New truck height's

[colliehauler]

Why do manufacturers raise the dang truck bed so high on new trucks? It's not conducive to towing or loading or unloading the bed. Are looks more important then function? Is there another reason besides vanity that they do this? I could understand if they needed to do so for larger brake rotors and wheels. Years ago GM took pride in the fact there truck had more ground clearance with less truck height.

[Groover]

Being too tall is my main complaint on my 2016 F150. When I think about how much I paid for steps it seems to me that air suspension would not have cost much more and would have worked a lot better.

Does anyone here have a Ram with air suspension and are you happy with it?

[Bedlam]

My last two trucks have had cab steps for the passengers. I'm tall and would not have had any if it was just me driving them - I find I have a harder time with low slung vehicles.

[Camper_G]

I personally like the ride height of my 17 Dodge 2500HD. The tailgate and rear bumper heights are tall however, so I could see how that would bother some, but it does not bother me. Different strokes for different folks. It's all personal preference.

[colliehauler]

fj12ryder wrote:
But it would also explain why you don't see many women driving these very "manly" trucks: unwanted side effects. 🙂

Actually my sister in her 70's just bought a new GMC truck this year, she did have nerf bars put on to help climb in. Her husband bought a new Mustang GT.

[fj12ryder]

But it would also explain why you don't see many women driving these very "manly" trucks: unwanted side effects. 🙂

[Sport45]

fj12ryder wrote:
They may be a pain to get into and out of, towing, and loading stuff in the bed, but they sure do look manly. I would think a guy would grow chest hair just being around those things. 🙂

But then he'd have to spend more time getting his chest waxed. Ouch! 🙂

[Dayle1]

4x4ord wrote:

Seems to me a forklift lifts a pallet of concrete 62" about as easy as it does 48".

True, but unless you have a forklift at home, unloading is still worse with taller bed floors.

4x4ord wrote:

For towing an RV a tow body would work the best .... orflat bed but most rv'ers seem to want what everybody else has.

Well, I'm the odd rv'er, ditched the factory bed for a lowered utility bed. Still have a tailgate, but it is never in the way. Bed rail height is 50" so no need for a step stool when hooking up. Tool boxes are on the sides, not inside the bed. It is now almost 14 yrs old and on the second truck, will last the rest of my towing life. Fancy, no, practical, yes.

[john_bet]

Just earlier today I measured some new Ford and Chevy heavy duty 4x4 trucks tail gate heights. Local Ram dealer had no heavy duties for me to check. All were at the 60 to 62 inch mark. Last week I measured some over hang heights of mid and high profile 5th wheels and they were at the 60 inch mark. Seams to me the two do not match.

[colliehauler]

ACZL wrote:
OP----Are you referring to GM's old ad showing a bowling ball going under the axle or it pulling a 2, 3 or 4 bottom plow? Wanna say that was a 70's ad and Tom T Hall singing the jingle . Did it go something like: "Baseball, Hot dogs, Apple pie and Chevrolet"?

My Mom said years ago when we had our '03 SD and went to get into backseast that a man must have designed it for the grab handles were on top of door instead of lower portion of the "B" pillar. Same goes w/ the designers of RV's. Who the heck can reach cabinets at ceiling height? Like others, I too don not agree w/ the height of todays trucks other than it makes it easy to spot the short dresses in summer time.

I think it was in the 90's and they were showing a Chevy 4x4 crossing a ditch bragging about high ground clearance AND lowest bed height.

[MFL]

Grit dog wrote:
Personally I find it hard to complain about much with the new trucks other than price,lol.
Idk about the new model Ford SDs but the previous gen F250s have the lowest bed height by a good margin. They don't have the blocks in back like most others and are almost reverse leveled coming from the factory.
Worth looking into....
I don't tow a 5ver so I don't have an issue with bed height.

Actually, my 13 250 has the two inch block, compared to the 350 with 4" block. Even so, my truck sits fairly level when empty, which is what I wanted to tow my FW more level.

The new model 250s that I recently looked at, had the same 4" block that the 350 did, less one spring. Both models are tall.

BTW, it's never too late to get a 5ver, while your still young enough to learn to back one.:B :C

Jerry

[ACZL]

OP----Are you referring to GM's old ad showing a bowling ball going under the axle or it pulling a 2, 3 or 4 bottom plow? Wanna say that was a 70's ad and Tom T Hall singing the jingle . Did it go something like: "Baseball, Hot dogs, Apple pie and Chevrolet"?

My Mom said years ago when we had our '03 SD and went to get into backseast that a man must have designed it for the grab handles were on top of door instead of lower portion of the "B" pillar. Same goes w/ the designers of RV's. Who the heck can reach cabinets at ceiling height? Like others, I too don not agree w/ the height of todays trucks other than it makes it easy to spot the short dresses in summer time.

[APT]

Maybe the HD trucks are different, but all the 2018 model half tons are actually shorter than the half tons I owned in early 2000s. I can tell by sunroof clearance to my garage door. I can tell by the step in height. I can tell by the ridiculously low front air dam that scrape on parking lot curbs. Lower center of gravity helps handling combined with those front air dams decreases fuel consumption.

[Grit_dog]

Personally I find it hard to complain about much with the new trucks other than price,lol.
Idk about the new model Ford SDs but the previous gen F250s have the lowest bed height by a good margin. They don't have the blocks in back like most others and are almost reverse leveled coming from the factory.
Worth looking into....
I don't tow a 5ver so I don't have an issue with bed height.

[fj12ryder]

4x4ord wrote:

Durb wrote:
I find it easier to lift a bag of redi-mix waist high to load rather than hoisting it chest high. That and the fact that my trailer won't fit a new truck means I will drive my old one until it refuses to come home.

By the way 2017 tail gate heights: Ram 3500 DRW - 57", Ram 3500 SRW - 59", F350 SRW - 60 1/2"

Seems to me a forklift lifts a pallet of concrete 62" about as easy as it does 48". For towing an RV a tow body would work the best .... orflat bed but most rv'ers seem to want what everybody else has.

Yeah, a towbody or a flat bed would work well, but not necessarily the best. How do you carry anything else when you don't have a bed to put it in? Having to tie everything down so it doesn't disappear off the flat bed or towbody would be a real pain.

Near as I can tell the pickup works the best for towing and carrying.