Chassis Question

[iamsuperdan]

Would just like to point out, that based on this thread alone, many people don't realize you can still very easily buy a new regular cab truck with an 8ft box and rear wheel drive, with much lower content than the loaded crewcab models.

Ford and GM make them in 1/2 ton, 3/4 ton, and 1 ton models, while Ram make them in their 3/4 ton and 1 ton models only.

And you can easily purchase a 1/2 ton, 3/4 ton, or 1 ton extended cab or crewcab with less equipment too. WIth either a 6.5ft box or an 8ft box, depending on the brand.

 

Now, the downside is that even the most basic models will still have power windows/mirrors/locks, AC, and touchscreen of some kind, cruise control, rear camera, ABS, and some fo the other safety nanny features.

[DJMar]

1 hour ago, iamsuperdan said:

Would just like to point out, that based on this thread alone, many people don't realize you can still very easily buy a new regular cab truck with an 8ft box and rear wheel drive, with much lower content than the loaded crewcab models.

I don't think anyone doesn't realize this, but when was the last time you saw a new truck on the road that was a base model, standard cab, long bed? The vast majority of truck sales in the US (between 76%-80%) are crew cabs, most with 6' or 6.5' beds. It's an even higher rate in Canada.

Even so, a 2025 F-150 XL standard cab with an 8' bed is still nearly 20 ft long. 

[iamsuperdan]

31 minutes ago, DJMar said:

I don't think anyone doesn't realize this, but when was the last time you saw a new truck on the road that was a base model, standard cab, long bed? The vast majority of truck sales in the US (between 76%-80%) are crew cabs, most with 6' or 6.5' beds. It's an even higher rate in Canada.

Even so, a 2025 F-150 XL standard cab with an 8' bed is still nearly 20 ft long. 

I see them all the time. When I was fleet manager for a Ford dealer, I talked to countless clients (both commercial and individuals) that wanted basic trucks and had no idea that we could simply order them one. And 8 weeks later, their new F150 XL reg cab longbox or F250 Supercab shortbox would show up with its steel wheels and steel bumpers and vinyl floors and manual seats and no park sensors or chrome or adaptive cruise or BLIS or pedestrian braking or giant touchscreens or remote starters or LED lighting or any of that. The local Chev dealer stocks plenty of base model Silverados. And the Ram Tradesman models are super commonplace. 

The issue is that most dealers won't stock them, because "that's not what people want." So people come in, see a lot full of crewcabs with the stubby box and all the options and because they have low attention spans and aren't willing to wait, they just take what's in stock then complain about how trucks are expensive and have too much equipment.

Which begs the questions. Do people actually want loaded crewcabs? Or do they just take what is on the lot?

People buy what's in stock, so that's what the dealer orders. What would happen if dealers ordered more zipper base model trucks? Do people buy because they want them or because it's what's immediately available. Again, everyone seems to want instant gratitifcation, and convincing someone to wait 8 weeks for a new vehicle is a challenge. 

Here's the other thing. Dealers make more money on a loaded crewcab than a base model. The markup is higher, so even if they dicount it harder, they'll still make more money with the loaded truck. Plus, sales people get paid on deliveries, not orders. So most salespeople will really push what is in stock so they get paid sooner. Again, in stock, show a discount, people get suckered in, salesperson gets paid immediately, dealer orders more loaded trucks because that's what's selling. 

 

 

As for truck size, in 1975 an F150 regular cab with 8ft box was around 213in - just under 18ft. A 2025 F150 reg cab with the 8ft box is about 228in - roughly 19ft. So that's only a foot longer. 

 

 

 

[Rob Hall]

19 minutes ago, DJMar said:

I don't think anyone doesn't realize this, but when was the last time you saw a new truck on the road that was a base model, standard cab, long bed? The vast majority of truck sales in the US (between 76%-80%) are crew cabs, most with 6' or 6.5' beds. It's an even higher rate in Canada.

Even so, a 2025 F-150 XL standard cab with an 8' bed is still nearly 20 ft long. 

I rarely ever see civilian new RCLBs on the road here in NE Ohio, occasionally a white fleet truck w/ various liveries.   

