The smaller one has a bigger bed 🤦
Lol and easier to load
My biggest gripe with modern trucks really. Have fun putting that new refrigerator you needed in there and then getting it out once you’re home, and God forbid you put a toolbox behind the cab, you’re climbing into that bed to get every little thing you didn’t think you’d need because you can’t just get it by reaching over the side.
Chevy had a great idea with the Avalanche (that they’ve brought back with the Silverado EV). It had “saddlebags” - lockable waterproof storage on either side of the bed which Dodge copied with the Rambox.
The big feature though is the midgate which allowed you to open a panel from behind the back seats to access the bed and effectively converted the truck into a single-cab with an 8’ bed. Great thing about that feature is if you had something that slid to the front of the bed, you can get to it through the cab.
Modern trucks are so fucking ridiculous Ford added a fold out stepladder to the tailgate on their trucks.
Also, gets 10 more MPG. Which is funny cuz the new trucks should have eco boost and all sorts of new more fuel efficiency modes or whatever but instead they’re so large and over designed (“Military Grade!!!” Pshhhhhhh) they get even less mpg on average.
Truly only for show
There is a four door version of the front truck with a similar sized bed.
Also, you could probably put three of the front truck on a car trailer and tow it with the back one.
You could probably tow 4 of the front truck with the front truck.
https://www.tundrasolutions.com/threads/how-much-can-a-4cyl-toyota-truck-haul.26249/
Yeah, no. Old pickups like that didn’t have particularly good tow ratings, especially two wheel drive models.
The small truck secretly has a 6.7L V8 squeezed under the hood next to the flux capacitor.
Bigger one also has 5 seats.
If you need 5 seats get a car.
the humble minibus
That’s fake. There’s way too much bed space.
Peak Chevy truck grill
the one on the right
is also the one on the left… 😂
the text is actually from a pre-existing post
God I miss small trucks. So much. So so much.
Right? All it needs to do is carry a stack of 4x8 plywood and a bunch of 2x4s, or the entire contents of a two-room apartment – something a 1980’s “mini” pickup like the Ford Ranger or Chevy S10 could easily handle.
The bed is a little narrow for 4x8’ sheets of material on a 90s Ranger. There’s only about 41" between the wheel arches and the opening in the bed itself above the arches is about 44" which is not quite enough. (It’s wider in the gap above the arches but before the top lip of the bed, but you’ll never get anything into that space that can’t be disassembled or moved with a shovel…) You could stand your material up on edge, but don’t try that with drywall. 48x40" pallets are no problem, though. Or at least one of them at a time. It’ll slide right in there provided if and only if you orient it with the skinny dimension between the arches. Ditto with 2x4s if you want to leave the tailgate up. Otherwise your strap game had better be strong because the standard model has a 6’ bed and the longer 7’ bed is both rare and also not quite long enough. I used to drive a 90s Ranger for work and believe me, I crammed, or tried to cram, every type of thing you can think of into the back of it at some point or another. You can get a lot done with one but sheet goods are their downfall.
The 8’ bed work trucks of the era could do what you’re describing perfectly, and do so better than today’s “full size” trucks while maintaining a smaller footprint on the pavement. That, and you can actually see out of the goddamned windows. I have a 90s Silverado in fleet truck spec, crank windows and a single cab with an 8’ bed. I can indeed stack 4x8’ drywall or ply neatly between the wheel arches and even close the tailgate on it. Much to the envy of my coworkers, who still pathologically own dinkum 6’ bed crew cab so-called trucks that they can’t fit anything into the back of, and then destroy the back seats “ThAt tHeY ToTaLlY NeEd bEcAuSe oF ReAsOnS” by jamming them full of tools and dirty materials anyway, so the whole thing is pointless. At that rate you may as well just get a van and call it a day.
1996-the end dodge grand caravan / Chrysler Town and country minivans can fit 4x8 drywall up to a bit over a foot deep, more if you’re able to slide the front seats up. I finished out my basement hauling 2x4’s and drywall in my 2012 t&c. Damn side better gas mileage too
It’s always astonishing how much you can stuff into a minivan.
i just bought a Ford Maverick. and it’s a smaller truck. it’s basically everything i needed.
I wish they made a 2 door, long bed option. Also, if the truck isn’t going to be used for towing anyway, there should be an EV version.
sure, though the 4 foot bed was designed to handle more then you think as they were pretty clever. the hybrid is that nice middle ground where i have the long range of an ice engine, and can get 55 mpg. i also don’t have access to charging for my vehicle. as i mentioned for me it fits perfectly
I was excited for half a second when I heard about the Slate truck. Then I found out it’s a short bed (which I could live with) and backed by Bezos. And the cynic in me assumes it’s still going to be locked down enshitified garbage regardless.
I want a 2 door version of the Telos Truck. Less screens more physical buttons. It’s the length of a mini cooper, and can fit a 4x8 sheet of plywood in the back. Was hoping it would launch for cheaper but without the cash back and crap this administration has canceled it will likely be a 42-45k sticker price. Which is to high.
