It seems over the last 10 years or so that the truck market has turned into a 4 door, short bed, 4 wheel drive soccer mom vehicle. I own 2 ford trucks a 82 F100 and 95 f150. Both equipped with the 300 inline six and manual transmissions, 8 foot bed, standard cab, with 15 inch wheels. I use them as a truck should be used, throwing stuff in the bed and hauling it around, and pulling things hitched to the rear bumper.

I really like the look of the new f150, but almost every model I have seen is the crew cab or whatever its called with 4 doors and what they call a bed. Is it a 5.5 foot bed? What can you even put in there? I know the trucks are capable, but I would be nice to have a simpler machine like my older f series. All I want is an 8 foot bed, regular cab, manual transmission, manual windows, manual locks. The only options I need is rear sliding window and a/c. I looked at the sticker price on some of these new trucks and I couldn't believe its north of $50k.

Maybe I'm just stuck in a time when trucks where built to work and not be luxury family sedans with high ground clearance, 4 wheel drive, and leather heated seats. Ok rant over sorry.

 

Minus the manual transmission, you can get all of that in an f150 and be paying under $30,000.

 

All I can say is, "this ain't your grand father's Oldsmobile". I owned three 80's model F-150's all with the manual trans, manual hubs, windows, etc. My 2011 is every bit as much of a truck and more than my older models were.

Yes, more automated stuff to break but less periodic maintenance, better MPG's and far better resale value.

 

I gotta say that it seems every pic of a new truck folks are posting are crew cabs. How did this model get so popular? I mean I get that it makes the truck a very comfortable family vehicle with the huge backseat - so it should be popular, but the extent that people are choosing this over the super cab and regular cab is just really surprising to me. I don't remember anybody sharing a picture of a 2015 regular cab or even a super cab. Are forum members really choosing crew cabs like 95% of the time when they buy new?

 

I guess you could go buy one and then post a pic up of a single cab with 8' bed? My truck serves as my second familymobile when I am not driving it across the mid west for work. It pulls my 33' camper through the summer. Supercrew is the only cab config that works for me.

 

If Ford's Supercab offered front-hinged rear doors and external door handles like the Tundra doublecab or the Ram clubcab, then I think more buyers would opt for the Supercab.

The 2014 supercab has almost as much room in the back as the 2004-2008 F-150 crew cab, but the rear doors are just too awkward, especially for dads with the younger kids that fit well in the back of a Supercab. I see TONS of doublecab Tundras in my area, which have a 6.5' bed and 4 regular doors on a truck that overall is a few inches shorter than a 2014 F150 Supercab.

That said, I don't think Ford felt the need to absorb the cost of such a change, because they are just as happy selling more crew cabs...

 

Most trucks are built to the market. As was stated above, you can get a bare bones 4x4 for less than $30k, and your grand dads truck probably didn't have 4x4 so now your around $25k. Other than for commercial applications we don't stock basic trucks because no one buys them. People complain, but mostly they are looking for cheap used trucks. Hard to justify building trucks that will be more popular in 5 years than they are new. Any dealership would be happy to order you your perfect base truck.

Markets are different. I sell in a suburban area and most retail trucks are SUVs with a bed. If you need the space but not the third row I can't say I blame them. I'd rather have a short bed truck than an Expedition.

As for as getting a '15 cheap now, it makes sense for Ford to be focusing on the upscale ones first. We haven't even shifted the real basic assembly line fully over for production yet. They'll be hitting the roads in the next few months.

 

Yeah I guess I should put my money where my mouth is.

The main reason I am surprised that the crew cabs seem to now dominate new truck purchases are that us truck enthusiasts are a pretty conservative bunch -- I remember when the F150's crew cab/super crew with the 5.5' bed option was still a new thing, there was a lot of skepticism on these boards as to the utility of such a configuration for real work. And they did look sort of strange the first time you saw them, didn't they? Now they are the norm. So I guess we aren't such a bunch of traditionalists after all.

 

I chose the Supercrew with 5-1/2 foot bed as a move out of a Suburban. As was said above, I don't need the third row of seats anymore and carrying stuff in the back of the 5-1/2 footer is good enough for me. I only had about 3 feet with the third seat in the Suburban and I couldn't use it for junk yard trips. For longer loads, I bought a flatbed trailer. The trailer will serve to haul lumber when needed and the old '41.

I never thought about it until it was mentioned, but I suspect there are a lot of dads out there that like the big interior feel of a pickup (Suburban) but no longer need all that enclosed space. After owning Suburbans for the past 18 years I can't go back to a sedan where I have to pick myself up off the ground every time I get out of the vehicle.

Are trucks really trucks anymore = yes, but they also serve many other needs now that they are so luxurious and fully equipped.

 

Cab space is kinda like shop space, no matter how much space you have, you could always use more! I honestly don't think I could deal with a single cab truck these days........done went and got spoiled, I guess!

 

I have three trucks, a single cab with 8' bed, a single cab with 6.5' bed and a supercab with 8' bed. The single cab with 6.5' bed is my daily driver, plus I use it occasionally for hauling a slide in camper with trailer. Same for the supercab with 8' bed. To me the bed space is the "shop space" as far as using a truck as a truck goes.

 

My "work" truck is a Scab F150, I got so much chit behind the front seats you can't slide my wife's credit card in there (and that is thin) I guess I've gotten used to a larger cab, spoiled if you will.
Funny thing is, I got my 1st extended cab truck in 2001, prior to that, they were all single cabs, and all small trucks and I did just fine....

 

Interior storage vs. bed storage. Two completely different purposes. There are a lot of things I don't want in the bed.

 

I want/need interior space, I'm used to my other trucks a Expedition and Excursion with TONS of room for everything. So even now with the huge super crew F-150 i find myself looking for storage space inside the heated cab. Luckily i still have all my other trucks, including a red cab F-250 plow truck/work truck when needed.

I could not live even with a super cab, a regular cab for a daily driver is totally out of the question for me.

 

Auto manufacturers claim there is no demand really for manuals yet a good number of them still offer it. GM I believe just brought it back for the Colorado/Canyon. I think being in the midwest having four wheel drive is nearly a must with the kind of weather we have. Its even more crucial when you use it for hunting or fishing (some of the boat launches suck without 4x4). I've said it before, I love manual transmissions, but a lot of them suck to learn on. Sure you can start on a car but when you get behind a truck (doesn't matter if its a Ranger or Super Duty) long throw vs short throw can be a bit challenging to go from one to the other.

That said, its highly doubtful its ever going to make a come back in these trucks plain and simple. Manual t-case would be a much better option and I'm glad they are still around. Way too many issues with esof and this torque on demand is way more complicated than what it needs to be. I do use the truck as an everything truck, work, daily driver, vacation/family hauler, which is why having a crew cab is nice. The only time I have notice you need extra room is when you have family members or friends that are tall and you or them have the driver seat or passenger seat far back so they can be comfortable and you end up being squished the whole time.

Having more than two vehicles isn't always practical and spending this much money on a brand new truck isn't practical for most. I've had long discussions with my girlfriend about what kind of vehicles we want, came down to this...truck needs to be a crew cab and 6.5' bed 4x4 and automatic, everything after that is an added bonus.

Work trucks are still out their but its either stripped down to basic radio and hand crank windows or you move up to XLT and pay $5K more. Lariats are nice...love heated seats but just way too expensive even used ones a lot of the time. It just comes down to what the person wants/needs...even if its not always practical. I mean a lot of people just lease a high end truck for a few years then get another one.

Only real thing that sucks trying to do with a truck, parking lots can really suck...they were not built for land yachts that is for sure!