by Gordon White 

528 Truck Camper Magazine readers responded to the Truck Camper Magazine Dream Truck Survey and the results are very telling.  Here are the trucks we have, and the trucks of our dreams for 2012.

The first Truck Camper Magazine Dream Truck Survey results are in and we have some truly eye opening results.  First, the overall winner is clear; a Ford F-350, Diesel, Crew Cab, Long Bed, Automatic, Four-Wheel Drive, Dually.  Congratulations Ford.

Some of the dramatic shifts seen from current truck to dream truck are striking.  For example, the dream trucks are getting significantly bigger with sizable percentage gains for one-ton and larger trucks.  Diesel also makes a huge jump over gas, showing most readers will be sticking with diesel or choosing diesel for their next truck purchase.  Crew cab also gains for cab type and leads by a wide margin.

The shift in bed types is also of note.  For the current trucks, there are very few flat beds and zero custom storage beds.  For the dream trucks, 14.72% want a custom storage bed like the ones offered by Classy Chassis Trucks.  Flat beds jump to 5.35%.  The increasing interest in alternative beds signals an interesting change in the truck camper marketplace.

This survey is sure to have many truck and truck camper manufacturers thinking twice about their camper lines.  Thank you to all of the readers who participated in the survey.  If you have not yet participated, you can still add your responses to the survey; click here.

 

Here are the results of the Truck Camper Magazine Dream Truck Survey:

The survey results are listed in the order the survey questions were asked with current and dream trucks side-by-side for comparison.  The percentages within each question are ordered top to bottom in the order of their popularity, again for side-by-side comparison.

1. CURRENT VS. DREAM TRUCK - MAKE
CURRENT TRUCK                           DREAM TRUCK
Ford - 37.88%                                    Ford - 42.31%
Chevrolet - 23.30%                             Dodge - 22.31%
Dodge - 19.89%                                  Chevrolet - 20.38%
GMC - 6.44%                                     GMC - 8.08%
Toyota - 4.73%                                    Toyota - 3.65%
Nissan - .95%                                      Other - Fuso, Unimog, Jeep - 3.27%
Other - Fuso, Unimog, Jeep  -.76%      Nissan - 0%
None - I do not own a truck - 6.06%    

2. CURRENT VS. DREAM TRUCK - MODEL
CURRENT TRUCK                              DREAM TRUCK
1-Ton: F-350/3500 - 37.5%                   1-Ton: F-350/3500 - 52.69%
3/4 Ton: F-250/2500 - 31.82%               F-450/F-550/4500, etc. - 24.23%
Half-Ton: F-150/1500 - 16.48%             3/4 Ton: F-250/2500 - 16.35%
Mini: Ranger/Tacoma, etc. - 5.87%         Half-Ton: F-150/1500 - 4.42%
F-450/F-550/4500, etc. - 2.27%            Mini: Ranger/Tacoma, etc. - 2.31%
None - I do not own a truck - 6.06%

3. CURRENT VS. DREAM TRUCK - FUEL TYPE
CURRENT TRUCK                               DREAM TRUCK
Diesel - 48.57%                                      Diesel - 78.99%
Gas - 45.70%                                         Gas - 21.01%
None - I do not own a truck - 6.36%
  
4. CURRENT VS. DREAM TRUCK - CAB TYPE
CURRENT TRUCK                                 DREAM TRUCK
Crew Cab: Four Doors - 35.65%             Crew Cab: Four Doors - 65.32%
Extended Cab: Half Doors - 35.65%         Extended Cab: Half-Doors - 30.25%
Regular Cab - 12.52%                              Regular Cab - 4.43%
None - I do not own a truck - 6.36%    

5. CURRENT VS. DREAM TRUCK - BED TYPE
CURRENT TRUCK                                 DREAM TRUCK
Long Bed - 60.34%                                   Long Bed - 62.33%
Short Bed - 32.45%                                   Short Bed - 17.59%
Flat-Bed - .76%                                         Custom Storage Bed - 14.72%
Custom Storage Bed - 0%                          Flat-Bed - 5.35%
None - I do not own a truck - 6.26%    

6. CURRENT VS. DREAM TRUCK - TRANSMISSION TYPE
CURRENT TRUCK                                   DREAM TRUCK
Automatic Transmission - 81.59%               Automatic Transmission - 82.49%
Manual Transmission - 12.02%                   Manual Transmission - 17.51%
None - I do not own a truck - 6.4%    

7. CURRENT VS. DREAM TRUCK - DRIVELINE TYPE
CURRENT TRUCK                                  DREAM TRUCK
Four-Wheel Drive: 4x4 - 76.63%               Four-Wheel Drive: 4x4 - 92.12%
Two-Wheel Drive: 4x2 - 17.43%               Two-Wheel Drive: 4x2 - 7.88%
None - I do not own a truck - 5.94%    

8. CURRENT VS. DREAM TRUCK - REAR WHEEL CONFIGURATION
CURRENT TRUCK                                 DREAM TRUCK
Single Rear Wheel: SRW - 70.1%             Dual Rear Wheel: DRW - 51.15%
Dual Rear Wheel: DRW - 23.81%             Single Rear Wheel: SRW - 48.85%
None - I do not want a truck - 6.1%    

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