[DJMar]

1 hour ago, Rob Hall said:

I rarely ever see civilian new RCLBs on the road here in NE Ohio, occasionally a white fleet truck w/ various liveries.   

If I get a chance I will snap a pic of the Walmart/Home Depot/Costco parking lot near me (yeah, it's a nightmare) and we'll see how many standard cab long beds we can find! 

[Tabbysdaddy]

There's something wrong with anyone that would buy a brand new truck without air conditioning. 

[Ace-Garageguy]

1 hour ago, Tabbysdaddy said:

There's something wrong with anyone that would buy a brand new truck without air conditioning. 

I rather doubt that's even an option.

But I wouldn't buy a brand new truck, with or without air conditioning, even if I won the lottery and literally had money enough to heat my house by burning $100 bills.

Edited Saturday at 01:29 AM by Ace-Garageguy

[mcs1056]

On 9/11/2025 at 11:59 AM, StevenGuthmiller said:

And the only thing they’re carrying in the back is a new Vari-Desk for the office or a couple of house plants from the farmer’s market.

 

 

 

Steve

Ok. Let’s not exaggerate.

i personally witnessed a new Dodge…sorry, “Ram” crew cab load 8’ 2x4s. 
 

Hearing the wife yell at him for breaking the windshield when he shoved them through the opened sliding back window was priceless. 
 

I couldn’t even remember why I was at the store after that.

[stavanzer]

I own one of these beasts.

2007 Chevy 2500HD, CrewCab 4x4, with the 6.5 Ft bed.

She is a top of the line Model missing only the Z71 package.

18 years old with 112,000 miles. A real Cream Puff!

She was my Dad's truck, and when he passed, my mother gave it to me. My Folks bought it used from the Sales Manager at the Local Chevy Dealer in town.

The S.M. ordered the truck new for his own use, which is why it has all the goodies.

Would I have paid for this truck new? Probably Not. I don't need the Four Wheel Drive (although my folks did) and it is more truck than I would have wanted. 

That said, I am grateful to have it. It was my Dad's last truck, and I remember him every time I drive it. With any luck, I'll own it for a long, long time.

I looked up her Specs. 20.6' Long, Wt. 5900 Lbs. Payload 3000, Lbs.

All the truck I'll ever need.

[Brian Austin]

I don't think a '70s or '80s Chevy crewcab Dooley with 8 ft bed is particularly compact.  🙂

As far as modern pickups go, they're going to be long if they have 8 foot beds.  Thats a standard size for work trucks and you can get all sorts of vocational bodies.  One ton chassis trucks are even longer.

It seems to me trucks have been marketed as passenger vehicles for generations.  Suburbans were placed with other Chevys in station wagon brochures.  I sat in the driver's seat in a Suburban back in the '80s, and was glad I didn't have to drive one.  It felt absolutely immense.  This was at a camping club outing, so it would have been used for towing.

The present day preoccupation with truck ans SUV size feels weird since up to the 1980s cars were the size of light trucks.  🙂 

[StevenGuthmiller]

23 hours ago, iamsuperdan said:

Would just like to point out, that based on this thread alone, many people don't realize you can still very easily buy a new regular cab truck with an 8ft box and rear wheel drive, with much lower content than the loaded crewcab models.

Ford and GM make them in 1/2 ton, 3/4 ton, and 1 ton models, while Ram make them in their 3/4 ton and 1 ton models only.

And you can easily purchase a 1/2 ton, 3/4 ton, or 1 ton extended cab or crewcab with less equipment too. WIth either a 6.5ft box or an 8ft box, depending on the brand.

 

Now, the downside is that even the most basic models will still have power windows/mirrors/locks, AC, and touchscreen of some kind, cruise control, rear camera, ABS, and some fo the other safety nanny features.

Of course you can.

I had one in 2003.

Bought a brand new Ram, with the Hemi engine, regular cab, 8 foot box.

But even back then, they weren’t easy to find.

They’re generally reserved for fleet circumstances, and there’s very few of them available, most times having to be either moved from another dealer, or ordered from the factory.

My Ram had air conditioning, cruise, a CD player, power steering, and power brakes, with little else.

Rubber mats on the floor, crank windows, and basically power nothing.

