death of regular cab pickups

[deezler]

Stumbled across this a while ago:

View attachment 792991

This chart is so funny, because it is completely selective and makes it look like the bed has been shrinking dramatically. But you could get an f150 with the exact same ~6.5' long bed in at least the final 4 out of 5 generations shown. The % went down on average because people use their pickups more for family duties, and want comfort and crash safety. Seems pretty logical to me.

So let's see, my new (to me) 2019 CC with a 6.5' bed is 20.2' long overall, so that's just 32% of the length. Even worse, yikes!

 

[OzarkChris]

I hate not boing able to close the tailgate when hauling a quad, dirt bike or even being able to have a tool box and still have bed room for a rake ... it is true that a quad cab with a 8'' box is a limousine and very challenging to drive in town ... With my ram crew cab and 6' box I rarely have problem in the city... obviously you have to park at the end of parking lots but that's with any 1/2 tonne or bigger.

Come down here, most parking lots are made for a dually so you don't have to park at the end of the lot.

 

[Rockbadchild]

Come down here, most parking lots are made for a dually so you don't have to park at the end of the lot.

nice ... ours are made for a smart car...

 

[bgr]

My local Chevy dealer told me that I could not special order a regular cab truck because they are only produced for a month or so at the start of the year's model run. Every dealer who wants work trucks to sell must order them at the beginning of the year as no more are made for the rest of the production year. I had to tell the dealer to save me a regular cab from his next year's order.
Extended cab and crew cab trucks are where the money is for the manufacturers.

 

[Bob64]

Just did a quick look at one of the major north east Ford dealers in Portsmouth, NH and they have a bunch of regular cabs either in stock or coming. My 2005 F150 reg. cab with 8 ft. box was great until the frame rusted out from under it. Had it welded three times and finally traded it in toward a used 2012 Chevy WT (Work Truck) reg cab with short bed. The Chevy I am lucky if I can put my hand in back of the seat to store anything. And of course that is starting to rust out. Vermont winters with salt on the roads is rough on all vehicles unless you can store it for the winter. The 2005 F150 reg cab had space in back of the seat so I could at least put suitcases, groceries, tools, or other similar sized stuff that I didn't want exposed to the elements. Now that I am well into retirement I don't put many miles on my truck per year but don't want to give it up because it sure comes in handy. I definitely can't justify a new one at the new prices and 2nd hand prices are getting up there also.

 

[charris65]

After extended cabs came on the market, I don't understand why anyone would want a regular cab. Everyone needs secure, dry storage of the stuff they carry around, like tools, etc. You're so limited with a regular cab and, especially, if 2 people are in the truck. My first pick-up was a '95 Chevy Cheyenne K2500. [Yes, Chevy had 2 lines of PUs back then.] It was an extended cab with a long bed and I bought it off the lot. Nowadays, you can't find a long bed on the lot. So, I had my '07 and '20 Chevy Silverado 2500s built to get exactly what I wanted: Extended cab, long bed, 4X4, etc.

 

[Bison]

Thank the Lord for the extended cab, it is great to have room for stuff that has to stay out of the weather and a gods end to be able take passengers at times instead of having to have half a fleet to accommodate them.
I often have people over that want to take a tour of my bison ranch, the extended cab as my farm truck is the way to go

 

[Big Barn]

2004-2008; the single cab trucks had that weird mini door. Since then they've just made the doors long enough to allow access to the cargo are behind the seat.

Haha. That’s the same as my last one (2008)…..

 

[deezler]

Haha those are so weird! Stubby little front doors. I love it, though. I presume thats because they used the same front doors on all cab models. That era of F150 crew cabs was a lot shorter than the current ones.

 

[Bushbunnie]

guess it's all about current market demand: regular cab pickups are a thing of the past with limited availability. couldn't live without my regular long bed Toyota 4x4.

seems today everyone wants to bring their living room with them in a pickup (w/very little payload capacity). i'll stick with my farm work beast that is also very roadworthy. plus don't feel like taking a 2nd mortgage for today's luxury models. each to his own... best regards, bb

MSN

 

[Hexa Fox]

After extended cabs came on the market, I don't understand why anyone would want a regular cab. Everyone needs secure, dry storage of the stuff they carry around, like tools, etc. You're so limited with a regular cab and, especially, if 2 people are in the truck. My first pick-up was a '95 Chevy Cheyenne K2500. [Yes, Chevy had 2 lines of PUs back then.] It was an extended cab with a long bed and I bought it off the lot. Nowadays, you can't find a long bed on the lot. So, I had my '07 and '20 Chevy Silverado 2500s built to get exactly what I wanted: Extended cab, long bed, 4X4, etc.

See this is interesting, because I have always had regular cabs and always wished for just a couple more inches behind the seat. However, I can get a lot of things behind the seat of a regular cab. You are just obviously limited to what you can stuff back there and easily retrieve. I worked at the transportation department at a casino with my father and I honestly hated the larger trucks. It is just like others are saying, you have to watch every turn you make, parking is a pain in the @$$ and now if you have dually double down on that @$$ part.

I live on the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia and anyone that knows what I am talking about knows that the area I am in has exploded. What was once easier to drive a larger truck has definitely become more 'reserved' for lack of a better term. You are stuck parking at the end of the lot like a lot of other people are saying. Even though I am young I have a lot of experience driving the larger pickups and I do not want my regular cab GMC any bigger than it is. I can fit it in parking spaces. I can go to the Chic-Fil-A curbside and order and basically anything you can do in a regular car. Having that said, I honestly do not want it any wider or longer. I also have towing mirrors.

The biggest 'dumb' of my situation is I always somehow end up with 1500 trucks. Having that said, my truck has a very high towing capacity and I can 'overload' it a little because of the weight I saved not having an extended or crew cab. My truck is rated to pull 10,000lbs but not sure I would ever feel comfortable pulling that with how light it is.

