pickup truck size

   / pickup truck size #181  
When we got our ranger 2 years ago, we test drove a full size ford and thought it was like operating a lake boat. To long, to wide and and not any fun to drive around town. We got this mid sized ranger for work, and work it does. Two years later, its one os the nicest vehicles we have ever owned.
"Around Town" - how much better (if any) is the turning radius on the Ranger ?

A buddy of mine has a new (relative to the old stuff I drive) F150, 4x4, 3.5EB. Likes the truck, but the one thing he commented on as not great - turning radius.

Rgds, D.
 
   / pickup truck size #182  
Maybe I am to old but what happened to the traditional pick up? ( standard cab,8ft bed,v8- manual tranny,no carpet or a/c?) Can't get one no more. Fine if they want to sell the loaded ones but the basic one should still be available for those who want one. Or what about one that wants a sport truck. Those would like a v8, stick shift,short bed,standard cab with a low geared rear end. Again Not available.
IMO, that lack in the market today is part of why more people are making the choice to rebuild old trucks.

^ still only a tiny % of the buying public, but faced with the high cost of New, and it's not really what they want.....

Rgds, D.
 
   / pickup truck size #183  
Yeah, If I had ordered it as a F350 Crewcab, I would probably still have it.

I should have kept this, I had started to fix it all up but rust belt doesn't help life span. Truck was only 3 things away from being completely perfect for me, 8 foot box, rubber floor, keyless entry. Didn't want white but when you want a unicorn truck..... The 6 3/4 box though worked fine for me and turning radius wasn't good as it was! An 8 footer with the crew would be worse.
 

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   / pickup truck size #184  
Just piloting the 150 boat was enough to keep us from considering it.. No test done on the its turning radius but the Ranger drives and handles more like a car, than a truck. Its 275hp engine still gets 20mph in town. Yet it can town the camper you see below over 80mph.View attachment 702286
Anyone that pulls a bumper pull trailer over 80 is brain dead and an accident begging to happen.
 
   / pickup truck size #185  
150 "boat"?
An F-150 is like a little tonka toy to me lol
 
   / pickup truck size #187  
Maybe I am to old but what happened to the traditional pick up? ( standard cab,8ft bed,v8- manual tranny,no carpet or a/c?) Can't get one no more. Fine if they want to sell the loaded ones but the basic one should still be available for those who want one. Or what about one that wants a sport truck. Those would like a v8, stick shift,short bed,standard cab with a low geared rear end. Again Not available.
Towards the end of the century, demand for pickup trucks exploded, as many folks, (myself being one of the very many) began to realize that pickup trucks have many advantages over passenger cars, at very close to the same operating cost. They can tow massive loads, literally carry a cord of firewood, bring home dimensional lumber from the home improvement center, handle rough terrain with ease, offer a better view of the road, for the driver, and are easily ready, with the pickup bed, and heavy duty suspension, to do a large list of jobs, with which a standard car would struggle.

As pickup trucks started to mainline, and transition from the dedicated farm utility vehicle which they once were, to the suburban luxury trucks they are, now; people who were changing from cars to pickup trucks expected all the amenities which their Oldsmobiles and Monarchs could offer them to also be available in pickup trucks.

So, as a result, pickup trucks started getting carpets, interior treatments, tinted windows, tilt steering wheels, power windows, and all the options you can get on an upper end car. With this increase in options also came an increase in demand for more space to haul the family, and items which folks didn't want at the mercy of the elements.

And, now, here we are, with these super-popular 3/4 ton crew-cabs, the family war-wagon, for all occasions, which you see gracing the driveways of Amrikka today...
 
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   / pickup truck size #188  
Bigger is not always better, even when hauling firewood. Before the full size, I had a Ranger reg cab with a 7 foot box. It was light weight and smaller so people would allow me to drive across their back yard to get wood. I get enough wood locally so one or two extra trips wasn't a problem. I now have a full size truck and it sure carries more wood but doesn't fit in small places.
 
   / pickup truck size #189  
The first truck I ever owned was a 1953 Ford flathead V8, found it in a barn. A plain work truck to be sure. The second truck was a new 1971 Chevy Cheyenne half ton that i immediately lost to my then new wife because she could sit up higher and see better, she has had a truck ever since while I ended up with cars (until retired) for going to work and back.

I think the OP was talking about the fact that the trucks of the 70's and 80's you could get into without a set of steps to climb to get into the cab or a ladder to get into or reach in the bed like the new models and I agree. Were I worked we always used crew cabs with 8' beds so in comparison the new ones length wise are not really that much different, just height which I think is the point of this discussion. As for all the bells and whistles on the new pickups, I have and do enjoy the convenience and added safety SOME of those bring in my Tundra, so if you want your truck to be equipped with everything including the outhouse and can afford it fine with me. It would be nice however if it were possible to order or find plain trucks for work where carpet and cloth just end up filthy in spite of all the full coverage mats or seat protectors you can buy. Of course we all know people that do not care what their truck ends up looking like.

The old Ford f350 with vinyl seat and rubber mat I own is great for times when being out with clobbs of mud covering my boots or greasy clothes and not care/worry about getting in it, where if you, me or anybody got near the Tundra like that it would be justification for getting shot. For me I spent a LOT of money for a really nice truck and intend to keep it that way but I also need one for the dirty jobs and plain, easy to washout just make more sense to me and probably a lot of others.
 
   / pickup truck size #190  
To my knowledge, Ford makes a grand total of one (1) car these days. The Mustang. I heard they're stopping production of the Fusion. I think Chrysler makes the same number -- 1. Don't know about generic motors.

Everything else is either an SUV, a CUV or a pickup.

Until this year (or last) Ram offered a shick stiff in its pickups. They just dropped it because, well, it didn't sell enough to justify the assembly line time.

On the Diesels, they had to seriously de-rate the engines because the Stick just won't hold up to that kind of power. Oh, I'm sure there are some manual trans that will but who wants to pay 5 grand for a stick and then have to fight it like a wild hog every time you drive it?

Besides, an automatic does almost everything better than a stick. The only thing I can think of that a stick might do better is 'walk' on its own in a field. I used to put my old Ford in Granny Low and just let it idle through the bumps, ruts, mud and muck. It walk out of a almost anything. Somtimes it would stall out but not often. 300, 6 cylinder.

An automatic transmission is superior in almost every way to a standard transmission. A bone stock Mustang GT, I'm talking BONE stock, no tires, no gears,, no nothing, will run in the 11's right off the showroom floor. Guys, that's a $35k car, not a 6-figure exotic. That's moving right along. Especially when you consider that a Hemi 'Cuda couldn't do that in stock form.

As to basic trucks? There's plenty of them. All three majors make them. And they're cheaper than dirt, too. Or would be if things weren't all stupid because of -- Whatever.

I LOVE the new trucks. I spent too much time riding in kidney-rattling old, nasty, leaf spring pickups that if you ran over a quarter on the road, you felt it.
 
 
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