What happened to the real pickup trucks with regular cabs?

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I have never had a pickup truck that didn't have a regular cab with either a 8 foot box, or even a 6 1/2 foot bed. I have had many over the years, and now I can't find any. A crew cab truck with a 5 1/2 foot bed is pretty useless in my opinion as a truck for hauling stuff. Not much better than the Tahoe cop truck I currently have. I like it, but I can't haul much, and am ready to go back to a real pickup.
 
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People multitask with their trucks nowadays, not just hauling tools and grain anymore
 
They still make them. For the most part only fleets and businesses buy them so there isn't much selection unless you order it.
 
The reality is that 4dr pickups have become the new family sedan. And those short beds are still larger than most any sedan trunk.
A big percentage of the 2.4 million pickups sold last year are actually family "cars".
Americans prefer large vehicles (assuming that fuel prices are similar to current).
 
Originally Posted by jhellwig
They still make them. For the most part only fleets and businesses buy them so there isn't much selection unless you order it.


Yes, special order only.

Never any dealer stock.

The one nice thing is, you can find them for auction pretty cheap.
 
Regular cabs are a rare breed these days. Short beds are lower on utility but high on drive ability. Having 4 doors and extra seats is very nice and if you couple that with an 8' bed it becomes very large to park in busy places. But if you ask me, all pickups aren't good at hauling stuff. The real hauling trophy goes to the full size cargo van. I have one for business purposes and there is nothing like an enclosed 12 foot long "bed" of space.
 
Originally Posted by nascarnation
The reality is that 4dr pickups have become the new family sedan. And those short beds are still larger than most any sedan trunk.
A big percentage of the 2.4 million pickups sold last year are actually family "cars".
Americans prefer large vehicles (assuming that fuel prices are similar to current).



Exactly. There are no large station wagons anymore, like the buick estate wagon. Large suvs and crew cab pickups fill that void.
 
When I bought mine, there were a few - I'm not going to say plenty, but a few. Seems like the Rams and Chevys were easier to find then the Fords at the time. I just wanted a plain Jane regular cab with an 8' bed.
 
Originally Posted by spasm3


Exactly. There are no large station wagons anymore, like the buick estate wagon. Large suvs and crew cab pickups fill that void.


My Regal Tourx would like to have a word with you.
 
took weeks to locate a tundra reg cab long bed . found it at a huge dealer. they had 100 4 doors and only 3 reg cabs long bed. they were very happy to sell it at a huge discount as it had been there 8 months
 
Originally Posted by JohnnyJohnson
They wanted to start building $50,000 dollar trucks.


That's not even it, though. $50k doesn't buy you much when it comes to a new truck. I just spent 15 minutes quickly configuring base trim, regular cab, 8' box 1500 trucks from the Big 3. All 4x4, all with the V8 engine option. I added what I thought were the most basic options (power windows and locks, carpet, cloth seats, and maybe an appearance package). I spec'd the Ram with the larger, touch screen audio option (as the Silverado has it standard), it was unavailable in the Ford. On all 3, I added a locking or LS differential. Here's what I came up with:

2020 Ford F-150 XL: $40,350 MSRP

2020 Chevrolet Silverado WT: $38,995 MSRP

2019 Ram 1500 Classic (the new ram is N/A with a regular cab, in any trim): $37,735

And there's your issue. You used to be able to load a regular cab truck to the gills, and lots of guys wanted that. Now, everyone is replacing SUV's with $80k pickups. It's a fad. Since these trucks are being used as family haulers more and more, they need more seats.

The teeny tiny market for regular cab trucks just isn't worth the effort for the companies that build them.

Just for reference, I built the same 3 trucks but basically maxed them out. Not 100%, but maybe 95%. All were crew-cab long box trucks. Here's what I got:

2020 Ford F-150 Platinum - $66,220

2020 Chevrolet SIlverado High Country - $69,240

And the value leader of the group, with what is arguably the nicest interior and the nicest looks:

2020 Ram 1500 Limited: $67,855. With current incentives, $10k off that. A little good haggling, maybe $13k off. Money is cheap right now, people in the market would rather have the big boy truck.
 
