8' Bed

Big Shoe

First truck I bought in 1976 had an 8' bed. that was pretty standard back then. Short beds were pretty much special order back then. Some yrs. I had a hard time finding a new truck with an 8' bed. thats all I will ever use. Full size supercab/8' bed.

Now most trucks I see are short beds. I don't understand why anyone would buy anything but 8' if you are in constuction and hauling material around.

IHI

I agree 100%, anything less than a 8' box is 100% worthless for anything other than hauling groceries. I do find it extremely amusing however when we're in the yard grabbing whatever and you see all these guys with short boxes (6') or the REALLY short boxes (4-5') trying to load 8-14' material.....all the jerry rigged methods they use to try and get the job done

to each their own, I get that, it's just something I'll never understand.

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Tom R

I guess with all the new regulations getting jammed down our throats every day the need for work trucks (for the commmon man) will be phasing out accordingly.

Who's going to be buying work trucks while 'brig government' continues to fine and criminalize such a horrendous act as working for a living??

Imagine bein' in a jail cell some day when a throbbing 'tattoo-Bubba' asks what you're in for and you have to tell him in your deepest sqeaky voice, - - "I'm in for paintin' a hallway" . . .


P.S. All hijacks forgiven in the OT section . . .

Cole82

I'm a short bed user. I would say my bed is empty most every day of the week, maybe used once a week tops. I have materials delivered to almost any job. The bed gets specialty tools put in it that I don't carry in the trailer. Like for instance the jack hammers for this week. Materials that I forget and are longer than 8' (6'bed) go on the rack. I can carry 20' boards and still tow my enclosed trailer.
For those reasons I don't have a long bed and don't want one my truck is shorter easier to park and turns sharper.

Cole

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Cedar Rapids, Iowa

What is this "work" you speak of?

woodchuck2

While i agree that the 8' bed is more versatile for carrying i still prefer my ECSB for the extra cab room. The bed is still 6' and with the gate down i can still carry lumber up to 10' with no issues. Anything longer than that then i either use my RCLB truck or tow my trailer to carry the lumber. Nothing beats a trailer for hauling long stuff and alot of it. Lets see you put 30 sheets of 16' tin on the truck bed or ladder rack. I know, something like that normally gets delivered but why pay a delivery fee just to have some yard ape drop it off the back of the truck in the dirt/mud.

Inner10

This is another one of those debates that just go in circles.

Long Box:
- Holds more stuff
- Can fit a 4x8 sheet and close the tailgate!
- Distributes weight better for hauling a trailer due to longer wheelbase
- Did I mention it holds more stuff?

Short Box
- Turns tighter
- Looks cool
- Doesn't stick out in parking spots, and parallel parks easier

I had a regular cab long box and it was fantastic. Anything longer and you don't fit into the standard parking spaces and parallel parking requires 2 spots to get it in. I'm use to driving a cube van with a 16foot enclosure so even a long box feels short. If you have trouble maneuvering a pickup with an 8 foot bed you will be known from now on as a "pussy".

Long box all the way!

WarnerConstInc.

My suburban has a long box.

Ok, I have to fold the seats down but, I can get 8' sheet goods in there and shut the doors.

I have a trailer, I dont think I will be going back to a pick-up anytime soon.

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TimNJ

When I went to buy my truck this summer- Chevy 2500 Ext Cab 8' bed gas engine LTZ trim pack, there was only one east of the Mississippi, and two west of the Mississippi. Unbelieveable! Short beds were a dime a dozen.

Big Shoe

That's so funny,I've seen it many times. It never ceases to amaze me!

Condo dwellers, trailer haulers and one vehicle family men are exempt.

I guess I'll own long bed trucks till the day I die. That's just the way I am,It's my dads fault he brought me up that way!

BCConstruction

I have a 6.5ft bed and it works just fine. i can fit a 8x4 sheet into it and thats about as large as i carry. If i carry anything longer i put it into the trailer. You don't get anymore weight capacity and it infact lowers your capacity. Just like manual gearboxes you will see less and less long bed trucks because 99.99% of people don't carry anymore than a 8x4 sheet.

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IHI

I got caught one time, all we had was my big trucks on site and had mobile scaffolding set up on the ladder racks so we could get the roof going on both sides at once and I was starting the siding that i got a call arrived at the shop that morning. So took one of my guys '08 F150 CC with that lil beootch box, got half way there before my mind tuned back into what i was picking up and the rig i was driving....

Had to stop by the lumber yard and buy enough 2x4x12's to go across the width of his truck bed, had to buy one of those "load bars" so once I grabbed the 4 boxes of siding I had to put the load bar over the top of the boxes against the cab side of the box to keep the siding boxes from flipping out of the dang things

DUR DUR DUR......

I personally do not like hauling anything with the tailgate down, I've been the victim of a slide out, and have seen way too much toolage/material sprawled across hwy's to think that idea is even feasible since that's major ticket time, plus chance of somebody getting hurt.

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JumboJack

I have a newfangled thing on my truck called a r-a-c-k...
I like not having a locomotive sized ruck...Call me crazy.
And any load too big to haul myself my lumber yard will deliver for free...

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in texas with framing and cornish people will do it for 3.00 a foot. What do yall think about that? Just laber

BCConstruction

Thats what bed extenders are for . Mines built into the truck so they are always there when you need them. I get a few inches over 8ft of load area with the bed extenders out.

But i do see a few contrctors in my area use them t bar extender things because they dont have trailers.
They seem like a great idea for really long items.

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angus242

Yes but I can get 8' sheets in the back AND haul 5 people

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Angus
L+M+O+P=C
"Promise only what you can deliver. Then deliver more than you promise"

Tom R

Great-lookin truck!!

JumboJack

Thanks.

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in texas with framing and cornish people will do it for 3.00 a foot. What do yall think about that? Just laber

Kyras

The other thing is deck height. I chose my truck for long bed and low deck. If I can't STEP onto the tailgate and I have to knee it up, I'm not buying. Chevy 1500 longbed fit the bill. That truck is LOW.

jchomes

ladder racks are great but hard to get bike or sled in the back

sossecureda

No shortage of 8ft bed ext/quad cab 3/4 and 1 tons around here. If your talking about a 1/2 ton long truck, they are pretty useless because with four guys in the truck it can only hold a additional couple hundred pounds before it is over the gvwr.

WarnerConstInc.

Even when it is empty, there is only room for me.

I am not sure what is even in there.

One thing nice is I can fit my whole festool set-up and my extra systainers
in the back and lock the doors. Oh, and my 2 JL's sound really good in there.

Plenty of room for doing it to, I mean taking a nap.

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