What's the Rage Behind 4 Door Pickups?

[Bunty]

What explains the trend behind so many people finding that 4 door pickup trucks are a must have these days? They're challenging SUVs rule of the road. When driving, I hate the way they project out from the street where parked. Some of them are so long, I'm not sure one would make for a comfortable fit in my garage. If I stayed on the farm, maybe I could appreciate them a lot better.

[bradh]

I have a wife and kid
I have a job that requires I have a truck

Next question? You live in a state where many need a truck either for work, recreation, or some other reason. Many of those people have kids.

[MadMonk]

I'm guessing you've never owned a pickup, Bunty. It's simple really. They combine the roominess of an SUV, but have the capabilities of a pickup.

[Oh GAWD the Smell!]

Simple really. They combine the roominess of an SUV, but have the capabilities of a pickup.

Yup.

[bluedogok]

It just depends on which box you get, I will get another pickup in the future and it will be a 4-door this time. My 2000 F-150 was an extended cab with the rear suicide doors and 6.5 foot box, you can buy the one with a 1 foot shorter box and it is about the same overall length as my previous one. There is no way I would want a full 8 foot box with the crew cab unless I actually needed a 1-ton for towing a bigger race trailer, I would opt for a 6.5 foot box if I could find one used. Definitely one with 4WD up here and in my wife's SUV when we replace it (2WD 4Runner).

[Mel]

I think guys like them because it makes their p***s seem bigger. This was meant as a joke by the way. Trucks in Oklahoma go hand in hand. But when you drive a smaller car the sizes of some vehicles do seem extreme. When my '79 El Camino was running I would be at a stop light and all I can see is hubcaps and bumpers. Not a comfortable feeling.

[kevinpate]

I'll drive my old 89 Suburban (well, the body is 89, though little else is) until the wheels fall off. But my next rig may well be a 4 door truck. Kiddos are grown and I no longer have little Scouts to transport or my youngest son's bass to move back and forth to concerts. But I do still move other folks from time to time and there are always garden projects, day care stuff, honey dos, etc. so having a car alone is not in our future. We'd have a truck or the tank alone before we'd go back to just a car.

Several years back, nine or so, a repair job on a car proved defective and I put the car back to the body shop folks to correct the issues. They sent me to enterprise for a loaner vehicle. When I got there, the only thing they had open at all was a 4 door dodge ram shortbed 1/4 ton. They were all apologetic and I simply put on my best Eyore face, tucked away the briar rabbit smile and semi-softa groaned "I'll survive."

Came back the next morning at their suggestion but arrived after an unexpected run and again, they were all apologetic and I was briar rabbit inside and Eyore on the outside as I again gave an "I'll survive." Go back the next day and by now they're a tad embarrassed that they still don't have a ride for me and could I please be willing to keep the truck another day. I suggested maybe it would be easier if I just kept the truck until my own car was finished. They assumed I was annoyed, but were grateful and a touch surprised. I finally allowed as how I was not bad at keeping my briar rabbit insides in check and assured them all was indeed just finer than frog hair between me and the truck. I was a touch side when my own car was finally finished, but daughter was happy. She wasn't old enough to drive the truck and was a tad tired of friends and poppa having to cart here everywhere.

Trucks and Okies ... they just fit.

[bradh]

I'm probably downsizing to a Ridgeline (if they still make them in a year)

[Easy180]

Would never own one mainly to avoid getting called every weekend to help move or pick up someone's couch at Rit's store

[BBatesokc]

I often borrow a friend's F150 crew cab and I REALLY like it. I'd buy one but it isn't practical due to the number of miles I put on a car and the cost of fuel.

[Zuplar]

My old truck was a 4 door, but not the crew cab with independent door. When I bought new I made sure to get the crew cab. Best decision ever. My truck seats six, and is the roomiest in my family now. Plus I can haul a 4-wheeler in the back. I will never go backwards now.

[Mel]

The only four door truck I have ever driven was a Dodge Power Wagon, U.S.A.F. issue. They were handy at Ellsworth A.F.B. in the winter. Early '70s.

[Oh GAWD the Smell!]

Would never own one mainly to avoid getting called every weekend to help move or pick up someone's couch at Rit's store

I've owned at least 10 full size trucks...I had to be really good at saying "NO" to helping move.

Also...No...You can't borrow my truck.

