I think those short bed trucks are the absolute worst. If you genuinely need a truck, get one with a proper bed so you can use it for it’s utilitarian purpose. If you’ve got a short ass bed, you don’t need a truck.
People who buy these things don’t really want “a truck”
They want a vehicle which aesthetically resembles a truck, so their super manly male man ego can be satisfied, but which is actually just an SUV with extra steps.
Honestly, if these trucks weren’t bigger while hauling less than my mom with her old clio and trailer, I might be ok with calling em SUVs. These weird pickups are an insult to all other cars.
Oh no! I drive a Prius! Whatever will I tell my wife and kids?
Short beds and unibody designs are the worst fucking things to happen to trucks
If you need a truck - and as a rural tradesperson, there are plenty of good reasons to need one - get something that’ll actually do the job.
Rural tradepeople in Europe rarely have trucks. Vans do the job in the vast majority of cases, a trailer can complement when needed.
Not to mention a van has the benefit of keeping the load dry
Which depending on what you do and where can be very important
They also keep dirt and road dust off your tools and materials. Vans also conceal your cargo better than a bed which can prevent theft. Most vans are more fuel efficient than similar sized trucks. Vans are usually easier to drive and have better visibility. A big enough van can fit a small workshop in the back, that you can stand in and assemble parts.
Vans are the better work/trade vehicles compared to trucks for most applications and that is a hill I will die on.
I use a 4 door short bed truck, and here’s why. I need to pick up my kids half the days of the week. I don’t have a van anymore because I do demo work and I got tired of riding inside with the dust. I just build a wood rack if i need to haul more. I’d get a 4 door, long bed truck, which would be the best ever except it’s just too dang long to park. So when the kids aren’t around I fold up the rear seats and the tool boxes go in there. Is what it is. I long for the days when I drove a car with a toolbag in the trunk.
They used to make single cab trucks with a bench seat to fit 3 people total and it still had a full sized bed. If you’ve only got 2 kids that design would probably have been better for you, but they don’t make many of this style anymore.
I’ve got a work van (one of the smaller Ford Transits), but it’s just not capable of towing anything really. Trucks do a lot better on the muddy hillsides I find myself on frequently.
FWIW I’m not arguing against you, I’m just saying in my personal case, I would be able to put a reasonable truck to good use. I don’t need a King Ranch or anything stupid like that.
All wheel drive vans with higher towing capacity exist
K
My dad had a micro van in NYC and got along fine
Yea, I want 90s single cab s10 like I had in college. Full bed, no electronic bullshit. normal size tires, didn’t have to climb into it. Everything I needed to haul lumber and tools around and nothing I didn’t. I could take the entire thing apart and put it back together. If someone would just make a truck like that again I’d be so happy.
I would love an electric version of that. Just an in town daily driver, capable of hauling lumber, projects, etc…
Yea an electric version would be cool.
“Best we can do is this easily hackable plastic junk that resembles a marital aid and hides the door handles when on fire. Oh, and you’ll need to buy a lifetime subscription, submit a hair and blood sample, and headshots of your first born… for science.”
I’ll just keep my old crusty civic thanks.
They don’t make hardly any 8’ beds on mid sized pickups. Pretty much everything is 5.5’ which makes a trailer a requirement.
I always have to laugh when I see a pickup with a trailer. The empty bed is always a nice extra touch. Like imagine paying an absolute shit ton on an expensive ass truck that eats gass like there’s no tomorrow, just to end up using a trailer anyways!
Want to see something strange but interesting, check out the Telos Truck. Can fit an 8 foot by 4ft piece of plywood in the back, has 4 doors, and is the length of a mini Cooper lol. The look is strange, but at least it shows companies trying to shake up what people think of as utility
Holy shit, I have a new electric truck to keep an eye out for! That thing is perfect!
Yeah, I wouldn’t need more than 250 miles, the upgrade would just add extra weight I don’t need. Also 30 minutes charging is fine.
If I drive 100 miles, I am perfectly fine sitting down for an hour and having a meal.
