Pickup question, long bed vs short bed

   / Pickup question, long bed vs short bed #21  
A lot of good points have been made already on this thread... Here are a couple more/w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif

My longbed extended cab Dodge has bed dividers in it. I just slip a 2x6 or 2x8, that's cut to length in the slots provided. It works great! I hate things sliding around the bed!

A solid front axle truck(at least in 4x4) will turn tighter than a IFS. I swapped the IFS for a straight axle in my old Ford, a 89' f250/LB/Ex-cab. The change in turning radius was really suprising. My '01 Dodge turns even tighter.

A long bed is the way to go. Ya, I have to make six point turns into parking spaces sometimes. But, I can hual darn near anything. I used to haul 5 dirt bikes in an old Ford longbed I had. Try that in a shortbed! I see guys hauling quads and dirt bikes in short beds; they have to leave the tailgate down.

I can haul 8' lumber with the gate up. I can hual longer lumber with the gate down. I easily fit a 5' sickle mower, with gear head and mounting stuff(for my Farmall) in a longbed. There's more room for fire wood. There is more room for gear. I hauled 14 bicycles for a school trip to the bike trail, and had 5 kids up front all buckled in safely.

I have plenty of room for all our camping gear, plus the two dogs and one kid in the x-cab.

I'd go long bed. An occasional difficult parking is a small tradeoff for all the stuff you can do with the long bed extra cab.
 
   / Pickup question, long bed vs short bed #22  
<font color=blue>By the way, why did it take Ford Soooooooo loooooooong to come out with something to compete with the Suburban!? </font color=blue>
i dunno --- wasn't suburban all by itself for all that time? - meaning dodge didn't have anything either did they?
 
   / Pickup question, long bed vs short bed #23  
mosey -
10 years - but home is Bastrop County just east of Austin - and headed there raight neow ... (too old to know those dance halls - and the ones I knew in Austin are gone - 'cept mebbe the "spoke")
mike
 
   / Pickup question, long bed vs short bed #24  
I did the extended cab for awhile and it's fine when the kids are really small. But the seats are not very comfortable and it's a pain getting in and out. I have a crewcab now and would never go back to an extended cab.

As far as long vs. shortbed I always go longbed. Too many things are 8' long and you can't get them in the shortbed. I've never been in a situation where I wished I had a shortbed but I've heard plenty of guys wishing they had a longbed.
 
   / Pickup question, long bed vs short bed #25  
And if the crew cab gets too small inside they make duelly limousines that have three and four door on each side.
 
   / Pickup question, long bed vs short bed
  • Thread Starter
#28  
RobertN - "A solid front axle truck(at least in 4x4) will turn tighter than a IFS"

I've noticed that too. We have an 89 Suburban 4x4 with a straight front axle and it will turn tighter than our 89 Chevy 2WD standard cab long bed pickup. The wheel base is almost the same. I had the reason explained to me once, quite a while ago though so I don't remember the terminology. The straight front axle is designed like a road grader - when the wheels turn they also change angle and that's what makes them turn so sharp.

Mike - You're right. Chrylser still doesn't have anything like a Suburban.
 
   / Pickup question, long bed vs short bed #29  
Yup. When you turn a straight axle, the tire tends to lean and turn. It makes a big difference in the 4x4. That IFS I had in my old Ford just didn't turn near as nice as when I put that straight axle in.

I do not know what the terminology is either. Might be interesting to find out though.
 
   / Pickup question, long bed vs short bed #30  
I'm currently driving an 02 Silverado Duramax Crew cab with short bed. Love it! Traded an 01 PowerStroke crew cab with short bed. Good truck - just didn't drive good. Took a football field to turn around. Probably a better work horse than the D/A, but the Silverado is sure user friendly.

My progression - In earlier years I had to have an 8' bed for all the reasons stated in the other replies. As I thought about how many times I actually needed the 8' bed I swithced to the trailer option. Went from a regular cab to an extended cab. Great move - would never want a regular cab again. Went from the extended cab to crew cabs. Even better! Just my experiecne for what it might be worth. Ted
 

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