The gene pool runs wide and deep.

 

Ok, is your trsiler tongue pull? If you're gonna be using the truck for pulling a 5th wheel or gooseneck trailer get a long bed. We have both on the ranch & the shortbed F-250 is a real pain in the a$$ to try & back up with a trailer & you can't turn as sharp for fear of hitting the cab.plus there is like no room with a toolbox in s hortbed. Just do what I do & take up two parking spaces. It's a truck, not a car. If you want something that parks easily, buy a car.

 

with a short bed you can get a slider hitch for 5th wheel app's. That is what I use for something really sharp. Usually that is only when backing into a camp site that I need to slide it to the rear.

 

I've pulled more goosenecks with shortbeds than longbeds, and honestly there's absolutely no difference on a stock trailer, because you can go past 90* with either bed length and not hit the cab. And if you think about it, the shorter turning radius (in 2007, 47 ft on my SC/SB vs. 56.5 ft on a CC/LB) will be a bigger help than the ability to go another 10* past perpendicular. Believe me, I back up a lot of trailers, and the Dodge we use with a short bed and small cab (with a coil front end) is a WHOLE lot easier than the Ford CC/LB (leaf spring front end). Both of them pull similar 30 ft stock trailers. Admittedly, the difference in front suspensions just makes the turning radius problem worse, longer trucks do ride better on the highway, and duallys are pretty much always LBs, but a short bed truck can do just fine with a gooseneck trailer.

 

You could always buy the CC/LB and let the wife drive the GMC, since she's already used to it.

 

lol, that option is being kicked around, especially since it won't be worth a lot on the market. Besides, it has been such a good truck I would hate to see it go.

 

txtech, how long are the trailers you pull? The 16 footer is hell while the 20 footer is manageable. Maybe it depends on the length of the trailer..............

 

I have a leveling kit on the front and am running 33 inch tires. Additionally I have a headache rack that sticks up above my cab some. Anything under 6'10" is a problem for me.

 

Ive got a 01 CCLB. 22ft 6in grill guard to bumper. The biggest issue I have with it is parking. I find its much easier to back into most places. I park in a garage for work with an 8ft clearance and though i scrap the antenna everyday and stick out into the lane I can get in there. Assigned parking at my apartment is much worse since the parking lot is very narrow.
Worse one i did was to crease the roof and break the third brake light in the Norfolk Airport garage. 8ft clearance my ***. They didnt charge me parking for that week.

 

ive had both, currently have a cc lb 4x4 and i travel back and forth from Houston to dallas and drive through down town area all the time. The truck isnt to hard to drive you just have to get use to it.

My loft in downtown dallas has a really tight parking garage and somehow i managed to get it up there and park. It takes a little bit of effort though but i do it.

 

bought an 08 F350, CC, LB, Dually to tow my car hauler for long distances. it is also the normal second vehicle.. My wife hasn't driven it yet (since Sept), and I did have one heck of a time in a parking garage.. bad choice, which made me spend a lot of time back & forth 2 ft at a time to get turned..

park on the end with nobody behind you.

it does take some thinking where to park in a lot.. long & wide for me..

BUT I love the longbed.. mines a 2wd, so I don't have the height clearance problem..

I added backup camera to mine. used it the other day in line at mcdonalds, where I needed to get out of line without hitting the car behind me..... very nice..

sam

 

Short bed looks better and is way easier around town with things like avoiding getting parked in. Also, with a bed extender it's nearly 8' anyway.

if mine wasn't a dually, i'd have the 6'8" bed and not the 8'. Plenty of room and can handle a 5th wheel almost as well. As for a gooseneck cattle trailer or flat bed, well a 5' bed is enough "timberon94"

-Rob

 

looks goes in the to each his own category. i have seen short beds that i thought looked good but really i only think 150s with ext cabs look good with short beds but thats probably because i grew up around long beds and use them for work.

really once you have driven both for 2 weeks in the same cab with a long bed or a short bed you will notice that parking is very much the same (again i learned to drive in a big truck) with backing in being far easier in any truck and what you will usually do in a smaller-average sized lot

if drive-ability is the main concern take both out for a test drive with the long bed first and if it feels that the short bed was that much easier you will know what you need.

 

I have to completely disagree with that statement. CC/SBs look like shi+.

People buy short beds for three reasons.
1. They don't really need a truck
2. The turning radius helps in town. Means they don't need a Truck
3. They think a short bed will work better Off-Road, only partially true, that completely depends on what kind of off-roading is being done.


I buy only Long Beds, I can't understand why ANYONE would want or need a short bed.

 

I like the CC/SB on an F-150, but for the 350s I prefer the CC long bed, personally.
As far as driving in town and parking, no problems here. I am used to driving Mustangs, and recently got an F-350 (2003 DRW) for the winter and for hauling/towing. It is actually really easy to park. In most lots, I overhang the parking spot by just a couple of feet. Couldn't compare it to a shorty, since I have never owned one, but the driving on the truck is great, and parking is not a big deal. Just be sure to take the turns a little wide, but then again you will have to do this no matter which truck you get, afterall, it is still a truck.

The biggest thing you will have to get over with a SD is the intimidation factor. My girl has driven my truck before, and once she got to where she was not scared of it she was fine... and she is not the greatest driver in the world.