5.5 Bed is useful!
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5.5 Bed is useful!
Today I took my wifes total gym (which she hasnt used in 2 years) to a buddies house for his wife (who wont use it) and noticed just how many scratches I have in my 5.5 bed.
Many at work and even on this board have stated the 5.5 is worthless. Just pondering a minute I recalled everything I have hauled over the past 9 months without being hindered. Brought home an 8.8 to replace the 7.5 in my stang. Hauled that one with the tailgate shut. Wheel well is scratched were I had the 302&T5 I bought shift. Misc scuffs and scratches from our many camping excursions last year.
Yes the 5.5 may stop me from upgrading to a 5th wheel (which is a good thing), and I may need a trailer to haul 4 x 8s. That said it has served its purpose for me very well and is certianly not worthless by any stretch.
Many at work and even on this board have stated the 5.5 is worthless. Just pondering a minute I recalled everything I have hauled over the past 9 months without being hindered. Brought home an 8.8 to replace the 7.5 in my stang. Hauled that one with the tailgate shut. Wheel well is scratched were I had the 302&T5 I bought shift. Misc scuffs and scratches from our many camping excursions last year.
Yes the 5.5 may stop me from upgrading to a 5th wheel (which is a good thing), and I may need a trailer to haul 4 x 8s. That said it has served its purpose for me very well and is certianly not worthless by any stretch.
Post Fiend
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 7,698
Likes: 4
From: Neenah, Wisconsin
I haul 4x8's all the time......if its just a few I throw them in at an angle......if its a bunch i'll just leave the tailgate down and slide em in....
I've even hauled 12 foot drywall in the truck......threw three 2x10x 12 footers down and piled it on top.....hauled 30 sheets that way and no problems at all..
5.5 foot beds just look so much better......they had a 6.5 with the exact same options in stock when i got mine and i drove it for a day......just couldn't get on board with it.....I took it back and ordered mine...
I've even hauled 12 foot drywall in the truck......threw three 2x10x 12 footers down and piled it on top.....hauled 30 sheets that way and no problems at all..
5.5 foot beds just look so much better......they had a 6.5 with the exact same options in stock when i got mine and i drove it for a day......just couldn't get on board with it.....I took it back and ordered mine...
Logistics Pro
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 4,512
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From: Detroit
I dunno...after having full size vans for 24 years running now, and a Ford pickup for 8 years before that, I find that a van allows carrying 7+ people inside with cargo, or I can pull out the seats behind the front row and carry a full size couch in the rain (and have carried a couple couches in the last year with my son in college). As a musician, it's great to carry drums, PA systems, guitars, etc in dry, locked, climate-controlled safety. Or a 10 foot ladder/lumber fully inside the van. Or 4x8 sheets of stuff inside the van, locked and dry.
You can sleep inside a van, which I've done many times. Big vans also made me the most popular dad in our Boy Scout troop.
My son and 3 of his Univ of Mich cycle race teammates took a race weekend trip with 4 guys and 8 bikes (a road and mountain bike for each guy worth a total of $20k+) plus gear all inside the van. Vans may not have the "urban cowboy" factor thing going, but they sure are useful.
Plus, if you need something from the back of the van, you just hit the brakes hard and it hits you in the back of the head
(old joke...)
Pickups are great for gravel and manure, though I don't often carry gravel or manure.
George
You can sleep inside a van, which I've done many times. Big vans also made me the most popular dad in our Boy Scout troop.
My son and 3 of his Univ of Mich cycle race teammates took a race weekend trip with 4 guys and 8 bikes (a road and mountain bike for each guy worth a total of $20k+) plus gear all inside the van. Vans may not have the "urban cowboy" factor thing going, but they sure are useful.
Plus, if you need something from the back of the van, you just hit the brakes hard and it hits you in the back of the head
(old joke...)Pickups are great for gravel and manure, though
I don't often carry gravel or manure.George
Logistics Pro
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 4,863
Likes: 4
From: Airdrie Alberta
I haul 4x8's all the time......if its just a few I throw them in at an angle......if its a bunch i'll just leave the tailgate down and slide em in....
I've even hauled 12 foot drywall in the truck......threw three 2x10x 12 footers down and piled it on top.....hauled 30 sheets that way and no problems at all..
5.5 foot beds just look so much better......they had a 6.5 with the exact same options in stock when i got mine and i drove it for a day......just couldn't get on board with it.....I took it back and ordered mine...
I've even hauled 12 foot drywall in the truck......threw three 2x10x 12 footers down and piled it on top.....hauled 30 sheets that way and no problems at all..
5.5 foot beds just look so much better......they had a 6.5 with the exact same options in stock when i got mine and i drove it for a day......just couldn't get on board with it.....I took it back and ordered mine...
30 sheets at one time? 12 footers? I never haul sheets with my tailgate down, of course I'd never haul 30 sheets in my truck at once either and I'm in a F350 with the short bed.
