might just be a unicorn thing.
Mike wrote: I really like the Tundra TRD in this form. It might just be a unicorn thing.
Wasn't this available with a TRD supercharger?
dj06482 wrote:Bobzilla wrote:With the 5spd in the '89, there was very little room for a passenger in the middle seat. Same with the manual 4WD shift lever in the '94 and the high tunnel for the transmission. It's very possible that the newer models have more space than the '88-98. I've driven both with 3 passengers, and there's a picture somewhere of my '94 with 2 Britax Marathon car seats up front. I appreciated the shorter overall length of the regular cab short bed, but still ended up with a 4 door Dodge Ram.mazdeuce wrote:Agreed. Our CC has handled 7 adults (yes, illegal) for 2 hours to drop off people at the airport.dj06482 wrote: They're the perfect size, but utterly impractical if you need to have more than two people in the vehicle. I had two of these, an '89 C1500 RCSB with the 4.3/5spd and an '04 K1500 RCSB with the 5.7/4L60E and loved them both.That's not completely true. I have a crew cab, but often the whole family of six climbs in for things like a week long trip to the grand canyon and back. We do fine. The bigger a person you put in the middle the less comfortable it is, but that's true of back seats in pretty much all 2+2's as well.
I had 4 people side-by-side on the bench seat in our '88. That was a many years, and many fewer pounds ago though.
The GMT900 trucks weren't available with a manual, and I think at least the half tons were all push button 4x4 if you want that many drive wheels, so that frees up that space. Additionally, the tunnel is much more of a plateau than a tunnel between the front seats. It's wide and flat and as nice as it can be to set your feet on. I even take turns riding in the middle on road trips and it's about one million times better than riding in the middle in my dad's single cab Dakota as when I was a kid.
Nick (Bo) Comstock wrote: I'm going to say the 73-87 trucks are by the far the best looking. But that's the era I came from and they were everywhere when I was a young impressionable youth.
Those are a close second to the D series/1st gen Ram. But you have parts availablity with the GM, so...
Though recently I have been seeing an extended cab GMT800 around town that's received a generous beating with the lowering stick and I'm quite ok with it.
How do these lowered trucks handle towing?
In general, not as well. The big problem is losing travel in the rear. The trucks that have a notch and bags can actually work well but that's going kind of deep.
Hsving said that, about 1/3 of the lawn service trucks around here towing a trailer full of equipment are lowered.
My only thought on then is that the normal "2/4" or "4/6" drop gets rid of the rake in the chassis, which is there so the truck levels out under load instead of squatting. So I think I'd do the same drop front and rear if I wanted to tow with the truck often. Beyond that, my only experience is watching a friend's GMC 1500 lond bed with 2 inch drop shackles in the rear towing my Malibu. The jack on his trailer nearly drug the ground.
Reviving this thread since I came across this thing this morning and it's putting bad thoughts in my head again regarding 2wd trucks. That's gotta be putting down darn near 400 whp with a cammed 6.0 LS and I can't see why this wouldn't make an awesome all purpose dd/tow pig/hoon mobile, basically like a muscle car with a bed instead of a backseat and trunk. Run it at the drag strip Friday night, then to Home Depot Saturday morning. Tow the race car to the track, then decide if you wanna run that or the tow vehicle 
.
So does anyone have any real world experience towing with something like this? Is a short bed truck really a viable option for towing an open deck trailer, or will the short wheel base make for too many butt pucker moments? What about towing with a lowered truck, again any real world experience? Would 20mpg highway be an unreasonable expectation for a stockish 4.8 or 5.3 truck?
Obligatory pic:
In reply to Furious_E:
I remember well several years ago a high-10 second El Camino that would be driven to New England Dragway and run in the 10's and he'd also tow his boat to the lakes with the same car.
