Do you use your Pick Up like a truck or car?

[ZZman]

Originally Posted by PimTac
Originally Posted by ZZman
Originally Posted by PimTac
Everyone is free to buy whatever vehicle they want. It is none of anyone's business how they use it.


Yes they are. And they are free not to participate in this post.




Good advice. Bye ZZ. ⬛ï¸â¬›ï¸â¬›ï¸


Have a good night PimTac.

 

[JTK]

I've owned the Ram 1500 in my sig for a year and 20K miles. I've hauled furniture, mattresses and various other larger items in it, but it's a very small percentage of the time. 4x4 I've used a lot this winter. Several times, the entire 40 mile trip to work at 3am. I live in a hilly, snow belt area, so AWD/4x4 is nice to have.

IMO, 1/2 ton pickups are more on the people mover side than cargo hauler these days anyway. Look at the laughable cargo weight carrying capacity of some double cab models. The bigger the cab, the less weight you can put on the axles.

My basic Pentastar powered Ram 1500 quad cab rides like a big RWD sedan and gets about the same or better fuel economy as one. It was relatively cheap to buy used as well. Half the price most pay for a new pickup.

 

[Wolf359]

Originally Posted by ZZman
Originally Posted by Wolf359


Do you use regular or premium?

Do you work with your hands or do you have a desk job?

How do you pronounce Tomato/Potato?

If you had to kill someone, would you use a knife or gun?

Careers... job hopper or stay at one place?

Will you fly the 737 Max once it's fixed?

Do you drive fast or slow?

Ever hit a pothole?

Do you trim your eyebrows/nose hairs?

Are you using a cheap or expensive razor?



Those are pretty good. But one at a time bro!


Those were just estimates on future questions.

I'd prefer more science questions like:

What do you think the will be the last digit of pi?

Is quantum mechanics considered complete?

When are we going to have the grand unified theory?

What's the largest black hole collision LIGO will find?

How big will the unobservable universe be?

Will we ever exceed the speed of light?

 

[Traction]

Originally Posted by ZZman
Originally Posted by Traction
Since you probably will never own a truck, why would you even bother to ask, or even care?


Because I like to read people's answers and give them a chance to voice their opinion. Problem?

No problem. It is just beyond annoying just to keep you entertained, and with no important info on your part of any question you ask.

 

[CT8]

Originally Posted by Eddie
I think many guys drive a pickup truck because TV commercials show manly types drive big engine pickups.but, end up using them to bring potted plants home for the wives or girlfriends. Ha. Ed

It is surprising what men will do for their Girlfriends or wives. I just returned form taking my wife out to lunch! Will i get lucky . We even went to lunch in my pickup..I prefer Pickups yeah am compensating. I even owned a semi truck.

 

[ekpolk]

Originally Posted by PimTac
Everyone is free to buy whatever vehicle they want. It is none of anyone's business how they use it.

I'm generally in this school of thought, with a couple rare exceptions around the far edges. Example of exception: a few years ago, in New Orleans I saw a black Tahoe (I know, not a pickup), grossly overdone with extra chrome, stickers, night dark tint and best of all, ghastly chrome spinners that must have been well into the high-30s. I'll make up a hypothetical tire size to try to describe: 305/20-38! Yep, looked like maybe an inch of sidewall visible between the rim and road. Just the perfect formula for gaining real off-road traction! AND, the spinners themselves were clogged with mud and debris -- hey, at least he made it back to the paved road somehow. . .

Anyway, sure, if you've earned the money, buy whatever floats your boat, but at a certain point, past certain extremes, you may find others looking and laughing (or crying. . .). Or laughing so hard they're crying too.

 

[otis24]

Both. It gets me to and from work, but I use it to haul things on occasion as well. My truck is a second vehicle. The wife's vehicle/family car is a 2016 Dodge Grand Caravan. I know a lot of people buy a truck and use it as a passenger vehicle. For those who live in a small town like me, much of our driving is done very short distances. Most would be well served and money ahead by purchasing a small economy car for driving around town. One rancher that I know did just that. He was using his farm truck, a 3/4 tone diesel to run his grandchildren to school and back twice a day. They lived about ten miles out of town. His payment on a new Chevy Aveo was $150/ month. He saved over $300 per month on his fuel bill.

