Before I go anywhere with today’s Ask, let me say loud and clear that the amount of truck you need does not have to correlate even a little with how much truck you want, or have. If you need exactly “zero truck” and your daily is an F-350 King Ranch, good. Drive whatever you like.
There, with that out of the way, let’s talk truck-need. And to be certain, virtually everyone needs a truck. At least sometimes, to some degree. Most of my truck-need is well covered by my Toyota RAV4, which swallows all the mulch I ever require and hauls the vast majority of things that I would throw into the bed of a truck, if I had a truck. When I do need a truck, which is approximately once every one to two years, it’s usually to bring something home that’s simply too big to fit in the RAV4, like a king-size mattress or a piano. I have the former, the latter is just an example (I do own a Casio keyboard, though).
Thankfully, I do have a truck for these occasions. It’s parked at Home Depot.
Your mileage may vary, but at my Home Depot, the rentals are always clean and well-maintained, and taking one out for an hour or two is super cheap. It’s invariably a lot more truck than I need for the task at hand, but Home Depot doesn’t rent Mavericks. Which, if I owned a truck, would also be more truck than I need. But I’d love to have one, because cool little truck. See also the Volkswagen Pickup in the topshot. That’s plenty of truck for me.
Antti dropped a nice reply in Slack, let’s see what he’s got to say:
The perfect amount of truck for me is the Skoda Felicia Fun. Kind of like a cross between the Caddy/Rabbit Sportruck and a Subaru Baja, the Felicia Fun is basically a ’90s Skoda with a strange sense of humour. Think yellow steering wheel and frog-themed yellow seats. Its party trick is a sliding rear wall that has folding jump seats, meaning you can have your passengers sitting out in the rain if they complain about your music choices. Bet my kid would love it, though.
Well gee, that does look like fun!
How much truck do you need? See you in the comments.
Top graphic image: Volkswagen
Got a trailer hitch for my Cruze and it’s been all the “truck” that I need so far, just recently hauled a new couch, king size mattress and adjustable bed frame all in one go using my dads 10 foot trailer and I used to haul my Suzuki ATV with the same set up. I do miss my Ranchero tho, that was all the truck I needed and it was fun having something that had muscle car vibes but could haul furniture and ATV’s as well.
My first truck was also my first vehicle, a 2006 Dakota, and that was way too much truck for me.
I can live with a Slate.
A trunk liner in my FR-S goes a long way – I’ve hauled fill dirt a couple bags at a time. The rear suspension clearances get tight but it works. I could occasionally use something more trucky. Maybe Keitruck sized, since I only need it occasionally and don’t have much room to store it.
I hauled tons in my FRS. It was a big step down in capability from my tC before it, trading the huge opening of the lift-back for the short pass through on the FRS. But it worked for nearly all my needs as a non-homeowner. I considered a hitch for it at one point, but never got around to needing one badly enough.
Like I said, the plastic (weathertech? I can’t remember the brand off the top of my head, but I’m pretty sure that’s it,) trunk liner makes it a lot easier to clean up messy cargo, and while it doesn’t like it, it will haul a couple 30-40 lb bags of topsoil back there. For more room folding the backseat down helps a lot, too. Not like anyone was sitting back there anyway…
Need: Near-zero. The few times I have to carry anything that won’t fit in either a sedan or a little utility trailer on said sedan I can just rent a truck from Menards, Home Depot, or UHaul.
That said, I do have a motorhome for camping so that falls into the ‘want’ category pretty hard and it is essentially a medium duty truck, I guess.
I have a 1989 Toyota Pickup and well, its certainly enough truck most the time. My main needs are motorcycle carrying capabilities (hence the name). I need to hold at least one motorcycle with the tailgate closed. I also don’t need 4 doors. I am a single man and all my friends have cars. They can drive themselves.
but my other truck is 04 chevy 2500HD with a truck camper and well, I needed a 2500 for my camper. Although that truck sits about 50% of the time.
I don’t really need a truck. I rarely have to haul anything big or bulky and I have a small utility trailer if I do. But I do need to tow a car occasionally, go camping and sleep in the vehicle, and I enjoy going off roading, which is why I bought a cheap 2004 Toyota Sequoia. It’s not great at any one thing but is a heck of a Swiss Army knife. It was cheap enough that I don’t worry about it sitting and not being used for a while, and I don’t give a crap about the failing paint.
