In my opinion...
Unless your current one is rusted beyond repair, it’s way cheaper to maintain the one you have for the foreseeable future.
And what’s with all of the 4 door trucks? How does one get anything done with a 4 foot bed?
Drop the tailgate and that gives 6 feet which enables hauling anything 8 feet long. Put ballast at the front end of the load.
I had a crew cab with a 5 foot bed and had very little if any restrictions.....hauled 8 foot lengths of privacy fence with no trouble at all and all I needed was a couple of ratchet straps.....no big deal.
“How does one get anything done with a 4 foot bed?”
A Lincoln Town Car used to have a bigger trunk and a bed cover to boot.
Right? But I, for one, can't fault them: If I needed to have offroad ability, my personal preference would be for a king cab and towing ability so that a long bed wouldn't be a sacrifice. As well, if I'd had a family my preference would have been to put my kids in a king cab rather than an SUV (safety).
That stated, personally I mock the flawless finish 'road queen' trucks sporting the shiny undercarriage with brightly colored lift kits.
I very much dislike the 4 door, short bed trucks. I want a 8 ft bed on a king cab chassis.
I have a 4 door truck with an 8’ bed. Parking lots must be approached very strategically.
It’s not new, but it has some vintagy features that I like, such as a 385 series engine (7.5L gas V8).
I've never seen a 4 foot bed on a pickup truck. Shortest I've seen is 5' and a few inches. My Tacoma has a 6' bed. With the tailgate down and a fold-down rack I put in, I can accommodate anything I'd need to, and I can't think of a reason I'd need to lower the tailgate and rack to hold anything as I'm not in construction or the trades.
For someone like me who's going to use it to tow a camping trailer and do some light to medium offroading, it's perfect. And that's exactly why I bought it.
And what’s with all of the 4 door trucks? How does one get anything done with a 4 foot bed?
It’s called a crew cab back-in the day.
You, Hook up the equipment trailer, load up the crew
and go to work.
Back then Rubber floor mats, vinyl bench seats, no a/c or radio was st’d equipment
Now, I guess that some folks will own the well equipped sissy versions as their automobiles, kind of replaced the station wagon?
The boot when 4 foot? must be enough.
“ And what’s with all of the 4 door trucks? How does one get anything done with a 4 foot bed?”
I have a Tacoma. It has been described as a truck for guys who don’t really need a truck.
Well, 5.5 foot bed. In my Tundra. I’ve got a utility trailer for when I haul hay or very bulky items. Mostly use the bed for things like sacks of grain or pieces of furniture. But when I haul hay, I tow. Easier to load and unload the trailer and I don’t end up with hay in the bed forever...
Got the 4-door so I could use it to take the grandkids camping on vacations. We’ve got a Camry but for covering 500 miles a day and then camping with the kids? 4-door Tundra.
Bought one of the last Tundras made with the big V8. $42K new. Unless I crash, one of my kids will inherit it. I won’t live long enough to wear it out.
I just bought a 2021 Toyota Tacoma, four door with a 6’ bed. It’s pretty satisfactory and I’ve had good luck with Toyota’s.
Half ton trucks come with either a 5.5' or 6.5' bed. 3/4 ton and one ton trucks can be had with an eight foot bed, but that makes for an awfully long truck. My half ton has a 6.5' bed and that's plenty for me. But this is why people have four door trucks....
20 years ago I had a full-size pickup. I wanted a crew-cab (kids) but also the 8-foot bed for work, but those trucks were way too big for getting around in the city where a lot of my jobs were.
I was almost thinking of finding an old station wagon like dads that could go from hauling 6 kids to sheets of plywood.
Then saw an ad for the new Chevy Avalanche that was just coming out. Then 911 happened and with the business incentives and cut prices I bought one in Nov. 2021. I love it! 4’x8’ plywood all out of the rain. Pull them out, flip up the seat and 3 kids in the back.