10 Things You Must Haul in Your Truck Before You Die
Your Ford truck is a member of your family, or at the very least a loyal family dog, so it makes sense that you share every aspect of your life with it. If all you ever haul in your F-150 is trash to the dump or mulch for your garden, you are missing out on a lot of truck bonding experiences you could be sharing with your truck. What follows are a few things that everyone who truly loves their truck ought to haul at least once in the back of it.
1. Your Kids
Sure, these days, in some states it isn’t legal to have kids in the back of a pickup truck, but back in the day, we all did it. Recently I have seen a company (BedRyder) selling kits to bolt a pair of seats and seat belts in the back of a truck like the old Subaru BRAT had, and they claim it is legal in most states. Their product is a bit ridiculous at nearly $800, but the parts to make one of your own would only run you about $250 if you know how to weld. Nothing beats the feeling of the wind through your hair you get riding in the back of a Ford truck.
2. Toys too Big for a car
If you have kids or a spouse, a truck allows you to bring them home a gift so big it would barely fit inside of anything but the bed of a truck. A stuffed bear 10 feet tall may only cost a couple hundred dollars in real money, but the impact of seeing something that fills the bed of a truck and doubles as a bean bag chair will blow their mind. This Corvette owner should have bought a Ford Truck.
3. Lumber
Many of you who actually use your truck for work will think this is a no-brainer, but a lot of guys only use their truck for Costco trips. Whether you are building a shed, a tree fort for your son, or a playhouse for your daughter, it all begins with a truckload full of lumber in the bed of your trusty F-150. If you want to live a simple life off the grid out in the boondocks, you could pack enough lumber in the back to build a nice little cabin.
4. Puppies
Dogs love trucks, and who can blame them? Maybe you don’t want an entire bed full of them, but dogs like to be in packs, and 6 dogs are somehow 100 times better than just one. Maybe you can’t afford to feed and house a half dozen hungry mutts, but a pair is as easy to take care of as a single one, and 10 times the fun. Check your local laws, and make sure your dogs are okay with riding in the bed before you do it though. You don’t want a fun outing to end in tragedy.
5. Sports Team / Cheerleaders
Even if you don’t have kids of your own, it’s a great feeling to help out your local high school football (or whatever) team or the cheer squad and drive a truckload of them in the homecoming parade. Of course, the crowds are cheering for them as you slowly drive the several miles of the parade route and onto the field, but at least a little bit they are cheering for you and your Ford truck too.
6. Your Kids Off to College
Eventually, every boy becomes a man, and every girl become a woman, and they go off into the real world. Your Ford truck was there when they were in grade school, and it can help carry them off to college as well. Is there any better time to impart the wisdom of your years than while you make the hours long drive over to a college town with a bed full of furniture?
7. Something Big You Caught or Killed
With the kids off at school you have more time for hunting and fishing, and just like with #2 above, there is nothing more impressive than a fish, elk, or other trophies that take up the whole bed of the truck. There aren’t many bears left around to hunt, but if you were to get one, your truck would have no problem hauling it back to your local taxidermy shop. On the coasts and the Gulf of Mexico, you may have better luck landing a huge marlin, or even a shark to make a summer’s worth of meals out of, as well as a trophy.
8. Another Truck
There is something just so wrong about having a truck in the back of another truck, that it just makes me grin every time I see it. You may need a trailer for this one if you are bringing home an entire parts truck or project truck. But if you are hauling home a spare cab, or bed, or both in pieces, you can get it in the back of a long bed truck, with careful packing. The one pictured proves that Fords are the best, because he is towing a Dodge, and it looks like he has a Chevy in the bed.
9. Dirt Bikes
Okay, maybe ATVs, too, if you are the kind of person who has a hard time staying upright. What could be better than loading up some friends, some dirt bikes, and enough provisions for a day out in the middle of nowhere with no one to tell you what to do? Depending on where you live, you may have to drive for an hour or more before you get far enough away from it all to really enjoy the freedom of riding off road. If you already live out there you already know that feeling that us city folks can only get for a day or two at a time on a dirt bike in the middle of nowhere. This Ford truck owner might actually want to consider buying an even bigger truck.
10. Your Casket
We all know that Ford trucks are so tough that chances are after you die yours will still be going strong. That’s why you should make your dying wish that the funeral director loads your coffin in the back of the truck and drive you to your own funeral in your truck. It would be great if, when you die, they could load your body in the back of the truck and give you both a Viking send-off with fire, but I don’t know a state in the country that would allow that. Maybe Texas.
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