It was what a truck should be.

 

By the way, my 2003 Ram was a 1/2 ton.

 

 

Steve

Edited Saturday at 03:36 PM by StevenGuthmiller

[StevenGuthmiller]

20 hours ago, DJMar said:

If I get a chance I will snap a pic of the Walmart/Home Depot/Costco parking lot near me (yeah, it's a nightmare) and we'll see how many standard cab long beds we can find! 

My guess would be none, unless it’s a fleet vehicle.

 

 

Steve

[Ace-Garageguy]

11 hours ago, Brian Austin said:

I don't think a '70s or '80s Chevy crewcab Dooley with 8 ft bed is particularly compact.  🙂

As far as modern pickups go, they're going to be long if they have 8 foot beds.  Thats a standard size for work trucks and you can get all sorts of vocational bodies.  One ton chassis trucks are even longer.

It seems to me trucks have been marketed as passenger vehicles for generations.  Suburbans were placed with other Chevys in station wagon brochures.  I sat in the driver's seat in a Suburban back in the '80s, and was glad I didn't have to drive one.  It felt absolutely immense.  This was at a camping club outing, so it would have been used for towing.

The present day preoccupation with truck ans SUV size feels weird since up to the 1980s cars were the size of light trucks.  🙂 

Seems to me like my '92 Silverado extended-cab short-bed was one of the first generation of mass-marketed cowboy Cadillacs.

It was pretty plush for its time, but nothing like the luxo trucks popular today.

It's small compared to the too-tall-to-work-out-of pickups that predominate now.

But that's OK. I didn't buy it to compensate for anything. 

And it's now worth more than I paid for it more than 20 years ago.  

Edited Saturday at 04:00 PM by Ace-Garageguy
punctiliousness

[1930fordpickup]

Many reasons why people buy these trucks. 

Cost of an extra car, cost to insure and time to maintain the extra  car

Young kids have to be in a car seat until they are big enough to keep you from getting a ticket. How many of those can you put in the front of a regular cab? We rode in the back of a truck, your grand kids can not.

Not sure why some of us (me included) forget times change. The baby boomers and  Generation X had more choices to pick from. We could get a car, 2 door or 4. A wagon, convertable, sport coupe even muscle cars. The options were almost endless, Not anymore. 

[Ace-Garageguy]

2 hours ago, 1930fordpickup said:

Many reasons why people buy these trucks. 

Cost of an extra car, cost to insure and time to maintain the extra  car

Young kids have to be in a car seat until they are big enough to keep you from getting a ticket. How many of those can you put in the front of a regular cab? We rode in the back of a truck, your grand kids can not.

Not sure why some of us (me included) forget times change. The baby boomers and  Generation X had more choices to pick from. We could get a car, 2 door or 4. A wagon, convertable, sport coupe even muscle cars. The options were almost endless, Not anymore. 

Most people who buy massive trucks don't need trucks.

They're not usually dual-purpose family vehicles...at least around here.

They're usually "lookit me!!!" tailfeathers.

And as far as hauling kids goes, there's no shortage of 4-door SUVS and sedans that would be much better suited to the job.

BUT...a young single guy I used to work with who now works on the line at Lockheed has a huge (but older) Ford diesel dually 4X4. Cool truck, and he actually needs a truck for his extra-curricular activities...like building cars and a shop and hauling his big ol' boat and jet-skis.

Still, being a rational kind of fella with nothing to prove, he usually drives an older Mercedes 4-door sedan he's lowered and tweaked.

 

[Bucky]

I, for one, would have appreciated it if my dad had bought a crew cab Dodge in 1973. There were six in our family, me being the oldest kid at 17 years old. Instead, he purchased a regular cab long bed. It was the only vehicle in the family. Anywhere we went, some of us had to ride in the bed, no matter the weather! Fortunately for us kids, he did put an aluminum topper back there! Hahaha, the good old days!!

[StevenGuthmiller]

1 hour ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

Most people who buy massive trucks don't need trucks.

They're not usually dual-purpose family vehicles...at least around here.

They're usually "lookit me!!!" tailfeathers.