So my personal opinion is that people should be able to drive whatever they want. Just it has become a 'masculine thing'. I do not feel that way about people here on this site because you have property, tractors, equipment, trailers etc. Just a lot of my little town has become people buying trucks to 'have a truck'. Then they complain about having it. Anyone who says a truck is more comfortable than a SUV or luxury car has lost their mind or they are a very large human being.

I am 5'9" and when I am in the backseat of a truck I do like the room but man it feels like you are flopping around. I do not know what they are called but I see the new trucks (mostly GMC) that have four actual doors but the backseat is the same as a extended cab or not much bigger. I have never rode in one but man does it look ridiculous. At that point I think you would rather just have the full crew cab. Anyway rant over. I am on team regular cab for sure.

 

[Bushbunnie]

I got rid of my 2006 F150 supercab with an eight foot box and it took me 3 years to find a newer one (2014) and I had to get from another province. I was thinking of trading it in on a new model but the price and an eight foot box is crazy.

 

[jedjoe]

I purchased a 2019 f150 regular cab/8ft bed new but I had to “put the word out” via the area dealers. Love it. It’s the style of pick up for true farm work. Plan to take excellent care of it so it lasts. 10spd automatic with the 5 liter gas engine.

 

[deezler]

Cough, cough. Looks like a really nice extended cab 2500HD just got posted for sale really nearby me (see signature )

 

[Rob REECE]

guess it's all about current market demand: regular cab pickups are a thing of the past with limited availability. couldn't live without my regular long bed Toyota 4x4.

seems today everyone wants to bring their living room with them in a pickup (w/very little payload capacity). i'll stick with my farm work beast that is also very roadworthy. plus don't feel like taking a 2nd mortgage for today's luxury models. each to his own... best regards, bb

MSN

What I don’t understand is why would someone want to sacrifice bed space for more cab space. It seems like this new generation looks at trucks as driving a fancy SUV rather than driving a truck.

 

[deezler]

I mean, why not? You can get the same fuel economy as a medium or large SUV, but with more ride height (visibility), crash safety, and the ability to throw dirty crap in the bed or tow a huge camper or boat, etc. The 1500 pickup is a real jack of all trades now.

 

[turbohawk]

guess it's all about current market demand: regular cab pickups are a thing of the past with limited availability. couldn't live without my regular long bed Toyota 4x4.

seems today everyone wants to bring their living room with them in a pickup (w/very little payload capacity). i'll stick with my farm work beast that is also very roadworthy. plus don't feel like taking a 2nd mortgage for today's luxury models. each to his own... best regards, bb

MSN

Standard cab pickups were always unattractive to me for many reasons, but especially when I had a family. I ALWAYS wished I had just a "little" more room in the cab to stow high value items when I was running errands. I owned ONE in 1986 and had it for about 13 years. It was ok when there were only 3 people in my household but 5 kids later...you get the picture.
I agree with bed length...I always insist on 6'+ beds minimum.
Prices have always been ridiculous on extended cab trucks with ONE exception in 1997 bought a Nissan hardboy extended cab OTD price $11,200, it was manual transmission, manual windows and 2wd. I still have it and drives like my 20k mile F150 did at 200k+ miles.
I don't like that today you can't get a pickup with standard transmission, roll up windows nor without carpet anymore (unless you order it but even then the price difference usually isn't worth it).
Prices will continue to soar as the dollar plummets. FJB and T r u m p's bloated deficits also certainly didn't make the dollar stronger.
Stick with what works for you and we'll do the same.

 

[Millwood]

Had problem with my 1998 Ford Ranger extended cab XLT four wheel drive system in November. Local dealer said they couldn't get parts for it as it is considered....OBSOLETE, but offered to sell me a new crew cab. I said NO as I wanted a regular cab or extended cab. Their reply was "good luck" as nobody makes them anymore. After shopping around and discovering the dealer was right, I put the money into expensive aftermarket parts and kept the Ranger. Seems like everybody was a truck AND a car with seating for the wife, kids in the back seats and Mother-in Law in the truck bed!

 

[charlessenf]

regular cab pickups are a thing of the past with limited availability

Well, may be, may be not. I suppose only time will see. For me, a vehicle is something that serves my needs. "Form," I've heard, "follows function."

When the wife decided to purchase a pickup truck after losing access to her 'company car' for our place up in the hills, she told me after the fact. I asked her a couple of questions about the Tacoma we now owned. "How long is the bed," "is it 4wd," and "does it have cruise control?'

She answered "Don't know, no, no" but she knew it was blue!

So, I have to load the thing up with cinder blocks to assure sufficient traction to climb up to the paved road come ice and snow, had to build an extended load support to bring home twelve and sixteen footers of cull lumber from the Lowes and, worst of all, had to try and maintain my speed on long trips with the effing gas pedal!

Now, if i had three or four strapping offspring to help around here, a 'crew cab' might be just the thing. Since I'm the only hard labor hand here, what would be the point of trading cargo capacity for cramped passenger seats?

As to the 'blue,' experience on these gravel drives to and from a wooded homestead as well as with my limited ability to maneuver the little truck through the narrow parts while in reverse have long had me thinking a Rhino Bed Coating would have better served the functions I put her to than shiny blue paint and 'clear' coats. Especially the time I went to the quarry to get a small load of gravel and found the loader wasn't a precision affair - leaving the top of that little two-seater's cab in need of a paint job! ($900)

Oh, well .. .

 

[Jd1a]

I experienced the crew cab long bed trucks in the early 70's. Hated them, crapy ride. Love my 05 F250 crew cab short bed, 4x4.