I have needed a pickup truck for property out in the country for several years. Finances have held me off. Things are looking a bit better and I am now shopping online.
I started with five (5) must haves:
#1) It must be a crew cab. I don't want to need to haul stuff and people and not be able to get the people.
#2) It must be a long bed. When I want to haul something big like a refrigerator or lots of dirt I want to really be able to haul it.
#3) It must have a tow package. When I tow my big mower somewhere I don't want to strain the truck too much.
#4) It must be 4 wheel drive. I am going to go through some muddy ground and I've stuck my mower several times. I want 4x4 to minimize the risk.
#5) It must be gas. I've heard diesel, while great, can be very expensive to work on.
I've thrown out the "must have" for the tow package. I want it, but in thinking about it I won't tow too much so while I'd get a truck with over without, I'm not sticking to it.
I'm now waffling on the requirement for a long bed. It is a royal pain to find a truck that is both crew cab AND long bed. When I am talking about a long bed I mean 8'. From my reading a "regular" size bed is 6'5".
So I just thought I'd ask: For those of you who do use a pickup truck to haul stuff in the back is it significantly better to hold out for a long bed or does a regular bed do 95% of the time?
One of the projects I want to do is make my own shooting range. I'll use some railroad ties. The should be able to be secured in the back of a 6'5" bed. I'll come up with other projects over time, but I'm finding it so hard I'll seek advice from ya'll that use these vehicles every day. My budget is very limited so I can't order a new one to specs.
Any other thoughts would be appreciated.
Thanks for the help,
Doug
I started with five (5) must haves:
#1) It must be a crew cab. I don't want to need to haul stuff and people and not be able to get the people.
#2) It must be a long bed. When I want to haul something big like a refrigerator or lots of dirt I want to really be able to haul it.
#3) It must have a tow package. When I tow my big mower somewhere I don't want to strain the truck too much.
#4) It must be 4 wheel drive. I am going to go through some muddy ground and I've stuck my mower several times. I want 4x4 to minimize the risk.
#5) It must be gas. I've heard diesel, while great, can be very expensive to work on.
I've thrown out the "must have" for the tow package. I want it, but in thinking about it I won't tow too much so while I'd get a truck with over without, I'm not sticking to it.
I'm now waffling on the requirement for a long bed. It is a royal pain to find a truck that is both crew cab AND long bed. When I am talking about a long bed I mean 8'. From my reading a "regular" size bed is 6'5".
So I just thought I'd ask: For those of you who do use a pickup truck to haul stuff in the back is it significantly better to hold out for a long bed or does a regular bed do 95% of the time?
One of the projects I want to do is make my own shooting range. I'll use some railroad ties. The should be able to be secured in the back of a 6'5" bed. I'll come up with other projects over time, but I'm finding it so hard I'll seek advice from ya'll that use these vehicles every day. My budget is very limited so I can't order a new one to specs.
Any other thoughts would be appreciated.
Thanks for the help,
Doug