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Joined: Jan 2008
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From: Maine, Virginia
You can certainly do anything with a 5.5 that you can do with a 6.5. I wouldn't go so far to say that it looks better as they're both pretty damned sexy IMHO. My youngest is in HS so my next truck will mostly be a Scab w/ 6.5' bed.
Posting Guru
Joined: Jan 2008
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From: altoona
ive haul about everthing i can get a hold of. rolls of carpet that are like 12by30 rolls ..ripped up floors that i filled the bed up above the cab and tons of other large things with the tailgate down and a few straps you can get fit anything
in the pic below i have a ferrit cage that is really large on the bottom a couch on top and a few rugs and other stuff for the g/f dorm room
in the pic below i have a ferrit cage that is really large on the bottom a couch on top and a few rugs and other stuff for the g/f dorm room
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Post Fiend
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 7,698
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From: Neenah, Wisconsin
Those might have been 10 footers that time now that i think about it.....it was right around 2000 lbs of drywall......
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ive haul about everthing i can get a hold of. rolls of carpet that are like 12by30 rolls ..ripped up floors that i filled the bed up above the cab and tons of other large things with the tailgate down and a few straps you can get fit anything
in the pic below i have a ferrit cage that is really large on the bottom a couch on top and a few rugs and other stuff for the g/f dorm room
in the pic below i have a ferrit cage that is really large on the bottom a couch on top and a few rugs and other stuff for the g/f dorm room
I like that. Really I like anybody that buys a truck and actually uses it as a truck. I know many who buy a full size truck and only commute in it. I know a couple who will NOT put anything in the bed for fear of scratching it. What do you buy a truck for if your not going to use it? If I wasnt hauling and towing all the time I would have bought a Focus!
Posting Guru
Joined: Jan 2008
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From: altoona
not useing a truck like you should is like marrying a playboy model and never opening the hood to see whats inside, same goes for lifted truck that never see mud at least once
also one weekend soon i will be hauling some top soil for my mother-inlaw i need like 3cu yd i hopeing to do in in two trip or less
i also love to drive it threw the mud on my job site, i do tow a 5by8 trailer to haul the tools
also one weekend soon i will be hauling some top soil for my mother-inlaw i need like 3cu yd i hopeing to do in in two trip or less
i also love to drive it threw the mud on my job site, i do tow a 5by8 trailer to haul the tools
Post Fiend
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 7,698
Likes: 4
From: Neenah, Wisconsin
I hauled a ton and a half of sand in one trip in my 05.......you'll be able to do it...
Fleet Owner
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 24,724
Likes: 74
From: Blue Hill Township
I dunno...after having full size vans for 24 years running now, and a Ford pickup for 8 years before that, I find that a van allows carrying 7+ people inside with cargo, or I can pull out the seats behind the front row and carry a full size couch in the rain (and have carried a couple couches in the last year with my son in college). As a musician, it's great to carry drums, PA systems, guitars, etc in dry, locked, climate-controlled safety. Or a 10 foot ladder/lumber fully inside the van. Or 4x8 sheets of stuff inside the van, locked and dry.
You can sleep inside a van, which I've done many times. Big vans also made me the most popular dad in our Boy Scout troop.
My son and 3 of his Univ of Mich cycle race teammates took a race weekend trip with 4 guys and 8 bikes (a road and mountain bike for each guy worth a total of $20k+) plus gear all inside the van. Vans may not have the "urban cowboy" factor thing going, but they sure are useful.
Plus, if you need something from the back of the van, you just hit the brakes hard and it hits you in the back of the head (old joke...)
Pickups are great for gravel and manure, though I don't often carry gravel or manure.
George
You can sleep inside a van, which I've done many times. Big vans also made me the most popular dad in our Boy Scout troop.
My son and 3 of his Univ of Mich cycle race teammates took a race weekend trip with 4 guys and 8 bikes (a road and mountain bike for each guy worth a total of $20k+) plus gear all inside the van. Vans may not have the "urban cowboy" factor thing going, but they sure are useful.
Plus, if you need something from the back of the van, you just hit the brakes hard and it hits you in the back of the head
(old joke...)Pickups are great for gravel and manure, though
I don't often carry gravel or manure.George
Logistics Pro
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 4,512
Likes: 18
From: Detroit
Similar gas mileage, the van has a smaller footprint, etc. If you really need 4WD, pickup or SUV is the way to go, but a van has 260 cubic feet of room behind the front seats (and that is not the extended van). An Excursion has only 146, barely more than a minivan.
In Boy Scouts, the scoutmasters both drove minivans. Not cool to wear, but they were not into fashion so much as function. There are those that want to project that tough outdoorsy image, and there are those who are really tough outdoorsy people like our scoutmasters were.
Plus, if the economy totally tanks and we lose everything, I can always live in the van more easily than I could in a pickup
George