I had a Dodge Dakota 4-door, and it was just right. But those are mid size trucks with full size truck gas mileage. 12 mpg. After the first fill up, I checked underneath for fuel leaks. Nope. That’s just how they are.
Then a guy offered me a trade for a Chevy K3500 4×4 long bed crew cab 1-ton diesel. I love it! It’s comically enormous and so long it consumes two parking spaces. And it gets better mileage than the Dakota! I’ve had it for 12 years, which is longer than any other vehicle I’ve owned.
You’re right! My ’88 Dakota got 12 mpg with the 2.8 V-6.
Daisy the Danger Ranger suits 90% of my needs just fine. A 93 extended cab shortbed. And 75% of that I used to do with the Windstar! As I find more time for projects, I am hauling more dirty, greasy stuff. Truck beats van there. If I need a bigger truck, Dad has an F-150. And now, I have a son-in-law down the road with a 3/4 ton RAM!
I know that truck! Thats a ford fucking ranger!
I ain’t no stranger….. Ford Fuckin Ranger!!
My single cab, long bed 98 F-150 with the V8, 4×4, 5-speed is the perfect amount of truck
Great truck!
Enough to haul a motorcycle or 2. I find that every time I start designing my dream truck it just ends up being roughly a Ford Ranger.
“Need” is such a polarizing word.
It would be possible, yet inconvenient, to rent a truck for my heaviest activities. What then, defines “need”? The level of inconvenience at which I’d rather simply own the thing rather than be at the mercy of Home Depot or Uhaul, or whoever?
In that case, I “need” an F350, or more specifically, something that can pull a car trailer (~7000 lb), has an 8 foot bed, and can fit people in the back seat. That pretty much limits me to an HD.
The money though. A utility trailer or the mild inconvenience of renting a truck at home depot is nothing compared to the cost of a HD truck in purchase, fuel, storage, upkeep, insurance, depreciation, etc.
We all put different prices on our inconvenience, which is why the question isn’t a fair one IMO.
I mean if you’re trailering or hauling heavy things/long things regularly, then yeah it makes no sense to rent a truck every time you need one. That’s silly and most would call you nuts if you did that.
I haven’t “needed” a truck since I sold my S10 over ten years ago. The Q7 has the capability to haul 7k lbs, but since I don’t have a boat or a trailer, if I need something hauled that won’t fit in the back I’m just gonna pay for delivery or the junk man to haul it off to the dump.
The only issue I have with the Home Depot truck is obviously, availability. Yeah, it’s usually there. I’ve used it a couple of times. But you cannot reserve it (or at least you can’t at mine). So you can’t really count on it can you? They fucking rock when you can get one though, lol. U-Haul is another story, but yeah, obviously not that convenient.
“Need” is loaded, as we all probably need some clean water, a loaf of bread, and a lime or two maybe to survive. But I don’t think most people (even this group of curmudgeons I rabble with) would claim that is what they’re striving for, lol.
This is neither here nor there, but your bread and limes comment reminded me of it.
Apparently human beings can survive indefinitely on a diet of nothing but potatoes and milk….the two together provide every essential nutrient, if not much flavor.
That basically describes potatoes au gratin… minus the cheese. Oof.
Car-wise, a Mitsubishi Mirage, in gray.
That V6 F150 from the other day was rated to tow nearly 6T. Modern 1/2T trucks have really been chasing the tow-rating numbers. That said, we go 3/4T or 1T also.
Yeah, if a modern 1/2 ton came in CCLB I’d be comfortable towing my trailers with it, but I just find the short beds so constraining and I like the relative simplicity of the iron block V8 gasser HD compared to modern turbo engines.
Yeah I’ve bought HD because you can’t get a 1/2 ton with an 8′ bed and crew cab. If there was a F-150 with a V8 crew cab and an 8′ bed I’d certainly consider it.
The Home Depot stake bed and U-Haul van cover my rare truck needs. When I actually do need a truck it’s usually to haul something too bulky for a pickup. Especially a typical modern pickup with a puny bed.
Speaking of modern pickups with puny beds, I nearly got hit with a mattress while sitting at a red light last week. Some dingus with his useless pickup that can’t even handle a mattress went speeding by the other way with the damn thing hanging over the side of the bed. He was flying, and so did the mattress when it finally generated some lift. Fortunately it landed behind me and I was the last car in the line.
I know it’s a pipe dream, but if Ford would sell an extended cab Maverick with a 6′ bed, that would be plenty of truck for me.
Perfection!
