Crew Cab Long Beds Why Are They Not Popular

[96chevy7.4L]

hi guys this is sort of a poll slash opinion post. Why is it everyone is scared or doesn't want a True 4 door crew cab truck with a 8 foot bed. To me what is the sense of having a truck that you can't haul a sheet of plywood in with the tailgate up. Is it the length of the truck that scares them. An 8foot bed and crew cab can't be much longer then a BURB. Maybe its just my thinking. With the short bed and a 5th wheel Travel trailer you have to mess with slider hitches and to me they are a PITA. Sure alot go with the crew cab if they have families etc........but always with a short bed. What is the fascination here! Don't blast me to hard about the fear thing just curious to know.

[68haywagon]

I love long trucks. Unfortunately I couldn't get a crew long bed in a 1500. So I got the longest I could with the extended cab long bed. I really have no need for a 2500 or higher so I got to stick to what I can get in a 1500.

 

Mike

[doverarjim]

The biggest reason that I know of is garage size. Most house garages will not hold a crew cab long wheel base truck. So unless you build your house for the truck to fit, it wont happen. That is one of the reasons that they started making that 5.5 foot bed so they would fit in cookie cutter houses. My next new truck will be crew long wheel base.

[FlamesZ71]

I can't even fit my ECSB in my garage as it is, so I will never worry about a CCLB! Besides, it's my work truck, I get it dusty and smelly inside, so I clean it out as often as can, and let the WeatherTech floor mats do their job of keeping the mud and whatever else I get on my boots off the carpet.

 

I see a lot of Ford SuperDuty Crew Cab Long Boxes though, but a lot of 1 ton GM and Chevy trucks rolling around my neck of the woods!

[old dog]

The biggest reason that I know of is garage size. Most house garages will not hold a crew cab long wheel base truck. So unless you build your house for the truck to fit, it wont happen. That is one of the reasons that they started making that 5.5 foot bed so they would fit in cookie cutter houses. My next new truck will be crew long wheel base.

 

i think there are just a bunch of week end warrier's that carry the kid's more than they work it and they would be challenged if they had to drive a crew cab 8 ' bed work truck ,they take about 40 acre's to turn around .

[dewfpo]

My CCSB fits in the garage but with no room to spare, can't open the hood without backing it up, can't open the tailgate without opening the garage door. This is an unheated pole barn so it's not living the good life but it keeps the snow and ice off it. Where I live, the county roads are mountainous, curvy and narrow. My CCSB doesn't have a good turning radius, the CCLB is even worse. Most all of the driveways I go up are about as wide as the truck and there's no room to turn around at the top. It's a PITA to back down narrow, curvy driveways at night when their covered with snow or ice. The CCSB is a compromise for me. I just haul stuff with the tailgate down to get my 8 feet.

 

DEWFPO

[jf781]

My Next truck will be an ECLB - I have a old beater RCLB truck right now and love it cause you can actually haul stuff with it. When I get my next truck the wife should have the car she wants so I don't have to worry about hauling the family around in addition to everything else, except on occasion. Plus the CCLB wouldn't fit in my garage.

[cfeiring]

I had a hard time last year when I was looking for my current truck. All I could find was crew cabs and short bed trucks.

M I'm used to driving firetrucks of various sizes and ambulances of various sizes for many years.

Turning radius is just a matter of thinking ahead. Backing can be a pain but can be done slow and easy and is easier with the sonar

I too, wanted to haul lumber and other items with the tailgate up.

I know my truck will never fit in a garage but that is ok.

[Matt_]

1) I didnt buy my truck to carry 8' sheets of plywood. Sure, if i was in construction... a short bed wouldn't make much sense... but im not in construction.

 

2) 1500 series trucks are great DD's for people like me. Why do those of us who get crew-cab 1500s always get the short bed? SIMPLE, there aren't any other options... the 1500 crew cabs ONLY come with a 5'8" bed. IMO, and in my case, my truck is taking the place of having a mini-van or other SUV... so i didn't even have the option to get an ECLB.

 

3) With all that said, I don't like the 5'8" bed (except when parking in the city)... i really wish our crew cab trucks came with the standard 6 or 6.5' bed. But an 8' bed would just be impractical for me.

[deerchooper]

my opinion is.

 

i think the ccsb looks better than the lb. i dont park any car/ truck in my garage, its for working in and i dont want to play musical cars when i need to do something. only way for me to get a long bed would have to be a dually, i love dually's, but i dont need one. funny thing around my area is, i can tell you who else doesnt need a dually with the busted fenders driving around. lol

[rjgvt]

I wish the new crew cabs had 6.5' beds instead of 5'8". I traded in a 2002 1500HD for my 2009 ECSB. I don't haul kids around anymore, but I sure liked the room in the cab with the crew cab. The extended cab doors would be a pain if I had get people in and out. Would be nice if they made the 1500HD again.....mine had plenty of power with the 6.0L.

[Shatterz]

I think it really comes down to a turning radius, size issue. I think people just don't want to put up with having to do some extra maneuvering/planning when navigating tight spaces.

 

One issue that I've run into, especially when driving my 96 ext cab 8' bed is that people won't give you a break when you gotta swing wide or go up and back an extra time when getting out of a spot, all they give you is a look like WTF why can't you move in 1/2 a second like all the little go-kart cars running around. And they look at you crazy when I gotta swing a little wide to avoid driving over the concrete island in a parking lot.

 

My 2500HD is a 6.5' bed and I would have gotten an 8' if it wasn't for this one having the exact options/ color/wheels I was going to order. And I figured I still got my 8' box on the 96 for larger stuff.

 

The only places I see running crew cab long beds are all the lawn services around here. They can pack about 6-8 Mexicans in the cab and they have themselves a little lawn cutting army .

[96chevy7.4L]

Well I don't have a lawn cutting business. I am single and no kids THANK GOD. But when I do have my dad or other people riding in the truck I like to be comfortable. I'm 6'6 and need lots of leg room. The crew cabs are the only thing I am comfortable in. I like the 8 foot bed just a drag to haul anything with the tailgate down. Just my opinion. To be honest though some people driving around don't need to be driving extended cab long bed truck let alone CCLB trucks.

[korbin502]

There was an issue of availability for awhile, then price...

[96chevy7.4L]

Nice CCLB's Korbin. The 2500HD looks sharp. The dually is nice to just not one for lowered dually's. The 96 like you have is a good truck but don't ever replace the 4l80E in it as its a 1 year only Transmission. The other 4l80E's don't mate with the computer. I replaced one in my 96 and it was over 2800 for a rebuild. GM dont even have the (96) 4l80E's in stock anymore. You can get one for a 99 for about 1500 brand new with warranty. All they can do for a 96 is track down parts and rebuild. Took them forever to get parts and rebuild. If i had to do over I would have gone to an Allison and a stand alone computer. My 96 I sold about a year ago with 567,000 miles.