Short box vs 8 foot box

   / Short box vs 8 foot box #51  
Bottom line, find a nice flatbed 12-16ft trailer that is built to last and hook it to your grocery hauler. Will keep the pickup free of dents and scratches and will outlast many pickups with minimal care and be much cheaper than that new pickup.
 
   / Short box vs 8 foot box #53  
We had both for a while. My RAM2500 qaud(early extra cab with short door) cab long bed 4x4, and my wife had a RAM1500 quad(full 4 door) 2wd short bed.

No way, you could sell me on a shortbed. I always have uses around the property and stuff for a long bed. We used both for a couple years when we did lanscape work; the longbed did all the work; the shortbed sat most of the time Same thing with work around the house.

The only thing better than a long bed pickup, is a long flat-bed pickup.
 
   / Short box vs 8 foot box #54  
I have a 06 Silverado 2500 extended cab with an 8 foot bed. We use it primarily to pull a horse trailer. When I dont have the trailer on it, the 8 foot bed comes in real handy. The extended cab is perfect for us. We generally do not have passengers so the back can be used for a cooler and misc horse tack we want to keep handy. All around it fits the needs we bought it for perfectly. However it is a pain to manuver in close quarters because of its length and I find myself wishing I had a small s10 or Ranger for those trips into town for just a couple things. Many things in life are full of compromises and the truck fits its job perfect, but an 8 foot extended cab is not perfect for all situations. This thread has taught me I need more trucks! :)
 
   / Short box vs 8 foot box #55  
I have a Toyota Tundra CrewMax. 4 foot back doors. Short bed. I love it, don't miss a long bed at all (hmm. ok. 99% of the time)

8 foot stuff fits fine with the tailgate down. I have a bed extender cage, so stuff doesn't fly out.

I build with it. Solution for building materials is a trac rac. I haul long azek with it. Can't do that with a 8 foot bed, you need a rack. In fact, you need a cantilever.

Most of the contractors around here have gone to short beds plus racks. Best of all worlds. If for some reason I need 8 feet, it really belongs on a trailer, as chris said above.
 
   / Short box vs 8 foot box #56  
actually, a lot of contractors are running vans instead of trucks for the reasons above as well - should have said those still using a pickup (say 70%).

The guy who owns my lumberyard played around with my truck and dumped his 3500 long bed for the Tundra short bed - he does deliveries with it when he has too, and like the tundra for towing better
 
   / Short box vs 8 foot box #57  
I have an 2004 F350 extended cab, long bed. A couple of reasons I went with the long bed are: You could only get the bigger fuel tank (38 gallons) with a long bed truck. Also, I knew that I would be using an in-bed tool box and figured that a short bed would be too small after losing space to the tool box.

The extended cab (as opposed to a crew cab) works fine for me because there's just me and the wife. If I had a family, I'd probably have gone with a crew cab, long bed. For as big as this truck is, it's surprising how small the cab is.
 
   / Short box vs 8 foot box
  • Thread Starter
#58  
Well gents, I have decided. I am going to get a regular cab long bed. Not sure which kind but a 3/4 ton at the least. Thanks for all the comments but when I get down to the logics of it, my usage (no kids) requires work capacity over anything else.

By the way, did I tell you all that we also have a Smart Car!!!

:laughing:
 

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   / Short box vs 8 foot box #59  
Well gents, I have decided. I am going to get a regular cab long bed. Not sure which kind but a 3/4 ton at the least. Thanks for all the comments but when I get down to the logics of it, my usage (no kids) requires work capacity over anything else.

By the way, did I tell you all that we also have a Smart Car!!!

:laughing:
That would look cute hanging off a davit on my truck.:D Would be nice to have in Ohio when not trying to haul anything more than food so the 3500 could sit.
 
   / Short box vs 8 foot box #60  
Skip the 3/4 ton and go for a 1 ton SRW. On a Ford you will gain about 1,500# of payload. Its not that much on a GM, only 700#. Not sure about Dodge.

Chris
 

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