Does Bed length/wheelbase matter?

Long beds will usually ride better, short beds will park easier and fit better in a garage.
If your considering a 5er down the road by all means shop a 35 series for payload alone.

More space in a LB and no need for a more expensive hitch. I had 1 SB and it was still easier to back into parking spaces so that part is a non-issue to me. My SB had a small gas tank... ggrrr! There wasn't very much I liked about the SB. Craig

A crew cab short bed will still have a pretty long wheelbase, actually it will be a longer wheelbase than the days when we didn't have crew cabs. It won't have any affect on towing a big trailer or 5th wheel as long as you're within the trucks weight limits. I use to pull a 12,000lb 30' 5th wheel with my quad cab short bed without any problems.

Personally a crew cab short bed is still a long truck. A crew cab long bed if you live in the city and use it as a daily driver, the long bed can have it's own negative issues. Parking in the garage probably won't work, parking in the driveway might not be possible because it hangs out over the sidewalks, manuevering in tight parking lots can be troublesome.

Depending on the brand a long bed may have a bigger fuel tank. My short bed Dodge has a 34 gallon tank, only 2 gallons less than the long bed.

Bottom line IMO, short bed vs long bed with these 4 door cabs won't affect the trailer you want at all.

My extended cab short bed is about 1/2' longer than the standard cab long bed. In my case, I suffer from the 25% smaller fuel tank but enjoy the maneuverability of the short truck. When I towed a BP, I had less front swing when getting into tight spots. Now with my TC, I am as long as a crew cab long bed - The length is noticeable, but I still out maneuver the guys that are pushing 25' length.

A longer wheelbase does help in porpoising. I towed the same camper with an extended cab Mazda pickup and Ford Bronco II with much less motion in the lighter Mazda.

I was concerned how much additional leverage my BP would add by using a 2' extension on the hitch. Although I do feel it more when a big rig passes, it has not been enough to cause concern. Porpoising has not been an issue with the extension, but I have upgraded suspension. The other factor to consider is that my TV weight increased due to hauling a TC. It would take more force to my truck around than if it was unloaded...

If you are buying the truck for a fiver make sure it has enough payload to handle your pin weight. I wouldn't bother with a 3/4 ton, go to a one ton SRW unless you're planning on getting a huge 5'ver (over 3000 lbs pin weight) in which case a dually might be better. My personal preference is a short box SRW without a sliding hitch.

4x4ord wrote:
If you are buying the truck for a fiver make sure it has enough payload to handle your pin weight. I wouldn't bother with a 3/4 ton, go to a one ton SRW unless you're planning on getting a huge 5'ver (over 3000 lbs pin weight) in which case a dually might be better. My personal preference is a short box SRW without a sliding hitch.

I agree with the above except for slider hitch. You will need the ability to 90 degree the trailer at some point in time; why worry about it. We found our superglide new used for 400 on craigslist.

45Ricochet wrote:
Long beds will usually ride better, short beds will park easier and fit better in a garage.
If your considering a 5er down the road by all means shop a 35 series for payload alone.

I completely agree..

Ride quality or length of trailer pulled has nothing to do with bed length. The trucks wheelbase makes that determination.
The new crew cab short bed Ram has a 149" wheel base which makes for a very nice ride compared to my older 2500 Dodge quad cab short bed at 140" wheel base and hopefully much much better than the wifes 1500 crew cab short bed 4x4 142" wheel base truck.

This business of a long bed riding better than a short bed came from years ago when a short bed truck had a 118"-122" wheels base and a long bed truck came with 130"-140" wheelbase so sure the long bed rode easier which today isn't the case.

I always haul a quad or a RZR, so I enjoy the long bed.

Check to verify but with Titan fuel tanks, should you decide to upgrade the stock fuel tank, are going to be available for the long bed trucks but often are not made for the short bed ones. But for the fuel tank limitation I prefer the much smaller turning radius of the short bed trucks. The long bed for my model has a wheel base that is a full two feet greater than with the short bed.