dreamer wrote:
Thanks to everyone who took the time to respond, your input is appreciated.
I purchased a Rampage (ToyTrax) lift to load and carry an '07 Honda VTX 1800. It is an earlier version of the Rampage and slightly different from the new models. I have no installation instructions with it but will figure it out. I kinda got the cart in front of the horse with this purchase but as long as I get a truck with a 6.5 foot bed I'll be OK.
The reason I was looking at a crew cab was I was wanting to have the ability to have seating for 6 people occasionally, for short rides like to a restaurant. (snowbirds) Maybe and extended cab would work or do I need a crew cab?
Are there any major differences between the GMC truck and the Chevy truck? I'm drawn to the GMC for some reason.
Thanks again for all the help.
dreamer.
Dreamer,
The differences between say, the top of the line Chevy and, the top of the line GMC are very little. Both trucks display high quality and high standards. If and when choosing, the one thing you need to do is make sure you're dealing in "apples for apples" type thing. You can't look at a median level Chevy and a high end GMC and compare, it's "apples for oranges" in that case. Now, as for a choice on crew cab vs Extended cab, well, that's simply a looks/fitment deal. And, there's a tab bit more weight involved in the Crew due to the size increase and larger doors.
We are just like you, we have occasional riders that use the back seat in ours. We're not going across the U.S. with that group of people, just as you said, a trip to a restaurant, a mall etc. Short tips are just fine for even larger adults.
If, you're planning on taking extra riders on a more frequent basis, well then you might lean towards the crew cab.
I'd like to see pictures of your specific Rampage toy hauler lift. I've done quite a bit of fabrication and mounting of things like that so, PM me if you might want help in some ideas for setting it up. I attached a 2"x2"x 28" x 1/4" thick angle iron under the front of the bed floor with two, 1/2" x 13 nuts welded to it. Now, when I load the Rampage into the bed, all you see is two holes in the bed floor and those 2 nuts. The Rampage is bolted down in the front with two, 1/2" x 4" x 13 bolts, to those nuts.
The rear or, back end of the Rampage is held in place with three, 5/16 nutserts. There's not much torque in any direction on those so, they did not have to have the "girth" of the larger bolts up front. And, the way I did the install, the wife and I can have that Rampage out of the truck, in just about 1 minute and rolling away on a cart I built for it. The truck is now a truck again. Good luck.
Scott
