Long-bed vs Short-bed

If subway offers me a foot long sub for the price of a six inch I take it so why not take the extra foot in the bed.

 

With a toolbox and a swingout in my short bed I can’t haul anything in that bed and have to use the trailer. When I need to haul something long I use the AC and that bed makes a huge differance. love the DCSB for off-roading but the AC is more useful

 

I do, because I dont want to be this guy!

 

When I go on camping trips my long bed gets full real damned fast, even without overpacking. If I had a short bed I'd be kicking myself for not getting the long one.
I was worried about turning radius, but that was just wasted energy. An occasional three point turn doesn't krimp my style.

 

I

I use the bed extender on my Access Cab and I get nearly 8ft.

 

had a 07 AC then a 14 DCLB, don't know what it would be like without the long bed but here recently ive been thinking about it with the interest of a 3rd gen. have a lot of friends and family with tacomas and I'm the only one with a long bed. enjoyed reading all he long bed support tho hahah

 

Would never own a short. Not really a truck of any use if the beds shorter than 6'.

 

That same argument could easily be said coming from a person with a 8' bed regarding those tiny little useless 6' beds on those tiny little trucks we call Tacomas.

Very similar to a Chihuahua lecturing a toy Yorkie on not being a real dog.

 

DCSB imho. Looks better, fits in the garage better. But to each their own! Great to have options!

 

Guys with 6.5' beds say the same about anything less than that. And then you have guys with 8 foot beds that will tell you anything less isn't useful either.

 

I will just put my tailgate down on my LB and have a useful 8 footer.

 

I was originally looking for a DCSB, but came across a LB for a great price and bought it. I knew I wanted a cap too, and having the LB I discovered that I can actually fit a cot and sleep in the back with the tailgate up. That's been a huge plus for overnight fishing trips, but not something I do on a regular basis. Had I ended up with a SB, I'm sure my tents would be getting a lot more use, which also requires somewhere to pitch it. What I do more frequently is haul a kayak, and for that the LB is also a major plus since I don't need to use a bed extender for anything under 13'. My old F150 also had a 6' bed, but I had a toolbox as well and needed a bed extender to haul basically anything. I work in and frequent the city now (reluctantly), and finding parking for a LB can be difficult, but I can almost guarantee a DCSB would be equally challenging. I park in a garage everyday for work, so the majority of the time that is a non-issue. The one negative I have discovered is that I cannot haul a full sheet of 4x8 anything, unless at an angle resting on the tailgate which is not ideal. We do a lot of projects around my house, and I'm frequently pulling out the bed extender for lumber runs. This is an issue for both, so no points for either regarding this. All that being said, I'd say either configuration would have worked for me, but with a SB my bed extender would get a little more use and I'd be setting up a tent more often. The LB was a better choice for me, but I think for the majority of people (someone said 9 in 10 are SB) SB are probably a better option.

 

Soooo....with that logic, a 5 footer with the tailgate down automatically becomes useful LB. Excellent!!

 

Except how many 5 footers are actually going to use their beds.

 

Probably about the same amount as those with 6 or 8 foot beds. Obviously this goes further than that. Many folks purchase a LB truck just to look the part of being utilitarian, yet never even use their trucks for anything more than just commuting to work in.

 

I’ll politely have to disagree. The short bed body line & contour do not match the body line & contour of the cab. The mismatch is subtle, but it leaves a funky looking gap between the bed and cab. Once my OCD brain saw it, I can’t unsee it. The short bed looks like an engineering after thought.

Short bed gap


Long bed gap

 

Agonized over the length of a dclb. I might be wrong but I remember it being almost 2 feet longer than my 4Runner. I imagined a life full of parking nightmares and 5 point turns. I’ve been thankful for the long bed on more occasions than I can count.

 

Oh my, you are misinformed. You should delete your post and trade your SB for a Ridgeline. I hear they a much better ride for your daily commute.

 

If you use your truck for truck stuff, get a long bed.

If you use your truck as a car, the short bed will suffice.

Any questions?

Just kidding....just get whatever makes you happy, and forget what anybody else thinks...

 

Short beds remind me of those Ford Explorer Sport Trac from a couple years ago. But not as pointless