Short or long

[Dtaylor]

Which is better, or does it matter, a long bed or short bed for towing a fiver?

[Atom_Ant]

I wonder if they are having a "cubic feet" war with cargo capacities causing the bed rails to go up.

[NC_Hauler]

Vulcaneer wrote:
For me, it's not the height of the bed side walls. It's the height of the truck. If the truck were lower, the current bed side walls would be just fine. In fact I like the deeper bed.

I read it wrong...but did mean that it seems each year, they seem to raise the back end of the trucks up, making the top of the tailgate higher, making it harder to tow level without either working on one's hitch or the hitch pin on their 5er..

[JIMNLIN]

Many short bed (6' 6") GM trucks don't need a sliding hitch as they have a longer dimension from the back of the cab to the trucks rear axle. Now add one of the newer 5ers with the rounded/notched corners and some other short bed trucks don't need a sliding hitch.

Also for the short bed owner is the Reese Sidewinder that eliminates the need for a sliding hitch.

Some short beds like the 5' 7" Ram 1500 or 5' 10" GM 1500 may not have enough room in the bed for some type of 5th wheel hitch. The hitch maker will have answers to your questions for those trucks.

I have short bed (6' 4" Dodge) and long bed (8' 4x4 crew cab GM) trucks that tow GN and 5th wheel trailers. One isn't better than the other.

My short beds can go in my heated garage but the long bed 4x4 crew cab chevy has to stay in the tractor shed.

Simply choose the cab/bed/wheelbase truck that meets your needs/wants/preference. Its that simple.

[Vulcaneer]

For me, it's not the height of the bed side walls. It's the height of the truck. If the truck were lower, the current bed side walls would be just fine. In fact I like the deeper bed.

[NC_Hauler]

newk wrote:
Long for me, especially for towing. Short would be nice for the super market parking lot and for my garage.

What I'd really like is a pickup with lower bed side-walls!

Agreed, seems manufacturer keeps jacking the back end up on their trucks...don't understand it at all:h

[newk]

Long for me, especially for towing. Short would be nice for the super market parking lot and for my garage.

What I'd really like is a pickup with lower bed side-walls!

[restasured]

I have a 2011 Ram 2500 Diesel short bed with a Dutchmen Denali 36'. The trailer has the short radius corners on the front and I do have a slider hitch but have went a full 90 degrees with the truck/trailer and have about 3 inches clearance between corner of trailer and the back of the cab. If I were pushing the trailer up a hill and the truck was on flat ground I might have a problem, but none yet. I do watch it when I am backing though.

[MTPockets1]

I've had short SRW and long DRW... For towing, long bed DRW wins hands down. The grade for parking, maneuvering, is not so good. But the primary reason for the truck is to tow. The job can get done with short bed, but long is better and DRW if you have full profile 5vr is best. .

[MTPockets1]

I've had short SRW and long DRW... For towing, long bed DRW wins hands down. The grade for parking, maneuvering, is not so good. But the primary reason for the truck is to tow. The job can get done with short bed, but long is better and DRW if you have full profile 5vr is best.

[Farmer_David]

Long

[NMace]

One thing to consider that has only been mentioned in passing, the wheel bases of regular, extended, and crew cab.

I have had crew cabs since 1975, but even with a 6.5 bed, they don't turn sharp.

[Atom_Ant]

We towed for 10 years with a shortbed and it was an ideal truck for towing for what we had. Even better with the new trailer that eliminated the slider hitch.

However, higher weight pushed us beyond the SRW, so by-by short bed. I now have the capacity, but several feet of completely unused space in front of the hitch and less maneuverability in a campground.

[NC_Hauler]

ken burke wrote:

Dtaylor wrote:
Which is better, or does it matter, a long bed or short bed for towing a fiver?

All depends on what your used to. Personally I like and use the extra storage room of a long bed. You don't need a slider hitch.

Check . . . does the short bed have less fuel capacity?

Nobody looks at a short bed truck. Short bed trucks are like short people.

ken

I don't think I would ever just come out and tell someone, "you don't need a slider"....I had one for years with all my short bed trucks, (yeah, I'm one of those short people no one looks at that owned short bed trucks that no one looks at:R)...and the ONE time I didn't use it, I put a dent in the upper drivers side of the back of the cab on my extended cab truck ..so to tell someone they don't need a slider might be over simplifying something that may need to be "considered" at the very least.

[ken_burke]

Dtaylor wrote:
Which is better, or does it matter, a long bed or short bed for towing a fiver?

All depends on what your used to. Personally I like and use the extra storage room of a long bed. You don't need a slider hitch.

Check . . . does the short bed have less fuel capacity?

Nobody looks at a short bed truck. Short bed trucks are like short people.

ken