Lynnmor wrote:

Ain't it great that they now market a lesser truck for a whole lot more money?

gitane59 wrote:

Why have all three of the big three made their trucks so bloody high?
My 2010 Ford F350 DRW 4x4 is 55 inches at the back of the bed and our 2014 Heartland Landmark with Mor-Ryde IS sit's perfect level with about 5 inches of clearance between 5ver and TV bed sides.
All three manufacturers now sit between 59 and 60 inches high and won't work with most fifthwheels. Seems like the manufacturers are only catering to redneck's that want jacked up off road bush trucks. I want to trade for a new 4x4 truck but won't accept a jacked up truck for the obvious non-negotiable reason's
1. I don't want to have to climb up higher to get into my truck
2. I don't want to have to have my Mor-ryde IS cutoff and riser's installed to raise my trailer.
3. I don't want a higher step up to get into my trailer if I had my trailer raised by doing step #2
4. I don't want to have to have new step's installed with 5 riser's installed onto my 5ver if I had step's 2 & 3 done.
5. I will not trade both truck and trailer at the same time to accommodate higher trucks. I will trade both for a class A before that happen's.

Hello Big three are you listening???

rmoparman wrote:

I have a 17 Ram 3500 dulley and my 38 ft Arctic Fox when hooked up is level. Might have to go to larger 5th wheel.

Michelle.S wrote:

Well I've had a 2005 Chevy 4x4 Dually, a 2011 Chevy 4x4 Dually and now a 2018 4x4 Dually and all have been the same height.

gitane59 wrote:



Curious what is the height of the top of your bed rails at the tailgate? I have not measured a Chevy HD 4x4 DRW myself but have read of other Chevy HD 4X2 owners complaining of the late model vehicles having increased bed height just like RAM's and Ford's

rhagfo wrote:

Our 2001 Ram 2500 4X4 stock is 58” at the tailgate!

fj12ryder wrote:

Flat floors?

pennysmom09 wrote:



No hump on the floor.

KD4UPL wrote:

This isn't just a problem with RV users. I'm an electrical contractor and use trucks with various tool bins and compartments added to the bed. The extra height makes it harder to access the upper shelves and see what's in the bins. Also, some days I might climb in and out of the bed of a truck 25 times loading and unloading tools and materials. I also wish that trucks weren't so high. Yesterday I parked my '05 Chevy dually beside a very new looking Ford F150. The hood of the Ford was at least a foot taller than mine.

Lynnmor wrote:

In the case of Ford, they simply used a F150 body and jacked it up so that Super Duty guts would fit under it. Ain't it great that they now market a lesser truck for a whole lot more money?

rhagfo wrote:

Our 2001 Ram 2500 4X4 stock is 58” at the tailgate!

IdaD wrote:



The 2017+ Super Duty is a lot nicer than the previous gen truck that went almost 2 decades without any significant chassis upgrades. Complain about height all you want but be realistic.

More generally speaking, I do take my truck offroad and at times in deep snow. It makes for some work getting fifth wheels to match up properly, but I'm a fan of the height of the newer Rams and Fords. The perform better and look better as far as I'm concerned. The only negative I've run into is some anxiety in a few parking garages.

IdaD wrote:



The 2017+ Super Duty is a lot nicer than the previous gen truck that went almost 2 decades without any significant chassis upgrades.

Lynnmor wrote:

In the case of Ford, they simply used a F150 body and jacked it up so that Super Duty guts would fit under it. Ain't it great that they now market a lesser truck for a whole lot more money?

Acdii wrote:

I have been looking at used F2/350's to replace my 16 F150. I thought I was imagining things that the truck was taller than my 99 F350 Dually was, but now I know that it really is.

My previous truck was a 14 F150 and I preferred that interior over the new one, even though the cab is wider, the front seats are identical, the console is wider and so is the door panel, and my knee bangs against the door handle all the time, and since the 14 interior is pretty much the same in the F2/350 up to 2016, it looks like those are the ones to be on my list. Now I have to think about it's height? Gee thanks a lot OP!!! It will have to have the tailgate step no matter what now! Here I thought I might get away without having one.

FishOnOne wrote:



You got to trust me on this one, but the man step is not a gimmick and is actually a very useful tool as you get older.

Grit dog wrote:

^ That’s the problem, you’re not comparing this to the “good ole days” when you could get a dually that would fit under a 6’ tall opening and you could actually reach in the bed from the side!
Ahh the good ole days......shorter trucks, carbeurators, points ignitions, drum brakes, 3 speed transmissions.......weren’t they grand?

fj12ryder wrote:

Those are all good things to be rid of, but what benefit do you get from tall trucks? Other than that "manly" look?

ShinerBock wrote:



Weight. A fully boxed frame allows you to reduce weight since the strength comes from the box design and exotic metals rather than the more frame material on a C-channel frame. Essentially it is the same strength of a C channel but much lighter which needs to happen with the upcoming CAFE fuel economy requirements coming to the HD trucks.

myredracer wrote:

...