OP have you tried actually looking? It's not hard to find a regular cab long bed. It's probably going to be in the most basic package. No one beside low end fleets wants regular cabs. Even tradesman have moved on. It's nice to have a dry and somewhat secure place to store tools/etc.
 
Originally Posted by 14Accent
Originally Posted by JohnnyJohnson
They wanted to start building $50,000 dollar trucks.


That's not even it, though. $50k doesn't buy you much when it comes to a new truck. I just spent 15 minutes quickly configuring base trim, regular cab, 8' box 1500 trucks from the Big 3. All 4x4, all with the V8 engine option. I added what I thought were the most basic options (power windows and locks, carpet, cloth seats, and maybe an appearance package). I spec'd the Ram with the larger, touch screen audio option (as the Silverado has it standard), it was unavailable in the Ford. On all 3, I added a locking or LS differential. Here's what I came up with:

2020 Ford F-150 XL: $40,350 MSRP

2020 Chevrolet Silverado WT: $38,995 MSRP

2019 Ram 1500 Classic (the new ram is N/A with a regular cab, in any trim): $37,735

And there's your issue. You used to be able to load a regular cab truck to the gills, and lots of guys wanted that. Now, everyone is replacing SUV's with $80k pickups. It's a fad. Since these trucks are being used as family haulers more and more, they need more seats.

The teeny tiny market for regular cab trucks just isn't worth the effort for the companies that build them.

Just for reference, I built the same 3 trucks but basically maxed them out. Not 100%, but maybe 95%. All were crew-cab long box trucks. Here's what I got:

2020 Ford F-150 Platinum - $66,220

2020 Chevrolet SIlverado High Country - $69,240

And the value leader of the group, with what is arguably the nicest interior and the nicest looks:

2020 Ram 1500 Limited: $67,855. With current incentives, $10k off that. A little good haggling, maybe $13k off. Money is cheap right now, people in the market would rather have the big boy truck.
Adjusted for inflation, what did a comparable truck cost 30 years ago? Today's lower level truck is more decked out that the top trim level trucks back in the day. Never mind much more powerful and capable. Price out an 80s K30 Silverado with a 454. That's more comparable to today's 1/2 ton lower end pickup.
 
Originally Posted by dareo
Originally Posted by spasm3


Exactly. There are no large station wagons anymore, like the buick estate wagon. Large suvs and crew cab pickups fill that void.


My Regal Tourx would like to have a word with you.


I said large station wagons.



[Linked Image from i.pinimg.com]


The Tourx is midsize , 3 inches shorter than a mazda cx-9
 
TourX may be classified as midsize but its huge. Park it next to a Pacifica and its only a few inches smaller. No way i'd want it to be any bigger.
 
Four door pickups are nothing new. Dodge and GM certainly had them in the 70s, likely before then too... and I'm sure Ford did as well.

As an owner of a regular cab truck, which I absolutely love, I'll say however, that it's about as impractical a vehicle as I could get. With a tonneau cover it gives some useful bed space, but then if stuff shifts forward, you're climbing under the tonneau six feet to grab it. So it's great for carrying stuff, or as a single person vehicle, but anything else is marginal. Sort of like two door cars.

The extended and crew cab trucks are much more useful. At least in any situation where there doesn't need to be 4-6 people in the truck, there's some additional cargo space that's covered and lockable.

I rented a 4dr bighorn ram a few months back. Used it to move a Kwik Lift from VA to my home. I was a bit annoyed when I realized that the bed wasn't even 6ft, but rather 5 1/2. But it worked out ok. With the tailgate down, 8ft sheet goods can be transported, so I dropped a piece of plywood in there, and about 700 lbs of steel on top of that, and strapped everything together. Worked fine.

I think the 6ft bed, four door pickup is about the best of all worlds. The 5 1/2 is ok but I'd prefer 6. 8' will never go away, and an 8' bed crew cab is a beheamouth, so I think there will always be a requirement for a single cab type design, though I can see extended cab trucks going away.
 
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