My old truck was a 4 door, but not the crew cab with independent door. When I bought new I made sure to get the crew cab. Best decision ever. My truck seats six, and is the roomiest in my family now. Plus I can haul a 4-wheeler in the back. I will never go backwards now.

I recently bought a Tundra Crew cab. Holy MOLY is there a lot of room in the back. Backwards facing car seat, and my wife can still climb in back there by going between it and the front seat. GIANT. My other truck is an Avalanche. And it's got great room...But nothing on this Toyota.

[WilliamTell]

I drove a truck all through highschool and college at 10-13 mpg, and now I drive a car and the wife has a CUV. 2 years ago before I bought my car I brought home a 4 door gmc and a 4 door f150 and neither comfortably fit into the garage we had at the time with out some major inconvenience. With the new house one should be able to fit but im still on the fence because its a solid 35 minutes each way, before even factoring in picking up kids and running errands which easily makes it over an hour to get home. I get an actual 28.5 mpg on a weekly basis which is hard to give up in a comfortable and good looking full sized car. With trucks even with technology upgrades such as direct injection, 8 speed trannys, ecoboost, etc. All of the research i've done people are still only getting an actual 12-14 mpg in weekly use, unless they hypermill the crap out of it which doesnt reflect actual use. Im hoping technology continutes to improve and that more manufactures start offering diesel outside of their heavy duty trucks.

I like how the dodges are now offering the 6cyl turbo diesel with the 8 speed tranny, but im just not a huge dodge fan. I also read two weeks ago where the new titan will have a cummins diesel, so I will make a point to test drive that one, they just desperately need to update the body style thats almost a decade old.

My dream would be a 3-4 liter turbo Diesel sold in a f150 or a new silverado but with gas not going back down and 1-1.5 hour commute 5 days a week im not in a huge rush to spend 45k on a truck that gets 14 mpg.

Back on topic - If people want to drive one more power to them, I prefer to use my money in other ways and live pretty far from work. I have mentally thought about getting one and making it a weekend truck, but then I would have it sitting in the garage, a new payment, and i keep on thinking we are about to see some major improvements in technology within the next few years.

[MWCGuy]

I plan on getting one because I have a family and I like having the ability to move cargo when I need to. I don't have to call somebody and talk them into it, buy their gas and sometimes a meal depending on what needs to be moved. Nor do I have to kill a day for a delivery driver to deliver something between 2-4.
I have the worst luck with delivery crews. Their always late, they deliver the wrong item or they break something.

Right now I have an 05 F150 regular cab. It's one of the most comfortable vehicles I have ever driven. I am a tall guy. I hate driving cars because they sit too close to the ground. I have to spend forever adjusting the seat to where I don't feel like I'm spooning with steering wheel. F150 is perfect and the new ones are even more comfortable for tall lanky people like myself.


My F150 has plenty of power and it drives perfect. The only money I have had to put into it in the 7 years I have owned it is gas, tires, routine fluid changes and brakes. I bought with 9700 on it and today it has about 92,000 on it. The crazy thing about it is that it gets better gas mileage than the 98 S-10 with a 4 cylinder engine I used to drive. Sure, I spend a $75 at the pump but, that tank last me two weeks driving about 30 miles a day. If every Ford Truck runs and drives like mine does you can bet I will be a Ford Guy for life.

[RadicalModerate]

i have a 2.5 door s-10. i recently hauled well over a ton of gravel for a landscaping project in it.
(in five or six trips.)
actually, it is more like a 2.3 door s-10.

[TaoMaas]

I've owned at least 10 full size trucks...I had to be really good at saying "NO" to helping move.

Saw a bumper sticker on a truck about that. It said, "Yes, this is my truck. No, I won't help you move."

[BobbyV]

What explains the trend behind so many people finding that 4 door pickup trucks are a must have these days? They're challenging SUVs rule of the road. When driving, I hate the way they project out from the street where parked. Some of them are so long, I'm not sure one would make for a comfortable fit in my garage. If I stayed on the farm, maybe I could appreciate them a lot better.

We're a family of four . . . the kids are 12 and 15. We need room and I need a truck.

Thankfully it isn't one with the huge full-size bed, so it doesn't stick out quite as far . . .

