wintersun wrote:
I bought a 2011 GM diesel truck with the short bed as I wanted the shorter wheelbase and tighter turning radius. A drawback that I have discovered that is never mentioned on forum posts is the availability and capacity of auxilary or replacement fuel tanks.
For the long bed trucks the replacement fuel tanks will provide as much as 65 gallons of fuel compared to 52 gallons for the short bed and the tanks are the same cost to buy and install. For 2011 and later GM trucks neither Titan or Aero tank manufacturers have tanks that will fit a short bed truck. These companies have to sell a minimum number of units to recover the cost of making the mold and if they don't think they can sell that number they will not invest in the mold. A little shortsighted as they are excluding 2011-2014 trucks at a minimum but it is what it is.
With the stock tank of 36 gallons I figure 30-32 as usable in terms of my driving range and with a heavy load or tow that becomes 300-320 miles before I have to find a station that sells diesel and is open for business. Currently that means doing route planning so I can find a truck stop and spending a lot more time on interstate highways than I like.
Had I realized the problem in getting a larger tank for the truck I would have gone with the longbed version instead. For maximum flexibility a gas engine (with 4.10 gears) with a longbed is optimum.
I thought of getting additional fuel carrying capacity but realized I was already pushing my tire ratings for weight. If you are buying a truck for long distance heavy hauling you might just as well sacrifice the nimbleness of the shortbox and get a long box dually. If its going to be largely a run around truck you just have to put up with the smaller fuel capacity.