Cool concept, but ugly. They should have just copied the VW design
Yeah it looks better with the back covered, or I think it might look better without the back doors as well. One key difference there though is the microbus is 2 feet longer. I don’t need to go 0-60 in 4 seconds, seems a bit much for any vehicle, but that’s nice for some people lol
While my truck does have a short bed, it pulls my 24,000lbs/11,000Kg tandem axle tilt bed trailer just fine. Which is more important to me than hauling groceries or people with it.
Plus the 4-wheel drive matters a lot when the roads have 6+ in/15cm of snow and it’s only 2 miles/1.7 nautical miles to the nearest paved and perhaps plowed road or when I need to drive down a logging road.
***The metric and navel conversion of measurements was done for those people living in Lubbock Tx.
The one in ten that actually uses a truck for truck stuff and not a mallcruiser.
The nearest mall is a mere 50 miles away and I never go there. And yet I get painted with the same “fuck pickup trucks” brush right along with those that buy them as a mall cruiser.
Quick stats check and less than 30% of truck owners use their truck for truck things, more than 30% don’t at all, and the rest might once in a while. So 60%-ish plus basically use a truck as a daily driver and not for hauling, work, or towing.
You are in the minority.
If I am in that minority, 1/3 is a pretty large minority. That’s a pretty wide brush to paint with don’t you think?
Not my stats. I didn’t paint anything.
Ok. Explain the Lubbock joke. I grew up in Odessa, but Lubbock had Orlandos with their delicious rum cake and the science museum. That was really the only reason for me to go over there and deal with driving through fucking Andrews County with all the drunks on the road. The only thing I miss from Texas is the food and sky.
Lubbock is considered one of the most conservative cities in Texas. And the unit conversions from US Freedom Units are an indirect poke at their conservative values. I often do the same for smug metric system using liberals-- see the US miles to nautical miles conversion rather than kilometers.
Remember kiddies: All measurement systems are made up scales by some random dude that thought it was a good idea at the time. No one of them is better than another.
If you need a truck get VW Transporter with an aluminium bed that you don’t need to worry about the paintwork when loading/unloading
Depends, I can still load my motorcycles or a quad or a snowmobile in a short bed with the tailgate open and I can still tow more than in a unibody SUV.
It all depends on your needs.
Makes sense for filling with people imho
If I need a truck I’ll rent one from U-Haul. They’re not that expensive.
Owning a truck? That’s pretty expensive for someone like me who just needs a small car to get around. Also avoids that problem.
Renting them from Home Depot is also pretty cheap
I find if I’m going far distances, home Depot is actually better. Around town U-Haul is usually better.
Which is kinda ironic, as it’s inverse to what they advertise for.
Really? HD you get unlimited miles for $20, albeit only for 75 minutes. But if you just need to pick up something heavy you can’t beat that deal
And a full day unlimited miles is only $130. Where uhaul truck 24hrs and 200 miles is $138. 500 miles $285.
Stay in town though. Go ~40 miles and have it for a day. U-Haul is ~$60 compared to HD at $130.
as it’s inverse to what they advertise for.
Probably why they can charge the price structure they do, maximizing their profit for the most common use case they see.
I didn’t know I could do that! I live next to a Home Depot. I’ll try that sometime.
They also usually rent out equipment, like carpet cleaners, post-hole diggers, large drain snakes, etc. And relatively cheap for the one time possibly in your lifetime you need to use it.
Yeah, that’s definitely the cheapest option if you only need the truck for an hour or two to carry something home. Actually I think it’s free if you are fast enough, just have to pay for gas.
I’ve rented trucks from Lowe’s as well. Hella cheap if you’re quick with it.
Huh! They could buy a board, take the truck to pick up a friend at the airport, return the truck and the board…
There is usually a mileage bit on there too, its X miles for Y hours sort of thing iirc.
Still can be relatively cheap BTW, just saying its not pure time as of the last time I did it. Which was to move a few slabs of butcher block for my desk, so that was about 4-5 years ago.
You don’t need to buy anything, I’ve rented the truck from home Depot to carry unrelated items before.
Yeah, but you know what your problem is? You’re way too reasonable!
I don’t want to scratch the paint in the bed!
In this case their cargo that they claim they constantly need a truck for, doesn’t even fit in the bed because the bed is half the size a bed should be.
One of the main reasons I probably won’t buy a truck. Most beds are only 5 feet in the Tacoma world. My van has more storage space.
