Short bed or standard bed?

I'd go with the longer bed. I had the 5.5 bed on my old Tundra and things got tight quick when loading up for camping. My new truck has the 6.5 bed and works out much better.

The_real_wild1 wrote:
I do like reading that people think driving a 8' bed is too much but you want to haul a trailer?

What does one have to do with the other?

My F-150 has a wide enough turning circle as it is. I don't a need longer wheel base to accommodate another 2½ feet of cargo space that I'll never use. Is that a good enough answer?

I do like reading that people think driving a 8' bed is too much but you want to haul a trailer?

the 1500 crewcabs only come with a 5'8" or 6'6" bed. Gas tank is 26 gallons with either. You are going to find that most dealers will not have many with the 6'6" as that makes the truck to BIG for some people, remember it has to fit in the garage. It really depends on what you are taking with you. i have had both just adapted what I was taking with. When you go 2500hd you have the option of 6'6" or 8' again finding the 8' is not easy. The fuel tank is 36 gallons with either box. Find ones you like and drive see which you like best

I've got a GMC 2500HD with the 5.5 bed. I'll admit that the bed doesn't haul much stuff but I seldom load it except when we go camping. However, for everyday use I think the short bed is better, at least for me. Parking and turning radius on these trucks aren't good and even worse on the long bed.

KD4UPL wrote:
An 8' bed isn't long enough for me. The whole point of a truck is to haul things after all. I'd get the longest bed possible.
Look at the bed at the dealer; envision where you will put: firewood, grill, bikes, chairs, tool box, generator, cooler, ladder, etc.

Saying that longer is better is not taking into consideration that not everyone needs longer.

For me the point of a truck is to do what I need that a car won't do. I don't need or want a longer bed. My F-150 Supercrew 4x4 with 5'7" bed is exactly what I need (and the tow package included a 36 gallon tank). Besides, any longer wouldn't fit in the garage. :S

I can really only see a reason for longer if there is an actual necessity for it, like needing to load something which can't be altered. We carried 9 5 foot tall trees in the back of my wife's Honda Ridgeline last fall before we traded up for the F-150. I think we were getting close to the CC on that one with that, so a longer box would have been irrelevant.

Same is often true for a standard 1/2 ton. I see local farmers with ridiculous loads on 1/2 ton pickups. They would probably get better life out of the truck if it only came with a short box. I know that with my TT attached, and me, my wife and the dog on board, my payload is reduced enough that a longer box would be quite useless to me.

"An 8' bed isn't long enough for me."

So what pickup bed is Substantially over 8'?

KD4UPL wrote:
An 8' bed isn't long enough for me. The whole point of a truck is to haul things after all. I'd get the longest bed possible.
Look at the bed at the dealer; envision where you will put: firewood, grill, bikes, chairs, tool box, generator, cooler, ladder, etc.

8' is as long as you can get. After that you are getting a custom deck.

Bogie514, your very first reply was the best reason to consider a long bed. If the fuel tank capacity is less, you may soon regret a short bed. Towing a trailer with a gas truck will average about 9 mpg and those smaller tanks require too many stops.