 

[ZZman]

Originally Posted by Traction
Originally Posted by ZZman
Originally Posted by Traction
Since you probably will never own a truck, why would you even bother to ask, or even care?


Because I like to read people's answers and give them a chance to voice their opinion. Problem?

No problem. It is just beyond annoying just to keep you entertained, and with no important info on your part of any question you ask.


I didn't know you thought you had to entertain me. The important info is in the answers you receive....

 

[PimTac]

Originally Posted by ekpolk
Originally Posted by PimTac
Everyone is free to buy whatever vehicle they want. It is none of anyone's business how they use it.

I'm generally in this school of thought, with a couple rare exceptions around the far edges. Example of exception: a few years ago, in New Orleans I saw a black Tahoe (I know, not a pickup), grossly overdone with extra chrome, stickers, night dark tint and best of all, ghastly chrome spinners that must have been well into the high-30s. I'll make up a hypothetical tire size to try to describe: 305/20-38! Yep, looked like maybe an inch of sidewall visible between the rim and road. Just the perfect formula for gaining real off-road traction! AND, the spinners themselves were clogged with mud and debris -- hey, at least he made it back to the paved road somehow. . .

Anyway, sure, if you've earned the money, buy whatever floats your boat, but at a certain point, past certain extremes, you may find others looking and laughing (or crying. . .). Or laughing so hard they're crying too.




There are some absurd examples out there for sure.

I have though for the longest time that in a two car household the better option is for one vehicle to be a pickup. It depends on where you live of course. Even if you only use the bed a half dozen times or so a year it is worth it. Sometimes you can help out a friend or neighbor or a family member with the pickup such as hauling stuff or moving or whatever.

The rest of the time it's a commuter vehicle. This is also the reason for the double cab popularity. Picking up kids at school or play for example. That gives the pickup more flexibility.

So just because one sees a pickup on the road with a empty bed and one occupant doesn't mean it's getting used like one.

Gathering statistical samples on Internet forums has its problems as well.

 

[Broo]

I have both a car and a truck.

I use my car much more, as my truck is mostly to carry big/heavy/dirty stuff and drinks a LOT more fuel.

The only time I use my truck as a car is during bad weather in winter. Despite being only 2WD, it has a lot more ground clearance than my car.

 

[RichR]

I have a little of both. Most truck guys call a Ridgeline
a car with a bed.
I use it as a truck and daily driver.
Last week donated a bunch of old tile to Habitat.
Picked up a craigslist desk for my wife.
Took in a load of scrap metal (600 #).Carried a ladder and tools,and debris from that trip. Filled all my gas cans 5 -5 gallon containers.
This week comming up so far a trip to Salvation Army,
another load of scrap metal.
Always nice to have the ability to carry things easily in
a truck.

 

[Rumble]

Bought new: 1992 Chevrolet "Sport" C1500, regular cab short bed, with 152K miles, original drivetrain (5.7L). It's 27 years old now, and is hands down the best vehicle I've ever owned. We are considering getting something newer, but it looks and drives/runs so great we may just keep it. When new, I had a "vintage car parts" business and hauled car parts with it. Now, we haul occasional stuff from a building yard, haul trash to local facility or pull a utility trailer.

 

[BrianF]

Our trucks are mostly used as cars. Not sure the ratio. My C1500 mostly drives me to work and back but I occasionally load the bed with garbage, the lawn tractor or snowblower.

The 3500 has been doing lots of unloaded commuting for my wife but has the occasional trailer on it during winter. In the summer it will drag the horse trailer across the western provinces. It also has some scars (as did the previous 1500) from loading the box up with garbage and other things.

 

[Malo83]

My 83 Silverado is my daily driver/work truck, occasionally haul stuff.

 

[ls1mike]

I barely drive mine. Picked it up for 14,000 dollars 9 years ago. It is 2002 2500HD 6.0/4L80. When I picked it up, it had 23,000 miles on it. It now has 54,500 on it.
So about 3500 miles a year. 95ish percent of that is towing, The other 5 percent is dump runs, helping people, and home improvement store runs.

I love the people who ae like get X car. I will work just fine, better than a truck. Sorry your Subaru is not towing a 32 foot travel trailer.

 

[SteveSRT8]

We bought our 14 RAM as an every-truck. That means it does everything.