[bradh]

I drove a truck all through highschool and college at 10-13 mpg, and now I drive a car and the wife has a CUV. 2 years ago before I bought my car I brought home a 4 door gmc and a 4 door f150 and neither comfortably fit into the garage we had at the time with out some major inconvenience. With the new house one should be able to fit but im still on the fence because its a solid 35 minutes each way, before even factoring in picking up kids and running errands which easily makes it over an hour to get home. I get an actual 28.5 mpg on a weekly basis which is hard to give up in a comfortable and good looking full sized car. With trucks even with technology upgrades such as direct injection, 8 speed trannys, ecoboost, etc. All of the research i've done people are still only getting an actual 12-14 mpg in weekly use, unless they hypermill the crap out of it which doesnt reflect actual use. Im hoping technology continutes to improve and that more manufactures start offering diesel outside of their heavy duty trucks.

I like how the dodges are now offering the 6cyl turbo diesel with the 8 speed tranny, but im just not a huge dodge fan. I also read two weeks ago where the new titan will have a cummins diesel, so I will make a point to test drive that one, they just desperately need to update the body style thats almost a decade old.

My dream would be a 3-4 liter turbo Diesel sold in a f150 or a new silverado but with gas not going back down and 1-1.5 hour commute 5 days a week im not in a huge rush to spend 45k on a truck that gets 14 mpg.

Back on topic - If people want to drive one more power to them, I prefer to use my money in other ways and live pretty far from work. I have mentally thought about getting one and making it a weekend truck, but then I would have it sitting in the garage, a new payment, and i keep on thinking we are about to see some major improvements in technology within the next few years.

Nissan is putting a 5.0 Cummins diesel in the Titan soon.

The newly redesigned Chevy Colorado's will have an inline 4 cylinder diesel option, that will have 300 ft/lbs of torque. The design looks sleek too.

[David]

My particular favorite are the people who drive the largest possible truck to work, park it badly, and then go inside and work in a cube farm.

[WilliamTell]

I work with some of those people...

Ask where they live and they live on a regular lot with no acreage, ask if they hunt and it hasn't been in decades,...but they still always get 4x4 because bad weather.

And the kicker...when it snows they ALWAYS stay home anyway.

[rezman]

Heck, they're status symbols now days. A fully loaded Chevy crew cab Z71 Duramax is over $60,000. Same with the King Ranch Ford. .. I during the Hummer craze Jay Leno joking that, " it would have been cheaper to buy a bumper sticker that says, I have a little p***s"

[adaniel]

I really have no problem if you want to buy something out of convenience. And a normal F150 or Silverado wouldn't have too much of an issue in most cases. What gets me is folks who get F250/350s or Chevy HD's that are huge, but work downtown or something. I can't tell you how many times I see some person trying to squeeze their massive truck through a parking garage, nearly hitting other cars, and taking up the entire spot to the point where other cars can't even open their door. The best is when Billy Bob in his lifted Powerstroke is having a Friday Night in the Big Town and trying to parallel park somewhere downtown. They are the one's oftentimes complaining about parking DT the loudest.

And yes, mot of these people are living in a subdivision in Edmond, are not towing anything, are not outdoor-type people at all. Really don't care what vehicle you buy, but please don't hit mine!!

[rezman]

I think guys like them because it makes their p***s seem bigger. This was meant as a joke by the way. Trucks in Oklahoma go hand in hand. But when you drive a smaller car the sizes of some vehicles do seem extreme. When my '79 El Camino was running I would be at a stop light and all I can see is hubcaps and bumpers. Not a comfortable feeling.

What's nice is that you could reach over into the bed of that El Camino with out having to tiptoe or stand on the back tire. You can't do that on today's pickups.

[kevinpate]

I've done more out of town work in the last 18 months than I've done since the mid 90's. As my tank is older, I tend to rent for my day trips, with limited exception avoiding tiny cars (though what some rental folks consider a full size is downright laughable at times.

Of everything I've rented in this time, my favorites for a bigger fella have been the small SUV range, the Ford Escape and Toyota 4Rav. Of those, the Escape was the most comfortable. In the smaller than full size category the only truly comfortable one I ever tried was a little Kia bare bones Forte back in 2011. Basically a box, motor, 4 wheels, A/C and a radio. Speakers dinna suck and it floated fairly smooth at interstate speeds for such a tiny ride.

I do prefer my tank though. But aged vehicles and being on time in another county are not always the best of friends, so I keep them away from each other.