(Can't remember if I wrote that in this thread already)
I can't speak to the towing on a short wheelbase... but I can talk to the fuel economy. Our 06 Crew Cab short bed 4.8/3.23 averages 17-18 around town, short drives. On 100% real gas 23-24mpg highway. Towing 15mpg open trailer and 4500lbs. On crap gas, 21 on hte highway at 75mph
I have been looking at lowering my sierra Denali the issues I have is the quadrasteer limits options for this. I was actually wondering if I could add a set of hijacker air shocks that were only mounted at the top and were disconnected at the bottom so normal driving (with a lowered truc) would have the comfy setting of my electric shocks that I can still stiffen up with the press of a button for light towing and weekend trips to the store. If I want to hall some serious weight or tow something heavy I can hook up the bottom of the air shock to the axle and add air as needed to adjust ride height.
Crazy plan or a good way to have the best of all worlds
Oh and the cost to replace the electric shocks in my truck is about $200 each and I like having them. The normal ride setting makes the truck feel like a big car. Takes all the "truck-ness" out of the ride. Makes it a really comfortable ride.
I've wanted a spindles/shackle-hanger kit for our CC. Wife said "Awww hell naw!" to that idea.
It's the same vehicle as a '55 Chevrolet.
Rear wheel drive with a solid axle that has 1,000 gear/brake/tire options? Check.
Body on frame like God intended? Check.
Large enough to wear a big white cowboy hat? Check.
Green Onions song? Check.
Bench seat? Check.
Cute mousy brunette? You're on your own.
I was going to order a black 2WD Silverado with posi but the rebates were way cheaper on a 4WD version.
Another favorite- don't forget your white starched shirt and a roll bar.
In reply to Furious_E:
I mean, you're right about the muscle car thing. v8, body on frame, don't handle that well from the factory, etc.
I've been torn lately on the long vs short box. Yes short is cooler looking, but long hauls a lot more and rides smoother. As far as trailering is concerned, it comes down to how much, how far, how fast, how often?
Saw a 2015 GMC RCSB at a dealer used lot recently. That midnite blue paint was calling to me....I'm always suprised at how many more short boxes I see down south vs here in the north.
thatsnowinnebago wrote:Mike wrote: I really like the Tundra TRD in this form. It might just be a unicorn thing.Wasn't this available with a TRD supercharger?
you could put a TRD supercharger on any tundra, tacoma, and whatever other cars they make them for. They also are still covered under warranty as long as its using all the TRD parts and tune. A funny side note to that, my buddy has a TRD supercharged Tacoma and found a company that makes a slightly smaller supercharger pulley but still has the TRD size markings on it so unless you measure it then you never would know it's smaller so any issues would still be covered by warranty. The TRD tune is also tuned pig rich, I assume to be super safe, so the slightly smaller pulley helps shove more air in to make the AFR less rich but still safe.
NEALSMO wrote:Sometimes I have delusions of pimping out my C1500. Dropped with roll pans, pre-runner, or CAM contender? ..or I just continue to let it sit and rot other than running monthly errands with it.
When these first came out in 1988, one of the 4x4 magazines of the time (I think it was 4Wheel & Off Road) built a project truck using a 4WD version. Mild lift kit, flares and wide Dick Cepek Fun Country tires (that appear to be NLA). The truck just had an awesome look to it. This was at the height of the "pre-runner" fad as well, so that was the look they were going for.
While I'm generally an avowed Ford and Mopar guy, I harbored a secret lust for that truck.
In reply to Bobzilla:
That's not bad at all! Wonder if the RCSB might even do a bit better with less weight to haul around.
In reply to Gearheadotaku:
I really don't think I'd miss it that often, can always leave the tailgate down for longer stuff. Actually, if anything, I think I'd prefer an extended cab short bed over a regular cab long bed, as the cab space would probably be more useful to me. But neither is as cool as the regular cab short bed and we all know that's what's most important.
As for towing, I read a few threads on some of the truck forums last night and it seems there's more than a few people out there hauling car trailers without a problem. Actually, now that I look at it, it seems the short bed trucks have a longer wheelbase than either the contemporary or the current Tahoe at 116" vs 119".
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