Had an ‘82 Dodge Rampage and (later) ‘82 CJ 8. I’d kill for a small, 2-door truck especially given today’s hybrid and AWD possibilities. That’s all I need. Maverick is OK and I’ve been driving a ‘25 Santa Cruz (which I like very much), but these are still too big and I’d gladly sacrifice the back seats and doors for a longer bed. A manual would be awesome. At this point I’m looking for a solid, old mini truck or El Camino I can bring up to speed rather than waiting for auto manufacturers to scratch my itch. Come VW, acGolf GTI pickup would rule.
Any truck that can tow at least 6000lbs and fit my family.
I don’t need much truck, by today’s standards.
I’m shopping around for a robustly-built tadpole trike with front suspension. It needs to be offroad-oriented for heavy 300+ lb riders. Not because I’m heavy, but because I want to make a “truck” out of a “bicycle”. My idea is to have two front hub motors, and a middrive powering the rear using the same differential kit I used for my tadpole-to-quad conversion(which is being turned into a velomobile/race car). Except unlike my current quad build, the motors will be wound for high torque per amp, I’m only aiming for maybe 20 mph top speed, and I’ll have my lowest gearing such that I can do 0.5 mph at 60 rpm cadence up a very steep hill if the power is ever disconnected. So this “truck” build will have AWD, and I’m going to make a bed for it that can fit 8’x4′ sheets of plywood, or even my racing quadricycle/future velomobile if it ever gets stranded(I don’t have AAA and no one to haul my shit back).
I expect it to weigh around 200 lbs total. It won’t be fast, but it will definitely be able to haul things, like furniture, refrigerators, or hell, anything I pilfer from dumpster diving.
Check out the Stein Trikes Wild one.
Partially inspired by your builds it’s what I’d start with
That has rear suspension. I need something with a solid steel frame that I can reinforce by welding crossmembers to it in order to hold up an elevated bed as well as lengthen the rear, and a trike frame that uses a single rear shock won’t do.
I want this thing to be able to haul 500 lbs of stuff.
I’d get another KMX like the two in my possession, but the steering spindles aren’t strong enough for that mass, and are the weak link in the vehicle.
Whatever tadpole trike it is that I buy, I’m going to permanently mutilate it. And doing that to an expen$ive Wild One would be a shame.
This vehicle will need four wheels to avoid tipping over. I’ve considered building a cargo delta trike, but they’re just too tippy, especially during panic manuevers. I’m not keen on paying $4k+ for a commercially-available unsuspended and unmotorized quad already built when if I find the right tadpole base I can make a suspended and electrified quad for much cheaper by ordering off-the-shelf parts from other countries. I need just front suspension, for rider comfort and vehicle controllability. A rigid rear is preferable so that I can design it to handle a heavy load without the complexity of UV joints. It will have a simple composite differential for the rear wheels run by a combination of pedaling and a PMDC middrive motor, and then the two front hub motors, for AWD. It should be operable in the winter during a snow storm, and it might even have enough torque to pull cars out of ditches in the snow with studded tires on it.
The utility of a small truck, without any of the truck expenses. As long as you’re okay doing 20 mph or less, which for around town doing truck stuff, is still plenty of speed. If it ends up being able to fit a stack of 8’x4′ sheets of plywood with the tailgate up, it will be more practical than many $80,000+ pavement princesses. Nevermind much cheaper to operate, being a “bicycle” and all.
Ridgeline is the answer, for me anyway. We have a few acres, and need bulk materials from time to time. It will pull a trailer with just enough mulch, rock, sand, dirt, building materials, etc. The bed keeps dirty/smelly stuff outside. The ride is comfortable enough to drive across the country. Now if they’d just make a hybrid while maintaining the 5K towing, I’d buy it tomorrow.
I am surprised they haven’t jumped on the Hybrid market yet.
Have an old cheezy utility trailer from Northern ($200 bucks 30 yrs ago) to handle truck duty…been pulled by a whole variety of cars over the years.
When we helped my daughter move to out of state school, rented a minivan with the stow away seats…giant covered box!
nothing a minivan can’t do better
I got tired of hauling dirty and stinky things* in the back of my various vehicles. I built a deck by hauling around cement blocks, boards and everything else in the back of a station wagon.and had enough of that!