It’s partially the manufacturers’ fault. Good luck finding an 8’ bed without an extended cab.
That’s their only option if they’re limited to the footprint of a smaller truck in their parking spot.
I’m dying for a return to 80s style trucks but with hybrid/electric engines
Please just let me have a functional, strong truck that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg to drive
and won’t require bags of sand, gravel, or litter in the bed every winter
I’m naïve. What does this do?
It adds weight over the drive wheels, since pick ups are notably lighter in the back without a cap.
When you’re stuck in snow or ice you can also dump a little in front of your rear wheels to get some extra traction.
Oh shit I did not
Damn, do want…
8ft bed can be optioned on basically every truck. People buying trucks just prefer the crew cab because the vast majority of them are never hauling shit
You know you can order vehicles from the manufacturer ahead of when you need it, right? Yes, there are stupid laws/rules in place that require a dealership to be part of the process, but you can generally pick what you want in a vehicle.
To load up deer I shot after a hunt.
Or I would if I hunted. Or had a truck.
Seriously though, farmers and heavy machinery contractors legit need trucks.
I don’t think anyone is arguing that people who need a truck shouldn’t get a truck. But regular people with trucks is every bit as stupid as driving around in a tractor.
Nobody who could use a truck uses a truck in Europe. Usually, a Van or something is the better choice. I don’t really understand the “american pick-up truck” form factor.
Here in Germany, I see pick-up trucks more and more, and they often have some company logo on them. They never transport anything either, and the only explanation I have is that they’re basically a “foreman’s car”, driven by people who no longer build things but want to feel like they do.
I recently saw one with the logo of an IT contractor.
Having moved server racks, copiers and other equipment from site to site, I am thankful for my (light) truck. Cargo vans are more popular in IT since they protect from rain and sun but a flatbed is certainly better than trying to put heavy, sharp-cornered things on fabric or leather in the back of a passenger car nearly the same size as my (light) pickup.
I mean, it was parked in a driveway and looked pretty shiny, so I’d assume it’s the boss’s company car. I do get that even IT people need to move non-digital stuff sometimes, but I’ve only ever seen them do it in vans around here. But who knows.
I moved servers, racks, printers, etc between sites in the back of my Fiat 500. With the back seats down it’s just like a little delivery van.
I see your point. If you need to regularly haul stuff, a van is usually a better choice for the average person but I’m skeptical that construction workers, farmers and small moving companies in Europe don’t use trucks.
Construction workers, farmers etc will use a van or a flatbed version of a van over here:
Or if they need heavier loads, actual flatbed trucks:
Here in the UK, builders & farmers use flatbeds and movers use box trucks - exclusively working vehicles. Pickups are not practical for most jobs.
Totally missed the “pick-up” part of your comment.
Where I live, hunters use a Lada 4x4 or a Suzuki Jimny.
Farmers use tractors.
Tradesmen use vans.
Heavy machinery contractors use flatbed trucks.A pickup truck just seems like the worst of all worlds.
I would hate lifting a moose into a modern truck, the bed is 3-4 feet off the ground. I’d sooner put a tarp in a minivan and use that.
I’m still seeing a few Fiat Panda 4x4 being used too.
If you hadn’t written what you wrote, I would have been sure that was (amazingly) a Yugo.
I can see that. It just needs true 4 wheel drive and a short wheelbase.
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*8 foot beds
I’ve generally seen deer hunters use one of those little tow hitch storage bed thingies for deer, both on trucks and smaller vehicles
Mine is a smaller truck so it also has a little baby bed on the back, but it has allowed me to pickup a load of gravel and mulch. As well as haul garbage to the dump.
But I’m not 10 feet off the ground with huge tires or blinding headlights, and nobody can hear me driving down the road.
Just a little old Nissan to do the occasional dirty work
Nissan hard body pickups were awesome. I had a 96 model, one of the last years they were made. If you’re going to own a truck, this would be one of the more responsible ones to own.
Small compact trucks are the way to go, I have a single cab 2000s Ranger and I love it.
at least he’s hauling something unlike 99% of emotional support vehicle owners
They’re hauling their egos.
like I said
“warlock” LOL i can’t believe the shit people look at and say oOoOoOhHhH i want that!
i feel this way about the ford trucks that have SUPER DUTY banged into the back… embarassing…
Holy shit. Warlock must be a thing with trucks? A year or two ago I was travelling to an unfamiliar city and the person at the rental counter couldn’t find my reservation. She asked, “the only vehicle we have available is a truck, is that OK?”
