The only reason that the 2011 CR-V that I mentioned in my other post was repaired after the large tree limb crushed it was because of the insane used car prices in 2022.
5 years and 50K miles after she bought it, they valued it at $100 less than she bought it for.
I wouldn't want to park that beast!
8' beds are still available but are a PITA to park.
Back in those day my parents had Ford F250 six pack, the camper fitted on the back for camping. I remember we drove from Lake Charles to Galveston, my sister and I were in the camper looking out the front window. We first saw the lights of Galveston, thought we will be there soon. Our estimate proved incorrect that is one flat stretch of road.
For the ranger, the tree flattened the cab. My B-I-L sold it to a salvage guy who figured he could fix it somehow. Haven't heard anything further on it.
Mine is the Crew Cab with the 5.5 box. No problem with plywood with the tail gate down.
If you look carefully at the Ody, right under the side windows, you can see that the driver's door doesn't quite line up with the slider.
The tree hit the top of the A pillar and then slid down to the hood. The driver's door was pushed down and back. To get a feel how heavy the tree was, check out the front tire. That's not a low profile tire, that's just compressed by the weight.
Every 6 months or so - since 2014 - I get the Takata Air Bag recall notice. :-)
I've owned multiple compact S10's and Rangers. The 6' box was kind of a pain, mainly due to plywood and drywall having to rest on top of the wheel wells. If stacked on an angle (of course ratchet strapped down), the drywall/plywood would hang at least to the end of the tailgate, down flat.
Me, I buy cheap old trucks, and use them primarily for utility. I, personally, would not buy a full-size truck with any shorter than an 8' bed, where 4X8' sheets could lay flat between the wheel wells, with the tailgate shut. 5.5' bed seems *way* too small to me; might as well have an SUV or van at that point.
If the truck is your primary vehicle, and you need a back seat (without a huge cab), you might feel differently. I'm fine with a single cab 8' bed since the truck is a secondary vehicle for me.
An 8' bed with a standard cab is OK but with an extended cab or crew cab, the vehicle is simply too long. It would be impossible to park. I wouldn't have a standard cab, so it's a 6-1/2' cab.
I saw a RR work truck the other day that had a crew cab and 8' bed. It looked as long as a bus.
I bought the truck, a 2022 hybrid F150. One of the things I really like about it is that it has a 7.4 kW generator that powers outlets inside and outside the truck. It has three 120V outlets and a 240V outlet. It draws from the battery and starts up if it needs to charge.
The 5.5 box is pretty short though.
Just curious, what happens if you turn on the heater (or A/C)? I haven't even ridden in an EV yet.
It's not an actual EV. It's a hybrid so runs primarily on gas, but runs on electric when it can. There are two 120V outlets in the cab, so I assume they work then the heater or AC is on. The five outlets in the bed work when the truck is in "generator" mode (trucks automatically runs if the battery needs a charge). I don't know if the heater or AC would work in generator mode. It has good power on the road and rides really smoothly and quietly inside. I've never been much of a bells and whistles person because I always had the philosophy that that's just one more thing that could break. But everything, even the gas pedal, according the salesman, is electronic. It makes me nervous but we'll just go for now and see what happens.
Thank you for your explanation. It is insightful. I'm like you, I'm a little nervous of the technology, but I'll be watching to see what happens. I'm "afraid" of "expensive batteries" and things like that.
I've driven one of those crew cab w/ 8' bed trucks before; an early 80's F-250. That was a lot of truck, but it wasn't terrible to drive. I'm fairly used to switching vehicles. I got the hang of parallel parking my '64 Olds 88 (boat-size) pretty quickly.
Driving one of those crew cab long beds is not the issue. It's parking one in a parking lot and especially with straight in parking.
.. don't forget the pintle hitch sticking out at the back ! :-) When my son was working-through-college doing landscape construction - he had more-than-one driver drive into his hitch at red lights ... then try to blame him for it sticking out .. This was a small dump truck rather than a pick-up. John T.
The person at fault always tries to blame some one other than themselves. Seriously, if you hit a hitch you are at fault for not controlling your vehicle. My truck has one, its my bumper guard.
It is pretty much universal that in a rear-end collision, the fault is with vehicle following too closely, not driving attentively, (or forgetting to engage autopilot :-).
Yep. Years ago, the police were in the habit of issuing 2 charges to the at-fault driver - and - depending on circumstances - the prosecuter would often bargain it for a guilty plea on 1 of them. .. to save a trial. Careless driving & following too close .. John T.
I've been pulled over for speeding twice.
Once was in a brand new rental car - less than 1K miles on it. I was ticketed for a bald tire and a noisy muffler. I pled guilty and mailed in the fine. ;-)
The other time was in the Dodge Ram conversion van I drove when my kids were racing Soap Box Derby. I had *clear* Plexiglas over the my personalized license plates (DERBYDAD, of course). I got ticketed for an obstructed license plate. Mailed that one in too.
Why? None of that would be your fault; especially not in a rental.
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