*children would be an exception :))
Back in the day when regular cabs ruled the roads I rode in the back of more than a couple pickups with a camper shell style canopy and a carpet kit. My parent’s friends had the boot had the rear window of the truck removed and a boot so we had some hope of heat in the back. Others had sliding windows on both for parental bliss from the dirty, stinky and loud 2-6 kids in the back. I also rode in the back of an open truck bed on public roads at speeds of 40-45 mph. Definitely a different time.
Only 40? We used to ride in my back of my uncle’s truck in between Wilmington NC and Myrtle Beach SC at 60 or so. He’s a doctor, btw.
Those were the days. I remember riding in the back of a pickup down I-75 in the open bed. Great memories!
Yard waste and greasy car parts are two things a truck hauls better than an enclosed vehicle you don’t want to get dirty. Also, big bulky objects (like say a big block Chevy engine) are easier to lift into a truck bed over a enclosed van.
Yawn
It depends. If my van was to fall into a sinkhole and I had to replace it with a truck, then I’d say a Nissan Frontier. Yes, I’m weirdly into the Frontier; it’s the right size, seems fine for family duty, and comes in a very nice green. The powertrain is proven (for a Nissan) and I think it looks a lot nicer than the newest Tacoma.
But if my van manages to not fall into a sinkhole (along with all the rest of the worlds vans) then you know, it functions basically as a truck when needed.
I do love the frontier pro4x or whatever its called. but damn, its expensive as shit for something that hasn’t been updated in who knows how long.
An SV seems to go for around 40k here, a Pro4X about 44k. I mean, this day in age that seems almost fair, though I would bet you can wheel and deal a little bit at the Nissan dealer.
I think the ideal is a small extended cab with a 6 foot box. Mine was a Ranger. It is amazing what my GTI will hold, though. The Maverick is nice, but my recycling bin feels larger than the bed.
The truck I need is my 4x6x2 utility trailer that is parked under my deck in my back yard. It has 205/7/14 trailer tires, coil springs and shocks and 2 ft tall steel walls. It will haul whatever I want.
IF and BIG IF I where to get a truck it would need a 6ft+ bed as I would use it as a camper with a topper/cap on it.
I’m about to start a bunch of home repair projects this summer that are going to require hauling lumber and other large stuff, so I need a lot of truck for a while, then I will be back to not really needing a truck again other than the occasional too big impulse buys from Costco, which when that happens, I just rent a truck from the Home Depot next door.
Get a utility trailer for the summer and sell it when you are done.
That’s not a bad idea. Or if I get my shit together and get the garage cleaned out, I could get one of those Harbor Freight folding trailers and just store it permanently.
I have a trailer under my deck for use. The folding trailers are nice. Pay the extra money for a pressure treated sheet for the deck.
There was a company that used to make a small utility trailer that folded into itself that stopped making them somewhere around 2020. It was ideal.
There’re also those trailers that fold into a small bag, but they all seem so light-duty for general use.
The couple times I’ve needed one, borrowed from family or get a Uhaul trailer.
This is about the last of them https://www.harborfreight.com/1720-lb-capacity-4-ft-x-8-ft-heavy-duty-folding-trailer-58703.html
have one of these and it does the job. I also see them running around doing lots of real jobs. Harbor freight FOR THE WIN.
This is closer to the folding one I remember.
https://www.apogeetrailers.com/adapt-x
This is what I’ve been using for last 30 yrs w/ some removeable side rails…need to replace the pressure treated plywood deck though.
Ultra-Tow 4ft. x 8ft. Steel Folding Utility Trailer Kit, 1170-Lb. Load Capacity | Northern Tool
Yea the even the pressure treated stuff doesn’t last forever. I did not mention Northern tool as I do not know how regional it is. I live near many.
My daily is a Subaru Baja. Whenever I need a truck, it’s just enough truck.
So jealous.
How long is the “bed” with the tailgate down? But yea, badass truck.
I think it’s a 4′ maybe 4.5′ bed with the gate up. The pass through between the bed and the passenger compartment is exceptionally useful. And they make the bed extender cages for it as well. I would say the bed of the Baja is more limited by its width than length. One really awesome thing about hauling with a Baja though is you can just reach into the bed, a modern full size bed sides are way way way too tall.
I have done a lot with a Baja and when I bought a full size truck I gave it to my dad and he continues to use it. It did just about everything I needed especially because of the pass through gate from the bed. When I had a full size truck I used it quite a bit to haul but all that hauling was left to me by virtue of having the added capability. So basically I invited more work on myself.
A little less than a Ford Maverick, and a little more than an El Camino.