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Every time I see a complaint about truck sizes, I make it a point to share this video explaining how it’s actually the EPA’s fault trucks have gotten so big.
how it’s actually the EPA’s fault trucks have gotten so big.
🤨
No, the corporation’s horrible behaviour is the fault of the regulators & regulations.
Plus those corporations are the ones lobbying for those regulations.
While regulatory capture is a huge problem, in this case, auto manufacturers definitely didn’t write this. They would like nothing more than to see it go away, or at least rolled back to where it was a couple decades ago. Overall that would be bad for fuel efficiency standards, but it would allow for small pickups again.
In my completely amateur opinion, a solution would be a cutoff on the wheelbase where a vehicle was no longer a car/light truck, but a new catagory with different higher standards. Or maybe a carve out for vehicles with a bed that allowed a little wiggle room for smaller vehicles. I don’t like the idea of allowing less fuel efficiency, but if the choice is between a small truck that misses the fuel requirements of a similarly sized car by a few MPG or a behemoth with half the MPG, I’ll come down on the side of a carve out for little trucks.
I feel like its the categories that are the issue. Flat tax by fuel unit per distance unit, then offer tax credits to farm and small business vehicles. This incentivises everyone to go for the most fuel efficient vehicle they can manage
It may not be only the EPA’s fault, but an unintended consequences of the CAFE standards and how they change over time is a perverse incentive to increase wheelbase and track, lowering the fuel efficiency instead of raising it.
If you haven’t yet, watch the video. It does a good job explaining why you can’t make the Chevy S10 we used to see all over the place in the 90s without a big penalty that would make it too expensive.
unintended consequences of the CAFE standards and how they change over time is a perverse incentive to increase wheelbase and track, lowering the fuel efficiency instead of raising it.
so what? that doesn’t make the shitty trucks, the car companies do. “It incentivises it” fucking whatever, electric car subsidies and etc also do that , and they’re still making combustion cars.
They make things people will buy. No one is buying an S10 that costs 20% more after penalties because it can’t be as fuel efficient as a Camry.
Edit: I’ll stipulate that the auto manufacturers are, and always have been, run by a bunch of fuckers. Fuckers that have worked against public transit, fuel efficiency standards, and emissions standards. No one is arguing with you about that. But they don’t do it for fun. They’re not supervillains that want to ruin the environment. They’re not aliens trying to terra form the planet. They do it for money. If there is no profit in small pickups, they won’t make them. And if the only choice for people that want/need a pickup is a giant truck, that’s what they’ll get. These standards as written take away the option of small pickups.
But they don’t do it for fun. They’re not supervillains that want to ruin the environment. They’re not aliens trying to terra form the planet.
but it’s what they’re doing, so fuck them. They buy and sell politicians for worse things, and they are responsible for their own fucking actions. They manipulate the governmental organizations for dumping waste wherever they fucking want, I think they can do it to make better vehicles.
And you’re advocating for these pricks.
Jesus dude, I know the average person’s reading comprehension is bad, but you really take the cake.
I’m not advocating for auto manufacturers, I’m advocating for updating the CAFE standards that unintentionally incentivize large pickups. They already make the things and sell them down in Mexico, they’re very popular. The reason US customers can’t buy them is the EPA.
But I think you know all that. You’re just uninterested in learning the causes so effective adjustments can be made. You just want to impotently piss and moan to absolutely zero effect.
Trucks, cars, all of it. I praise Mazda for keeping the Miata/MX-5 small when almost nobody else has.
if only they didn’t give it headlights that blind people
nearly drove into one last night because it was coming up a small hill in front of me in my neighbourhood (on a curve) and I drifted left as I slowed down to ensure I didn’t hit the pedestrians to my right. couldn’t see a fucking thing because of its ‘lowbeams’
I feel this with so many new cars. Particularly when driving my car instead of my wife’s which is pretty short.
People don’t properly aim the headlights anymore.
Or this one.
Same bed size, probably same payload capacity, and you can actually grab something out of the bed on the old truck without needing a stepladder. Really the only thing that the new truck does better is towing, simply due to added engine power and bigger breaks.
That new truck is a F250 which can handle a lot more weight in the bed than the small truck. It wasn’t much smaller of a truck 40 years ago.
I don’t know what the old one was, but let’s say it was something like the Ford Courier from the 1970s. That pickup could take a load of 1,400 lb (635 kg). I don’t know how often someone would need to load more than 600 kg into their truck, and that’s with the curb weight of 2500 lbs or about 1100 kg. A modern F-250 has a curb weight that’s more than double the Courier at about 6300 lbs or 2850 kg. It can carry 5000 lbs, (2270 kg) but again, how often is that needed?
I can understand buying a big truck if you’re towing heavy things, but for loading up the bed with stuff, I wonder how often someone would get to 600 kg and say “I have lots of space remaining, but dang it, I’ve reached the weight limit!”
Why not compare to a F250 which was available in the 1970s? Curb weight 4,067.5 pounds, gross vehicle weight is 7,605.9. Though a lot of people moved from the F350 to the F250 when the superduty line came out in the 1990s - I’m not able to find specs of the F350 from that era, but it would be what I’d look for in a comparison.
