Huge trucks make sense as work vehicles when the job requires that you haul or tow huge amounts of heavy equipment or materials. That is a pretty small percentage of the population. Lifted vehicles make sense if you need to go off-roading. Only way a huge lifted truck is reasonable is if you need to off-road with thousands of pounds of materials and equipment.
I can’t imagine many people have any real need for that. Non compact trucks shild require an additional license, and be taxed very heavily or require extra expensive registrations with the ability to write most of that off come tax season for people who’s work requires it.
Bob in accounting does not need a lifted F450. Bob in accounting is a huge hazard to everyone else on the road every time he drives it to work and back home and to gym 2 times a week.
A huge pickup truck never makes any sense whether it’s lifted or not.
Huge semi-trucks or box trucks make sense to move lots of cargo.
Vans make sense if you want to move people/tools etc securely.
Smaller pickup trucks make sense for moving a few people and doing some dirty work.
A smaller lifted 4x4 pickup truck makes sense for driving off road. They are unstable at higher speeds and should stay off-road. All lifted vehicles should be banned on paved roads in my opinion.
A half-ton 4x4 truck makes sense if you move a moderate amount of cargo, drive on dirt roads/adverse conditions a lot, tow 90% of recreational vehicles/boats, up to 10K lbs. A van likely would also be a good choice.
What roll does an oversized pickup truck play that other formfactors don’t do better? An oversized pickup truck is always pure vanity.
I drive an S10. For those outside the United States, this is a compact pickup truck that ended production in 2004, smaller than any pickup on the market today.
I haul lumber around with it on a regular basis. It’s a perfectly usable pickup. Wouldn’t mind if the bed was another 2 feet longer to get full studs and/or sheets in it, but the wild thing is, a lot of modern trucks aren’t significantly more capable than mine, they’re just more voluminous.
I started out with an Datsun pickup on the farm. Pulled a 40’ irrigation pipe trailer with aluminum hand lines on it. I also drove a little '86 Nissan during highschool/college. They were about perfect for most residential uses. I really liked how low the bed was. So much easier to get stuff in and out of.
Currently for work, I drive a 1/2 ton F150 and tow a 16’ 10K deck over trailer with it. It’s the maximum I can drive/tow without interstate DOT regulations kicking in. The 7,500lbs capacity is usually more than enough.
I got stuck with a 3/4 and 1 ton at a previous job and thosw damn things were horrible to drive, unstable on the road and beat the shit out of my back. Parking them sucked donkeys balls. It was just scary to drive in the snow/ice. Anyone who drives them for vanity sake is a fucking moron.
That’s the other thing about my S10, it’s heavier than a minivan because body-on-frame construction and a cast iron engine but it’s not much bigger and I think even has a smaller wheel base. Minivans tend to have their back wheels WAY at the back, a truck has wheels mid-bed. So my truck handles very well, it’s easy to maneuver at low speeds, it fits in a standard parking space without any problem…
It’s just recently hit its “everything needs replacement” age because it’s 20 years old, I’ve had to put a fuel injection system, a distributor and a temp sensor in it and I wonder what’s next. But it’s been a hell of a reliable vehicle.
Yeah, except if you go to any countries outside North America, you don’t see anything remotely like this on the road driven non-commercially. I was in Europe for a month not too long back and could count on both hands the number of American pickup trucks I saw and only half those were full-sized. Everyone there has large items that wouldn’t fit into a van delivered by the place that sells it. It’s a pretty neat system the US should adopt instead of driving duallys to Fred Meyer.
Huge trucks make sense as work vehicles when the job requires that you haul or tow huge amounts of heavy equipment or materials. That is a pretty small percentage of the population. Lifted vehicles make sense if you need to go off-roading. Only way a huge lifted truck is reasonable is if you need to off-road with thousands of pounds of materials and equipment.
I can’t imagine many people have any real need for that. Non compact trucks shild require an additional license, and be taxed very heavily or require extra expensive registrations with the ability to write most of that off come tax season for people who’s work requires it.
Bob in accounting does not need a lifted F450. Bob in accounting is a huge hazard to everyone else on the road every time he drives it to work and back home and to gym 2 times a week.
Pity they don’t make these any more. Old mate retired boiler maker still has one in perfect condition.
A huge pickup truck never makes any sense whether it’s lifted or not.
Huge semi-trucks or box trucks make sense to move lots of cargo.
Vans make sense if you want to move people/tools etc securely.
Smaller pickup trucks make sense for moving a few people and doing some dirty work.
A smaller lifted 4x4 pickup truck makes sense for driving off road. They are unstable at higher speeds and should stay off-road. All lifted vehicles should be banned on paved roads in my opinion.
A half-ton 4x4 truck makes sense if you move a moderate amount of cargo, drive on dirt roads/adverse conditions a lot, tow 90% of recreational vehicles/boats, up to 10K lbs. A van likely would also be a good choice.
What roll does an oversized pickup truck play that other formfactors don’t do better? An oversized pickup truck is always pure vanity.
I drive an S10. For those outside the United States, this is a compact pickup truck that ended production in 2004, smaller than any pickup on the market today.
I haul lumber around with it on a regular basis. It’s a perfectly usable pickup. Wouldn’t mind if the bed was another 2 feet longer to get full studs and/or sheets in it, but the wild thing is, a lot of modern trucks aren’t significantly more capable than mine, they’re just more voluminous.
I started out with an Datsun pickup on the farm. Pulled a 40’ irrigation pipe trailer with aluminum hand lines on it. I also drove a little '86 Nissan during highschool/college. They were about perfect for most residential uses. I really liked how low the bed was. So much easier to get stuff in and out of.
Currently for work, I drive a 1/2 ton F150 and tow a 16’ 10K deck over trailer with it. It’s the maximum I can drive/tow without interstate DOT regulations kicking in. The 7,500lbs capacity is usually more than enough.
I got stuck with a 3/4 and 1 ton at a previous job and thosw damn things were horrible to drive, unstable on the road and beat the shit out of my back. Parking them sucked donkeys balls. It was just scary to drive in the snow/ice. Anyone who drives them for vanity sake is a fucking moron.
That’s the other thing about my S10, it’s heavier than a minivan because body-on-frame construction and a cast iron engine but it’s not much bigger and I think even has a smaller wheel base. Minivans tend to have their back wheels WAY at the back, a truck has wheels mid-bed. So my truck handles very well, it’s easy to maneuver at low speeds, it fits in a standard parking space without any problem…
It’s just recently hit its “everything needs replacement” age because it’s 20 years old, I’ve had to put a fuel injection system, a distributor and a temp sensor in it and I wonder what’s next. But it’s been a hell of a reliable vehicle.
Even trucks like these don’t need a giant hood like that, it’s a design choice to look tough and it could really be regulated away
Yeah you look at vans and trucks in the EU and they look vastly different. They just have to seem big manly Tuff™
Yeah, except if you go to any countries outside North America, you don’t see anything remotely like this on the road driven non-commercially. I was in Europe for a month not too long back and could count on both hands the number of American pickup trucks I saw and only half those were full-sized. Everyone there has large items that wouldn’t fit into a van delivered by the place that sells it. It’s a pretty neat system the US should adopt instead of driving duallys to Fred Meyer.
You’re forgetting the south united states, Australia.
Lots and lots of emotional support trucks here.