When did pick up trucks turn into cars? | GTAMotorcycle.com

When did pick up trucks turn into cars?

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timtune

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I was passing a construction site the other day and I counted 11 pickups parked on the road. All of them had 4 doors and a neutered box that wouldn't hold a bike or a sled w/o it it hanging on the tailgate. No doubt the interiors would rival a caddy.
I bought a new 86' Ford ranger. It had a bench seat, rubber flooring and my KZ650 would fit in the back with the tailgate closed. Small yes but it was TRUCK. These new ones are just cars with an open air trunk.
 
When did chevy kill the W/T? Probably close to 20 years ago? I have no problem with them getting more comfortable but it is sad that a proper truck to efficiently get work done is no longer available. They have become profit centers first and tools second.
 
timtune said:
I was passing a construction site the other day and I counted 11 pickups parked on the road. All of them had 4 doors and a neutered box that wouldn't hold a bike or a sled w/o it it hanging on the tailgate. No doubt the interiors would rival a caddy.
I bought a new 86' Ford ranger. It had a bench seat, rubber flooring and my KZ650 would fit in the back with the tailgate closed. Small yes but it was TRUCK. These new ones are just cars with an open air trunk.
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I've had 4 different trucks in my driving history. All crew cabs, have a family now and even before I would drive friends around regularly enough that 4 full doors made more sense, camping is one example.

Had a ridgeline, great truck for 90% of people. preaching to the choir now.

Had one longer bed, 6.5ft frontier but even that one wouldn't haul a bike with tailgate closed unless bike was at an angle. Always just had the tailgate half closed (you loop the wire around the stop). never had a problem with this. hauled tons of bikes over the years.

Why have a truck with a small bed? full length bed would be nice, but either ends up being a long-ass thing or I lose seating room. I use the backseats more than I use the bed so that's why.

Why not just get an SUV/wagon/car and tow a trailer? I have a trailer but for most of my truck uses, the trailer is overkill but the items don't fit in an SUV/wagon/car. Also, I can hose out the bed or go through a carwash.

People love to bash on trucks. Why do you need that, you don't haul or tow. It's the same with sports cars and fast bikes, most people use the full abilities or need it.

It's nice to have the capability when I need it, than not have it when I do.
 
I understood it had something to do with safety standards. They were not as high on p/u's so that made them cheaper and then it snowballed.
 
GreyGhost said:
When did chevy kill the W/T? Probably close to 20 years ago? I have no problem with them getting more comfortable but it is sad that a proper truck to efficiently get work done is no longer available. They have become profit centers first and tools second.
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You can still buy a contractor-special Silverado regular cab long bed WT, 2 wheel drive, steel wheels, no options, V6 engine. 2021 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 | Build And Price | Chevrolet Canada

But hardly anyone does.
 
timtune said:
I understood it had something to do with safety standards. They were not as high on p/u's so that made them cheaper and then it snowballed.
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There are lots of regulatory reasons that pickups proliferated in the US. For one, truck emissions are based on the plan area of the vehicle. Bigger truck, higher emissions allowed. That's what killed small trucks for a while. You could charge more for big trucks and avoid expensive emissions systems and still pass. Printing money for the manufacturers.
 
There's still CAFE (corporate average fuel economy) calculations that have to do with the "footprint" (wheelbase x track width, as I understand it), and the vehicle is exempt from CAFE as a whole if the GVWR is more than 8500 pounds. It leads to manufacturers gaming the system, either by putting vehicles past 8500 lbs GVWR, or by using longer wheelbases so that it's allowed to use more fuel.

The "150" or "1500" badged trucks (depending if it's Ford or anyone else) are below 8500 lb GVWR, so CAFE applies, and my understanding is that this had to do with the disappearance of the short-wheelbase, standard-cab short-box configuration in the fullsize trucks, and the near-disappearance of compact trucks as a whole.

My van is badged as a "1500" but it actually has a load capacity inside the van of almost 2 tons, because they wanted GVWR to be just over 8500 lbs (it's 8550) so that CAFE didn't apply ... there's no reason for it otherwise. I'll never use that much capacity, and I downgraded the rear springs (took a leaf out) so that it will ride better and sit lower ... that's more useful to me than the extra load capacity. There's little difference between a badged "1500" and a badged "2500" because of this.

The US has some crazy depreciation rule that applies to higher-capacity trucks used for business purposes - something to do with being allowed to write off the entire cost in the first year. Buying a company truck? Might as well buy a heavy-duty expensive one.
 
timtune said:
I understood it had something to do with safety standards. They were not as high on p/u's so that made them cheaper and then it snowballed.
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that was the reason the bed seats in Brats were shipped separately
 
Brian P said:
There's still CAFE (corporate average fuel economy) calculations that have to do with the "footprint" (wheelbase x track width, as I understand it), and the vehicle is exempt from CAFE as a whole if the GVWR is more than 8500 pounds. It leads to manufacturers gaming the system, either by putting vehicles past 8500 lbs GVWR, or by using longer wheelbases so that it's allowed to use more fuel.

The "150" or "1500" badged trucks (depending if it's Ford or anyone else) are below 8500 lb GVWR, so CAFE applies, and my understanding is that this had to do with the disappearance of the short-wheelbase, standard-cab short-box configuration in the fullsize trucks, and the near-disappearance of compact trucks as a whole.

My van is badged as a "1500" but it actually has a load capacity inside the van of almost 2 tons, because they wanted GVWR to be just over 8500 lbs (it's 8550) so that CAFE didn't apply ... there's no reason for it otherwise. I'll never use that much capacity, and I downgraded the rear springs (took a leaf out) so that it will ride better and sit lower ... that's more useful to me than the extra load capacity. There's little difference between a badged "1500" and a badged "2500" because of this.

The US has some crazy depreciation rule that applies to higher-capacity trucks used for business purposes - something to do with being allowed to write off the entire cost in the first year. Buying a company truck? Might as well buy a heavy-duty expensive one.
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You can still option regular cab short bed trucks as far as I know. at least for the f150, you're just limited in engine options and trims due to the wheelbase.
 
it's got to do with costs as well. the price difference and fuel economy between a full size and midsize truck is small.
if you don't need to go into the city regularly, it didn't make sense to get a midsize. they also didn't have any good options for awhile.

the recent midsize resurgence have been doing well, a few manufacturers are coming out with car-based unibody pickups in the next year or two (ford/hyundai).
 
I’d love a truck but I have no need or use for a truck. When I drove an F350 at work and parked it next to a Colorado....what a difference. Now I miss that F350 diesel....
 
GreyGhost said:
Cool. Thanks. Maybe they just killed the branding and they have existed all along. Glad to see they kept carpet optional.
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I have 4 of the GMC WT with 8 foot box 6 cylinder regular cab and rubber floor oldest one is a 2012 newest is a 2020. I always get the chrome package so the don't look like base trucks from the outside.
 
chrome won't get you home
 
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