When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Also note that my 8 ft. bed will close on an 8'1" board, with an inch or so to spare. And yes I tend to snicker at the small (NOT short) bed "pickups" I see around here, I gots 4'(+~2") between the wheel wells.
Yeah.. I do love the long bed, just wondered on what the actual measurement was.. I agree the short bed is sportier, but the long bed is nicer to have for hauling. Even in the nicest show truck, you may still need to haul something in it at one time. I am fixing mine up to show off nicely, but am going to rhino line the bed, so I can haul too... A truck is for hauling. Let it do what it is meant to do.
On my '70, I shortened the frame exactly 16" to make a short bed. That's wheelbase. There might be a difference in the actual bed length of more or less than 16". The inside of my shortbed '64 is 79" to the inside of the tailgate.
Long beds are nice when you have a toolbox in the bed. There's still a lot of room in the bed and you can still get a lot of sheets or plywood or any 8' cuts under the toolbox.
And with this era of pickup, there's often a fuel tank taking up all of the room behind the seat so even keeping a set of jumper cables in the truck is a pain.