And as far as hauling kids goes, there's no shortage of 4-door SUVS and sedans that would be much better suited to the job.

BUT...a young single guy I used to work with who now works on the line at Lockheed has a huge (but older) Ford diesel dually 4X4. Cool truck, and he actually needs a truck for his extra-curricular activities...like building cars and a shop and hauling his big ol' boat and jet-skis.

Still, being a rational kind of fella with nothing to prove, he usually drives an older Mercedes 4-door sedan he's lowered and tweaked.

 

I agree.

As with many other vehicles, trucks have often become status symbols.

I remember when I was growing up, nobody bought a truck unless they really “needed” a truck.

They were never designed to be comfortable or economical.

They were designed to do a job.

Today, the “job” doesn’t require getting dirty or sweaty.

The job is pulling a trailer with an $80,000.00 boat or a garage camper containing a pair of $35,000.00 Harley’s.

 

 

Steve

[johnyrotten]

My GMC fits my needs perfectly as a homeowner, motorcycle guy, pretty much any word you want to put there. Single cab, short bed. I can still fit full sheets of plywood, any bike I decide to drag home,  water heater ect. Not many bells and whistles, it was built to order to tow and do a job. I do enjoy pulling the status symbols out of ditches every winter. Especially my brothers bro-dozer f150.

[Bucky]

I used my 2016 Ram crew cab today for a run to Home Depot for building supplies for the new deck on the house. It's not the fanciest Ram available, but it's nicely optioned and very comfortable. Pulls a travel trailer very well! I use it for tasks that I wouldn't try with the Durango that hangs out in our driveway! Lol 

[NOBLNG]

My 2017 F250 supercab has more options than I wanted. All I really wanted was a/c and 4wd. I would have preferred a lever to engage 4wd, but got a dial on the dash to select 4h, 4l, and also can lock the rear diff. I tow a 30 ft fifth wheel trailer with it so I wanted a 3/4 ton. A lot of people with 1/2 tons tow trailers that are just too heavy for their trucks. I must say that the power extending/folding mirrors is a really nice feature that I wouldn’t have thought about, but I park right up tight beside my garage so it is handy.

[johnyrotten]

54 minutes ago, NOBLNG said:

My 2017 F250 supercab has more options than I wanted. All I really wanted was a/c and 4wd. I would have preferred a lever to engage 4wd, but got a dial on the dash to select 4h, 4l, and also can lock the rear diff. I tow a 30 ft fifth wheel trailer with it so I wanted a 3/4 ton. A lot of people with 1/2 tons tow trailers that are just too heavy for their trucks. I must say that the power extending/folding mirrors is a really nice feature that I wouldn’t have thought about, but I park right up tight beside my garage so it is handy.

Sounds like you took the same route I did and found what fits your needs. I don't own a trailer, but the truck is up to the task if I need one. My old ranger would not have been.

[Dave Ambrose]

Seems like I'll be keeping my Frontier for a long time. I'm surprised by how much smaller it is compared with the current crop of trucks. 

We take our truck out doing things like surfing, diving, or camping for either astronomy or fishing. Leather seats would be insanity. Our cloth seats have neoprene seat covers to protect against soggy occupants. (and messy grandchildren)

Had the hardest time getting what we wanted. We wanted the crew cab with the 6 foot bed in the mid-level trim and painted blue. The local dealer didn't want to talk to us unless we were buying what they had on the lot and they didn't have one in a color we liked. Stonewalled us after I mentioned holdback. Turns out the automobile club has a car buying service. We put them on the job. A week later we had exactly what we wanted and for 10% less too. They had to bring it down from Los Angeles. unsurprisingly, they don't work with the dealer who stiffed us. We had to go 40 miles north to the next county to pick up our truck. 

[iamsuperdan]

On 9/12/2025 at 6:12 PM, Tabbysdaddy said:

There's something wrong with anyone that would buy a brand new truck without air conditioning. 

Can't be done in North America!

Literally every new truck available comes with AC as standard equipment. In fact, I believe every new vehicle available for sale in 2025 has AC as standard.

Even the Jeep Wrangler, which even just a couple of years ago could be purchased with no AC, no power windows no power mirrors, no power locks, and no remote entry.