Gonna agree with the original poster... Nothing but a C/C L/B for me in a heavy duty truck. Once I put in my 27" wide tool box I only have 5'-9" of box left to use to haul with... with a short-box you'd have about 4 ft or so to play with... useless. If you want to haul anything of any size - plywood, lumber, sleds, quads, etc it just doesn't work with a short bed, not to mention the longer wheel base actually improves the ride quality. If you're just using it as a grocery getter than that's one thing, but if you buy a truck to actually use it for work or for play, then it's no contest, a long-bed is mandatory.

I tried the SUV thing for a couple years with a '99 Expedition... It was a nice rig, but I HATED having to hook up a trailer to do anything with it.... with a truck with sufficient room - throw it in the bed and go! You're gonna be much more maneuverable with a long bed and cargo on-board, than a short bed and cargo on a trailer. An 11ft long sled hanging out of a 6.5ft box doesn't work very well... an 8 ft box is much safer.

 

4x8 sheet of plywood fits in my excursion. More than one if I pile them up.

 

I guess I’m a dinosaur, for the life of me I can’t understand why anyone would buy a short bed truck. If you’re going to be in town that much to worry about parking places you don’t NEED a truck to begin with! If you do buy a car and leave the truck at home! I have an 01 F250 CC 4X4 LB a 05 F250 Reg Cab 4X4 and a 06 F350 CC 4X4 LB!

 

This is definitely not true. Just because you live in a town does not remove the need for a truck. Country boys don't have the monopoly on truck needin' jobs my friend.

 

I can't imagine having anything less than a full-size bed, after many occasions of completely filling up the 8' bed on my '97 F150 XLT supercab - and being glad that I don't have to make another trip to finish the job. Then again, most of the vehicles I drive are around 22 foot long.

 

I said in town that much. I'm in the construction Business and I'm in town a lot. Guess what most get the hell out of the way. I don't take to places that have parking garages. Only an Idiot would do that. Like I said I Guess I'm a Dinosaur.

 

I like the look people give you when you park in a normal parking space at walmart. One guy even said "by george are they making the trucks bigger or what". Guess the long bed adds to it.

I always remember to hit the button on my power mirrors. I learned real fast to always pull them in when parking. Lady hit her head on one trying to get into her prius. Didn't hurt my mirror but I think she brained herself, said sorry - mumbled, got in and drove away.

Nothing new with the big dumbo mirrors if you remember the ones from the F100 series, they had the dumbo type and the west coast mirrors. We are back to the 60/70's in some things. The wide angle spot is great!!

Who needs a step tailgate to get into the bed. I just keep an old prairy farms milk crate in the bed and use it as a step.

Long live the 8 foot beds.

 

I've been in some lots where half my truck is hanging out of the parking spot. Can't imagine how far you'd hang out with the CC LB. Sometimes these places make their parking spots so small you can barely get a door open on a compact. I just quit going to a place if they need to try to cram that many parking spots on their lot. I love going to Bass Pro. They know their customers. They've got the Kramer double lane king size delux parking spots there. I park right by the front door.

 

I looked at some condos about a year ago. Its actualy a extra $30 a month just for a parking spot. If they can even handle a SB. Im sure a longbed i would have been paying for 2 spots.

 

As someone already mentioned, I park towards the back of the lot, or away from other vehicles. And, I tend to back in to the spot wherever possible. I drive long vehicles, though, so I'm used to it.

1989 Superior Limousine by pcsmoroute66, on Flickr

1986 Eureka Pontiac Parisienne Hearse by pcsmoroute66, on Flickr

1988 Eureka Deville Hearse by pcsmoroute66, on Flickr

 

Ordered an 04 F250 Harley supercab with a 6.0 and a 6 3/4' bed because that is what everyone else drove, at the last minute before the build I changed it to an 8' bed because of the larger available fuel tank and never regretted having the room behind and IMO this truck configuration and color ended up looking better than the same in a short box. Traded it in last January for a 2010 F350 CC with a V10 and a 6 3/4' bed and regret not having the 8' bed with a 38 gallon fuel tank and just the 27 +/- on the shortbed. I pulled my enclosed trailer into the wind last November with the V10 (not my first V10 so I new milleage wouldn't be good) but when I had to stop a hundred miles out of town and fill with gas it got me looking once again because with my 6.0 I could make it 400 miles pulling the same trailer in the same conditions or 550 miles plus running empty at 75-80. Result - I ended up ordering a 2011 6.7 CC with a longbed because I couldn't find what I wanted in 3 states that would dealer trade so the truck is scheduled to be in this week as a result of the late November order. So important to me was the ability to put things in the back that I was used to with my long bed and have the larger fuel tank too (yes I could have bought another or replaced the factory tank). For now I won't go back to a short box and probably won't until my life puts me into an F150.

 

I tried to find a used supercab longbed before buying new. The few that I found were high mileage fleet trucks that had taking pretty big beatings, or they were older then what I was looking for.

When I considered buying new, it seamed like no dealer in BC had more then one SC LB. Crew Cabs were a little more common, but still rare because everything was shortbox.

I can only imagine having my nearly 10' long sled deck on a short box Atleast with the 8' box I can put a sled deck or camper on and still be able to hook onto a trailer without using a dangerous extension. Not to mention the fact that I can take my tool box out and and haul a decent load of firewood.

 

I think you guys are loosing perspective here. A short bed is 6 3/4 feet. That is 15 inches shorter than a long bed. Just 15 inches. Not 24 inches, not over 2 feet, it's 15 inches. 1.25 feet. That's all.

Only one or two posters have eluded to the bigger difference, which is the fuel tank size.

 

I think it is sad seeing a full size truck with a short bed hauling two mx bikes that can't close the tail gate. I can fit three bikes with the middle one a 1.5 ft farther out and still close the gate. If anyone here is into mx riding, you will know how convienent it is to be able to put a cooler behind the bikes instead of in the cab.

 

So why then do we have all of the posts complaining that trucks with 8' beds are too hard to park? Can't have it both ways...