Why do so many truck owners buy 4WD trucks for city use and where there isn't snow?

myredracer wrote:


...
Why do so many truck owners buy 4WD trucks for city use and where there isn't snow?
....

ShinerBock wrote:

Why is the bed so tall in the new Fords? The same reason why the beds got taller on the GM and Ram trucks when they went with fully boxed frames in the rear. The benefit of C channel frames of the older body styles where lower bed heights.

FishOnOne wrote:


The third gen Dodge rams with box frames didn't have higher bed heights.

The GMT700 trucks with its very tall C channel rear frame section had lower bed heights that the current generation trucks with much lower profile rear frame section that has a much higher bed line.

The F150's with the C channel vs the boxed frame had very similar frame sections in terms of height but had nothing to do with increase bed height.

Part of the reason for higher bed lines is improved aerodynamics and taller body panels to give the truck a much bigger look.

Turtle n Peeps wrote:

Grit do you have truck nutz and a smoke switch and 22's too?

fj12ryder wrote:

No reason, they've just been conned into the idea by Madison Avenue ad execs that 4WD is desirable. Just plain silly.

fj12ryder wrote:

Those are all good things to be rid of, but what benefit do you get from tall trucks? Other than that "manly" look?

ShinerBock wrote:

Why is the bed so tall in the new Fords? The same reason why the beds got taller on the GM and Ram trucks when they went with fully boxed frames in the rear. The benefit of C channel frames of the older body styles where lower bed heights.

gitane59 wrote:

As the OP could I please ask someone with a 2017/2018 Ford Superduty F350 4x4 DRW please tell me how high the bed rail is at the tailgate with 3200lbs sitting directly over the rear axle?
I keep reading and hear about of this suspension squat underload due to progressive rate springs installed in this trucks to soften the unloaded ride.
My beds rails sit at 55 inches off the ground loaded or unload thanks to my air bags and my 5ver overhang is about 61 inches off the ground with the trailer level. And no it's not 15 year old.
I can't imagine the new truck squatting 5 inches under a load of 3200 lb's but anything's possible I guess.
I just know that I'm not raising a perfectly towing trailer to fit a truck designed for off road busk escursion's. Speaking of that who in their right mind takes a dually offroad onto bush trail's. Dually are made for hauling heavy loads not trail driving

Turtle n Peeps wrote:



I know what you are saying SHinerBock but if they are tying to save weight the manufactures are doing a piss poor job. Look at the weight of a lets say 06 Duramax (my truck)and the weight of a 18 Duramax.

I just got home from working on a 66 Burb. I thing it weights 4,600 LBS. What does a newer 3/4 Burb weigh?

The new vehicles are PIGS and are getting more piggy every year!

Turtle n Peeps wrote:

Cars have been under EPA rules for many, many years. Even though they are under EPA rules they have been getting fatter and fatter and fatter over the years.

Lets pick one and see what it has done over the years.

1970 Challenger (a car I own)= almost 3,500 lbs. 2018 Challenger= almost 4,500 lbs!!!!!

Almost a 25% increase in weight!! Even the Dodge Demon (Dodges factory drag car) weights 4,500 LBS! Look at a Ford Thunderbolt (Fords factory drag car) weighed 1,300 lbs less!!

And yes I know "some" of this stuff is mandated by the government. Things like airbags and cats and things like that are mandated but still add a lot of weight to these cars. Things like 132 cameras and butt heated and cooled seats, 45" TV screens are not.

I say the manufactures will save a few 100 lbs and that's about it. Much like when Ford went with an aluminum body. A lot of GM trucks still weigh less or the same as the Ford trucks.

Trucks have been getting bigger and heaver for almost 100 years. I don't see the trend changing anytime soon.

transamz9 wrote:



So you have 6" of clearance. I don't see the problem.

gitane59 wrote:

As the OP could I please ask someone with a 2017/2018 Ford Superduty F350 4x4 DRW please tell me how high the bed rail is at the tailgate with 3200lbs sitting directly over the rear axle?
I keep reading and hear about of this suspension squat underload due to progressive rate springs installed in this trucks to soften the unloaded ride.
My beds rails sit at 55 inches off the ground loaded or unload thanks to my air bags and my 5ver overhang is about 61 inches off the ground with the trailer level. And no it's not 15 year old.
I can't imagine the new truck squatting 5 inches under a load of 3200 lb's but anything's possible I guess.
I just know that I'm not raising a perfectly towing trailer to fit a truck designed for off road busk escursion's. Speaking of that who in their right mind takes a dually offroad onto bush trail's. Dually are made for hauling heavy loads not trail driving

gitane59 wrote:

As the OP could I please ask someone with a 2017/2018 Ford Superduty F350 4x4 DRW please tell me how high the bed rail is at the tailgate with 3200lbs sitting directly over the rear axle?
I keep reading and hear about of this suspension squat underload due to progressive rate springs installed in this trucks to soften the unloaded ride.
My beds rails sit at 55 inches off the ground loaded or unload thanks to my air bags and my 5ver overhang is about 61 inches off the ground with the trailer level. And no it's not 15 year old.
I can't imagine the new truck squatting 5 inches under a load of 3200 lb's but anything's possible I guess.
I just know that I'm not raising a perfectly towing trailer to fit a truck designed for off road busk escursion's. Speaking of that who in their right mind takes a dually offroad onto bush trail's. Dually are made for hauling heavy loads not trail driving

Groover wrote:

After seeing a review of the new Ranger showing how tall it is and looking at some Colorado's I went and bought a 2008 Ranger for use around the farm and am about to take it to get some potting soil for my wife. I love my 2016 Ford truck but dearly wish that it came with air suspension that I could make kneel for loading.