It hauls my Wife all over the county providing OT to damaged children. She has a HUGE load of supplies with her.

It has Ram Boxes which are amazing at the grocery store or feed store, etc. It also has the amazing moving cargo holder in the bed which I have used to bring home junkyard parts with absolute security, it's even lockable.

I also use it regularly to tow a small boat and pick up feed and yard stuff. Then factor in its 395 hp on demand and have some fun! Averaging over 18 mpg on 87 swill in town, and tons of creature comforts. Nary a hiccup in 80k miles.

Amazingly versatile, extremely comfortable, one of my favorite vehicles ever in over 5 decades of driving.

 

[Hounds]

First, ZZ 'ol sport, I want to thank you for asking this important question. It ranks right up there with political commentary these days. I asked a friend the same thing recently because I already knew what he would say, and I wanted to hear his rationalization for buying a Colorado when he clearly has no use for a pickup truck of any kind. Predictable, he tried in vain to come up with various reasons why he might eventually "need" one. So, to get this out of the way: IMHO, unless one uses a pickup truck on the job or to pull a boat/trailer, virtually any other "reason" for owning one is based in fiction. We all know that.

Now, having said that, I bought a new Honda AWD Ridgeline for five reasons: 1) Honda's V-6 engine is great. It's been around for years, is fully sorted (IMHO, of course) and hauls *** in the "truck." 2) The six-speed transmission. The alternative was either a new Passport or perhaps a Pilot, and the models I would have chosen are only available with the ZF's 9-speed tranny. Uh, no thanks. 3) Honda's unique AWD system. It really is trick. I personally have no need for it whatsoever, but it's conceivable that I might do something stupid eventually that would engage the rear-drive mechanism, and I believe that the fact the "truck" has AWD will make it easier to sell at some point. 4) The Ridgeline chassis and suspension. When the "truck" was re-introduced, Honda had a road-show/show-and-tell that demonstrated all the components of the Pilot chassis that Honda had re-engineered for the Ridgeline. Very impressive. Sold me. And, finally, I think the Ridgeline looks great. Aristotle's Golden Mean: Nothing to excess.

Oh, and I guess I could/should add that Honda can't sell them in any meaningful numbers; the discounts are huge.

Now, do I have any use for a Ridgeline or any pickup truck for that matter? No. Of course not. Probably the only thing I'll ever "haul" (sic) in it is a 50-pound bag of dog food. I could haul mulch in it, but then I'd have to clean the bed. I'm not up for that. All hat and no cattle, that's me.

 

[supton]

Mostly as a car. It was bought to do truck-like things (hoped to get a travel trailer, but that didn't happen). I do use it to move a small 6x14 enclosed trailer when I need to, and I use it to take trash to the dump. The extra ground clearance and 4x4 system is nice in snow, although I don't need it that often.

Right now it's being used as a car as my car is broken. It's civilized enough to put 100 miles per day on it, commuting, but as you can guess, it's a bit of a gas hog. For a couple of years I put less than 5k/year onto it, as I'd only use it when I needed it (4x4 on snowy days, or moving stuff).

I think about trading it for something smaller, but I live in the sticks and can't rent a vehicle (easily) so it's kinda nice to have N+1 vehicles. And if I have N+1, then I might as well optimize: one for commuting, one for hauling.

 

[wander2039]

Truck.. I've got three other cars and trying to save miles on the truck. The RV pulls itself so technically I could get away with no having a truck, as I did for years, but I bought grandpa's old truck so couldn't pass it up. Has a camper shell with ladder racks which now hauls my kayaks very easily, plus with the shell can just throw things in and not worry about it. For anything bigger pulling the pickup bed trailer with the Dakota feels less strenuous on it vs the Escape.

 

[RedOakRanch]

I've commuted in a 1500 crew cab 4x4 for the last 9 years and has been great. I work in town but also have a family ranch and work in a lumber yard. I tried to commute in a car but I always found myself needing a truck. The other cool thing about the truck is that it seats 6, great for when the kids want to bring friends! I use 4-low offroading, go to the snow and haul hay, dogs, furniture, firewood, dirt and much more. None of this is really ranch related just truck needs in the suburbs. Costs me $150 more per month in gas, a cheap price to pay for a useful vehicle!