Why compare to an F250 when the F250 is needlessly large?
Because the f250 has been around for many years and has always been a large truck. Comparing a compact truck to a large truck is not fair.
Why not, if the compact truck will do what you need?
we have no info on who is using these trucks and so cannot make any claims. for some the compact truck would do everything as well, for some it would not. if we add the assumption that someone is really doing some task we can talk.
note that when looking at specs just because it can do a job doesn’t mean it should. The compact truck is rated for a 6000lbs trailer but that is more than I would do with it.
It’s very easy to do with a service body on the vehicle, the box alone can be a few hundred kg.
Every time this gets posted I can’t help but think what would happen if you loaded up the little guy with comparable weights. I get it, full sized pickups aren’t for everyone but come on, they aren’t even close in payload capacity unless you’re hauling packing peanuts. Check it out.
Just the beds here. Not getting into the motor, transmission, suspension, etc.
A modern Toyota Tacoma long bed. Bed Length: 73.5 inches Width at Tailgate: 53 inches Depth: 20.2 inches Max Towing Capacity: 6500lbs
GMC 2500 HD Denali (my pickup) Bed Length: 82.5 inches Width at Tailgate: 71.4 inches Depth: 22.4 inches Max Towing Capacity: 15,000 lbs
With a full sized pickup you can stack a pallet of lumber flat. Lumber is 8ft standard length. Whole sheets of plywood and drywall are 4ft x 8ft. A 12’ roll of carpet sits on a roof rack without overhanging the front or back. There is just no comparing the two, they are made for completely different purposes.
My point is the full sized pickups have a place. I used to install carpet and hard floors. Now I tow an RV and need the higher clearance for the locations I visit. For little miss molly home maker or office job joe, full sized pickups are a ridiculous choice but don’t judge if you don’t know. Camping in remote locations isn’t only for the affluent. Not everyone can afford a commuter vehicle in addition to their fun vehicle. They have to make a choice and drive what they own.
They are bloated for no reason is my problem with them. I have an older chevy 3/4 ton for hauling our camper, boat, and the shit for renovating our fixer upper. The capability of a modern 3/4 ton is like 50% more at most, yet it’s like 3 feet taller for no reason. I can still haul 3k+ lbs and tow 12k, but I can still see over the hood with very little issue.
A modern half ton is bigger than my 2001 3/4 ton truck. The bloat is real.
The bigger truck can move the weight, sure, but that aluminum bed isn’t going to survive very long. The old design is easier to load and will last longer. And, yes, has more room for the bulkier stuff.
I don’t want to disrupt the circle jerk but those are two different models so this is not an apples to apples comparison. This is like comparing someone’s Subaru Outback to a Cadillac Escalade. Those are both SUVs but the Escalade is much bigger than the Outback. I’m not saying that trucks haven’t become giant monstrosities in recent history but this is a misleading post. If you compare a Ford Ranger or Tacoma from 20 years ago, it has gotten larger but it’s still a modest sized pickup truck in 2025.
I am a contractor and drive a pick up for work, it’s big and dumb.
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What they have told us is true … from a certain point of view.
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There’s also double the seating in the one at the rear. The beds looks about the same size, but if the cabs had the same seating the primary difference would be the height.
But then it wouldn’t be as reaction inducing.
inb4 fuck cars and suchMore seating isn’t an excuse - it’s just a symptom of the problem.
Trucks were supposed to be practical work vehicles, but they’ve just become glorified masculine SUVs.
40 years ago it was common to put 5-6 people into the cab of the smaller truck. It wasn’t comfortable for anyone but it was done. Worse however it was not safe for anyone (not enough seat belts) and so people died. Often those people were kids who should be in car seats, but instead were sitting on laps. If the weather wasn’t too bad they would put some of those people in the bed of the truck (which could fit 15) instead of the cab.
People will always do risky things if they can get away with it. The solution to that problem wasn’t “bigger truck” - the solution was better and more enforced safety standards.
Safety standards forced the crew cab truck which is then bigger (either that or they compromise with a shorter bed)
I loved riding in the bed of a truck with my friends when I was a kid.
I’m saying if both vehicles bad the same number of seats, the length would be about the same.
That doesn’t mean the height is justified, but it would be much more helpful to compare vehicles with the same utility from back then and today.
Them bumpers don’t line up and the wheel well of the “modern” one is taller than the hood and bed.
At my job, I load full pallets of concrete, drywall, plywood, etc, into customer trucks all day every day.
The bigger the truck, the more likely the customer is going to be a pain in the ass. Wishy washy about how much load they can carry, and crying up a storm if you touch the tailgate.
Smaller truck? Load up and go, They’ll probably be back for more in a few hours too.
I like to tell people that if their truck can’t handle the load, then they paid too much for the truck.
Also also, bigger trucks tend to be parked like douchbaggs more often than smaller trucks, just blocking the way for everyone.
I don’t think I’d call that progress.
I think in this context it’s talking about “industry progress” which just means “whatever path the industry has taken”
It’s evolving, but backwards
I really don’t understand the appeal of cars of that size…