How would you design a small payload truck with high mileage?
 

How big does the bed ABSOLUTELY have to be for most household uses?

And why has there not been a hybrid of truck and car from FORD (like the Ranchero) in many a long year....

The Falcon based Ranchero is an item beyond price, it would be perfect if another one came out. Possibly a Mustang front end, with a truck back half. What would you give for a ride like that?

There is the Explorer Sport Trac or something like that. OK, that's on a truck derived SUV frame, not on a car frame.

In any case, I think a 4'x5' bed should be plenty for most household uses.

Look at how much grief and ridicule the Honda Ridgeline has gotten here at FTE. That is pretty much the hybrid car-pickup of today.

The Falcon Ranchero, Subaru Brat, VW Rabbit pickup, and a couple of forgotten examples from Chrysler never really sold very well. The El Camino never really downsized and sold a lot better, but it got the same lousy gas mileage as everything else of its time.

The problem is, when I go to Home Depot, I need to carry things like 4x8 foot sheets of materials. Otherwise a station wagon or small suv can do the job without having an open-air "trunk". My old 1965 Impala wagon could carry sheets of plywood inside, but it was no more efficient on gas than a C-10 Pickup of the day.

Jim

Sizewise, the Ridgeline is about the same as the Ranger, ao it's not really "hybrid car-pickup"

The others you listed are the hybrids.

That's you. A small bed could be big enough to toss hunting. hiking, or camping gear, a bg screen TC, a stove, a deer, etc.

Does anyone have a diesel Ford Courier? Did ford offer one? I think this would have been the most practical and a modern version with a low entry price would be great - Ford could call it the CourierII.
I would buy a small small P/U w/ a high MPG (I do have an 88 B2200 outside). I am a big supporter of using less fossil fuels, so that's it!

I imagine an adapter could be made that allows sheets to be strapped on top of the bed. But how do you "FLAG" something hanging out from the sides?

Anything sticking out of the back of a vehicle must have a red marker on it such as a rag or piece of red tape. Is it legal to have things out from the sides in most states? I bet it is, because truck bed campers stick way out - and THEY are not flagged.

If the total width of the camper exceeds 80 inches, it needs clearance lights, just like a trailer. The limit for loads sticking out the sides in CA is one foot, I think.

Jim

I listed the Ridgeline because it is Accord-based as far as the chassis/powertrain is concerned.

You dont need an open bed for many of the loads you suggested. We went across Death Valley on dirt roads in a Chevy mini-van with all the hiking and camping gear plus three dogs. Just leave the back seats at home.

Jim

Ford Courier
 

There you go, Graywolf, but Ford will never import it into North America.

Jim

Go to Mexico. Pick up a 4-door Ford Ranger with the 2.5 (i think) 4cy diesel engine. This is not sold in the US because of the Explorer Sport Trac. The Ranger is a much more basic truck. The Trac is plush in comparison and Ford does not want the two to compete.

The trick there would be to get it out of Mexico, wouldn't it? I heard somewhere that we can't buy cars or trucks in Mexico and bring them to the U.S.

I know this is true of air cooled VW's, but for different reasons. That's an EPA issue.

It was something about - you can sell a car in Mexico, but not bring one north.

There's a guide to importing vehicles on the internet. It's a pdf file but I don't have a link to it. It includes import laws and tax rates. I do know you can import vehicles from Brazil. There's a pretty large tax on the vehicles though. It's not very cost effective unless you're trying to get a vehicle normally unavailable. Like a good FFV for instance.

But for the main questions, answered in my humble opinion.
The smallest open bed a vehicle could get away with is a 4' bed. Anything less seems like a waste.

Simply adding the price for electric motor, charger, battery, and a custom computer can add several thousand dollars to a vehicle. And it takes awhile to recoup the costs of a hybrid system just using gas costs.

It is my understanding that compact trucks don't sell very well and they haven't since the Ford Ranger :-X06 in the early 90's.

A car/truck hybrid seems to be an even more watered down version of a compact truck. I thought about it too while thinking about my gas mileage. But it defeats almost all of the purposes of a truck. Since car's suspensions are not designed to take as much loading or hauling abuse. Such a vehicle might be good for gas mileage and the occasional load of stuff. Why you ask?

Why need a permanent bed then for household things? Get yourself a 2 door car with a trailer hitch and pull a 4'x6' open utility trailer ONLY when needed. If you only need the bed every other weekend, then hauling that extra bed weight around is costing you fuel :-D

I've always thought that something like those FWD mopar pickups would be pretty good. At the time, market conditions were different -- and maybe they were just crappy trucks -- I don't know.

I think that a little FWD pickup would be pretty nice. You wouldn't need to load it to get traction, and since it wouldn't be able to carry much, the load wouldn't really screw up the handling. I've driven a lot of FWDs over the years, and they're normally pretty good in crappy weather.

I do think that you need to be able to carry 4x8 sheets -- they could hang off the end a bit, but they should fit in -- or maybe just on -- the bed. There's just a lot of household stuff that comes in that size -- panelling, waferboard, sheetrock, etc.

I realize that trailers work for quite a few folks, but I don't like them. I think that they're a big liability in any kind of dicey situation -- panic stop, slippery roads, whatever. Then of course, they double your length, and they can be a real pita to back up for us average/sub average drivers.

ford2go