Long box vs Short box

DutchmenSport wrote:
Looking at your profile, you are towing a 2008 Kodiak 25QS TT. For towing purposes you could go long bed or short bed. I don't think it will matter very much. What you need to ask yourself is, what other uses will you have for your truck?

Myself, I do a lot of "armature" home remodeling and construction (my own house and property). Been doing this type of stuff all my life. I'm always remodeling or building something, so for me, the bed of the truck is VERY important, that I can lay down a 4x8 sheet of plywood without having to tilt it, or even worse, a 4x8 sheet of drywall, so it won't be on it's side, it lays down flat.

I also have a 10 foot by 6 foot utility trailer for hauling 10 foot or longer materials and they lay down flat. Also, I take care of my mother's yard, so it's absolutely vital I have a trailer that will comfortably move a John Deer 730 series mower-tractor and in the winter with the attached snow blower.

When camping, the long bed is great because all the extras fit with no problem. Firewood, dump tote, air compressor, hoses, sewer hoses, step ladder for the roof to clean off the slide roofs before retracting. I have a 7 foot ladder, it lays flat in the back of the truck. Short bed, ladder would be too small for me to be useful to fit the bed. Extra water jugs, extra lumber for leveling the camper (2x12x6 foot boards), and a bunch of other stuff.

I'm currently now, in the process of harvesting a tree in the middle of a corn field for firewood. The 4 wheel drive, 6 wheels, pulling the utility trailer across a harvested field is priceless, especially when the ground is soft and the trailer is full of firewood.

So you see, as far as towing your trailer, either long or short will work perfectly fine. But you REALLY need to ask yourself, what else will you use your truck for outside of towing and camping.

If you REALLY want my opinion, get the long bed. You can NEVER have too much space or truck!

The OP is buying a fifth wheel.

Bruce

I agree with RedRocket204 but my fuel tank size increase is for the 80 gal aux tank.

Hi,

I think one of the BIG questions is do you need a dually, or will single rear wheel truck haul all the cargo and pin weight that your trailer will weigh? And since you don't have a fifth wheel yet, do you want to get a SRW truck then suddenly say "Sorry honey, you can not look at the Montana fifth wheels because we bought a SRW truck with a limited cargo rating, and must find a fifth wheel with less than 3,000 pounds 'loaded' pin weight and everything over 12,000 GVWR and 32' long is out of the question.." That might not go to well with my wife, yours might be more forgiving if you buy the wrong truck and suddenly need to change plans to a much shorter fifth wheel, or a longer travel trailer.

So get ready to do the trailer shopping too! Then stop by the local Dodge dealership, ask for a towing brochure. And once you have read it, you should understand everything you need to about GVWR, Front and rear Axle weight ratings, and the cargo capacity of various crewcab trucks.

You can 'get by' with a short bed and a slider hitch. However some slider hitches are only rated at 15,000 pounds or so. Check to make sure that is within the weight that your retirement trailer will be. I do like the Mega Cabs, they are very roomy!

But I would probably buy a regular cab long wheelbase dually truck and install a 'sleeper cab' (from a big rig) and a couch, wheel chair lift system, and probably 2-3 captains chairs. Then install a 6' long 33" tall toolbox body on the back. It would probably be 108" cab to axle, and the sleeper would be around 72" long, the hitch installed a little behind the rear axle (against all of the good advice offered here). This would be a 185" wheelbase cab and chassis truck, only about 20" longer than the wheelbase of a normal crewcab truck. Yes it would be a one-off truck and cab set up. But not to unlike the fifth wheel haulers sold on the Freightliner M2 chassis. They have something that looks like a class C in the front and fifth wheel bed in the back.

Good luck!

Fred.

If it is a dedicated tow vehicle, I would go long bed. If it was a DD or will need to be parked in a garage, or regularily driven and parked in an urban area I would likely go to a short bed.

In a RAM, the difference in fuel tank capacity is no more than 2 gallons.

Take a look at the brand as not sure if this will apply...but, aside from more advantages with the long box, clincher for me going long box was the larger fuel tank.

If I were getting a 5er, I'd get a long bed. Can store more stuff in it and a bit better turn ratio on the hitch. Can't comment on slider hitches or short bed trucks, but I have CC LB and wouldn't trade it for anything. I just like having the extra room.

I've had 8', 12' and a 14' box on my trucks.....the best has been the 14' one. I vote LOOOOONG box.

Oh what was the question again? frods vs chebbys vs dogde's vs yota.......4x4 vs 4x2...........take your pick, no right or wrong......

Marty

I like my CC long bed so I can carry quite a bit of stuff in the bed in front of the hitch and behind the hitch. But it is a l-o-n-g truck. A little harder to park and maneuver in tight areas. But I would buy another.

All comes down to personal preference.

Looking at your profile, you are towing a 2008 Kodiak 25QS TT. For towing purposes you could go long bed or short bed. I don't think it will matter very much. What you need to ask yourself is, what other uses will you have for your truck?

Myself, I do a lot of "armature" home remodeling and construction (my own house and property). Been doing this type of stuff all my life. I'm always remodeling or building something, so for me, the bed of the truck is VERY important, that I can lay down a 4x8 sheet of plywood without having to tilt it, or even worse, a 4x8 sheet of drywall, so it won't be on it's side, it lays down flat.

I also have a 10 foot by 6 foot utility trailer for hauling 10 foot or longer materials and they lay down flat. Also, I take care of my mother's yard, so it's absolutely vital I have a trailer that will comfortably move a John Deer 730 series mower-tractor and in the winter with the attached snow blower.

When camping, the long bed is great because all the extras fit with no problem. Firewood, dump tote, air compressor, hoses, sewer hoses, step ladder for the roof to clean off the slide roofs before retracting. I have a 7 foot ladder, it lays flat in the back of the truck. Short bed, ladder would be too small for me to be useful to fit the bed. Extra water jugs, extra lumber for leveling the camper (2x12x6 foot boards), and a bunch of other stuff.

I'm currently now, in the process of harvesting a tree in the middle of a corn field for firewood. The 4 wheel drive, 6 wheels, pulling the utility trailer across a harvested field is priceless, especially when the ground is soft and the trailer is full of firewood.

So you see, as far as towing your trailer, either long or short will work perfectly fine. But you REALLY need to ask yourself, what else will you use your truck for outside of towing and camping.

If you REALLY want my opinion, get the long bed. You can NEVER have too much space or truck!