Whatever. Fine. The flight was delayed and I need dinner and a drink. I’m not going to be picky about a 2 day rental on a business trip.
Let’s just say that expectations were exceeded (in a WTF way) when I got out to space B29 in the parking garage and got my first view of The Warlock. It was pretty much this exact truck, but in a different color and with about 100 loose acorns in the bed.
The Warlock did make an impression on our clients when I rolled up to their office the next day. The conference room was close enough to reception that I could overhear the #1 question of the day as employees drifted in or out: “who’s driving The Warlock???”
This was an excellent story. Thank you. The bit with the acorns sent me.
To haul one gallon of cat litter and a La Croix /s
I saw a lifted truck the other day, and not only did it not have a trailer hitch, it didn’t even have a spot where one could be installed. I don’t know much, but it seems to me that if you’re not using your pickup truck for hauling, then you shouldn’t even have one.
Maybe they haul a bedful of bricks daily but never need to tow anything?
Who the hell wants to load bricks into a lifted truck? Even if using a forklift, its often better and safer to keep the load as low as possible. It also safer while traveling to have the load lower to keep the center of gravity lower, hauling bricks in a lifted truck is more dangerous than stock height. Lifts can also impact stopping distance, which isn’t something you want when you’re also ruining your sightlines with the lift.
This man bricks!
I dunno, I was just thinking extra springs to not bottom out with heavy load, also easier to pick up heavy items if they are already hip-high.
(Like, I lift my husband from bed to chair, and vice versa, but I would really struggle to lift him from the floor.)
Stoopid me.
But not stoopid enough to buy a truck like that! A wheelchair-modified minivan hauls anything I need, and keeps it dry.
I can almost guarantee the bed of that particular truck has never seen a brick, or any other building material.
No no no, you don’t get it, trucks bad!
Generally if it doesn’t have a hitch receiver you can put a ball hitch on the bumper in front of the license plate, but those are rated for less weight and are useless if the truck is lifted sooo
I saw a lifted truck with two cab extensions and like 3 feet of bed.
“didn’t have a spot where one could be installed”
The hitch is bolted to the frame, if you don’t have one installed there’s no visual cue that you can’t install one
Some people need a truck without needing to tow a trailer, I had a client that had a lifted one to go fill up machinery out in the woods, his bed was a huge diesel tank with a pump, would you have expected him to do that with a Yaris?
A lot of people call the draw bar/ball the “trailer hitch,” so I took the comment to mean that the truck in question didn’t have a hitch/receiver mounted.
He can do it on a fucking unicycle for all I care, that’s not at all what I’m saying.
and not only did it not have a trailer hitch, it didn’t even have a spot where one could be installed
Oh no?
The bit about you not knowing much was right though, I’ll give you that.
Not everyone needs a truck to tow is my point so judge all you want, you don’t know what that person is doing with the truck outside of the little glimpse you took at it.
Some warlock indeed, can’t even magic his wood in the right hole
Do you really think it would be better in the bed? I probably would have done the same
I always prefer my wood in the bed but it’s really a two-person job, at least
And yet you work solo
I count my imaginary friend Palmela as my plus-one
Does your plus-one imaginary friend give you a hand with your wood?
That’s why I hired her, it’s long hours being a wood handler
Shoulda bought a bigger truck.
This person has sold me on a bigger truck.
I need a bigger truck in case I ever need to haul an armchair.
What do you mean you can fit an armchair into the trunk of a toyota prius?
For all the money bags he has to haul around.
Because I need a vehicle. And I want one.
Kayak.
get a van
Get a life, it’s a 6cyl and makes 28mpg. Go fuss at an Acura TL for all the emissions I create.
I just throw my kayak or canoe on the roof of my car. My fuel economy drops a bit with it on the roof, but overall its a way better option for me than constantly guzzling gas plus the upfront costs.
We aren’t just fussing over emissions, its also the bigger tires, the bumper height/pedestrian safety, the blind spots many trucks have, the increased space they take up in parking lots.