Travlingman wrote:



As I posted earlier, I have the exact same trailer as you and a 2017 F-350 dually. I have around 8" clearance, camper runs level when hooked up and my rig is stock. Unless you changed from factory height when you did the IS, yours should run the same as mine.

Travlingman wrote:



As I posted earlier, I have the exact same trailer as you and a 2017 F-350 dually. I have around 8" clearance, camper runs level when hooked up and my rig is stock. Unless you changed from factory height when you did the IS, yours should run the same as mine.

gitane59 wrote:



When we had the IS installed at Mor-ryde they installed it to be level with sufficient clearance with the stock 2010 F350 4X4 DRW truck.
I remember the installer offering to add an extra 2 inch riser between my trailer axles and my frame even though it was not necessary for level tow with sufficient clearance. I decline for stability and drag reason's.
I suggest even if I had gone ahead with 2 inch riser's unless there is a huge amount of squat in your suspension I would still be minus almost 3 inches of clearance.
I would really appreciate if next time when you are hooking up could you please give me fifthwheel overhang to ground dimension when level and bed rail to ground height at tailgate please when hitched.

Quote:

Listen. I didn’t want to have to be the one to say this, but I’m going to be the one to say it. Big pickup trucks should not be allowed on the roads as a casual everyday driving vehicle.

We have a problem in America. A plague, if you will. We have an obsession with big, beastly trucks. They’ve spread through our streets like a poison, taken over our cities by storm, and now that they’re here, we can’t get rid of them.

There’s a good chance you’ve been there. You’ve had a rough day at work, and you’re just trying to find a parking space for your small, city-friendly, fuel-efficient vehicle at the grocery store—and suddenly, across the lot, you find it. An empty space, so close to the front that you might as well just be able to open the car door and step right into the store. You hustle over, praising the gods of the work week for taking pity on your poor soul, only to find—that spot you scoped out? It’s sandwiched between two trucks. They’ve made an attempt at fitting between the yellow lines, but unfortunately, they’re just too large to squeeze your own car through.

Or maybe, there you are, driving through the tight, downtown city streets. It’s bad enough that you’re already dodging antsy pedestrians and public transport—but then, a truck pulls up next to you. Shiny, brand new, it’s almost twice the size of your own soccer mom SUV, and it’s one hair’s breadth away from slipping into your lane.

Or, how about you roll out of the airport after seven hours of flights, half-asleep and entirely exhausted. You wait for your luggage, wait for three rounds of the bus before you finally get escorted out to the parking lot, and you can’t find it. You were one hundred percent certain you parked in this row of this lot. You even saved the location in your phone this time. But you’re looking down the aisle and you can’t see a **** thing… because your car is hidden between two massive trucks. Which then makes it impossible to see anything when you back up.

It is, without a doubt, one of the most truly terrible experiences in the entire world.

So therefore the only reasonable option is to make big, huge trucks legal only if you are using them for work purposes. Because there is literally no reason why anyone would need one of these beastly machines for their everyday driving—and definitely not in the city.

It just seems absurd. Why do you, A Single Human Being With Just One Suitcase For Work, need a jacked up pickup to go about your daily business. What are you hauling, friend? When you’re driving from suburbia to the city for your desk job and back to suburbia, what purpose does it serve? You, my friend, are a hazard. You are too big. The rest of us cannot see over you. The only answer is for me to buy a bigger vehicle, which only makes this problem worse!

Pickups have their purpose. They are certainly important for transporting construction items or pieces of furniture or honestly just a whole lot of accoutrements when you’re out camping. And that’s fine. Please, feel free to drive them in those cases—you’re certainly one-upping the carrying capacity of my Mazda 2.

And I’m sure there are plenty of reasonable, responsible, everyday pickup drivers who aren’t big buttheads and don’t purchase cars that are far too big for any form of daily existence. You aren’t the problem, of course—but there are enough of your truck driving compatriots who make things so difficult for the rest of us that they’ve gone ahead and ruined things for everyone.

But there is no reason why it should be your everyday transport vehicle. It is inefficient. It is obnoxious. It makes life painful for the rest of us in our reasonably sized vehicles, who respect that a lane is a lane and a parking spot is a parking spot: that these clearly defined lines are clearly defined for a reason, for just one vehicle at a time. Parking, driving, seeing, changing lanes, merging, just existing in general… it would be so much easier without the plague of big pickup trucks on the road.

You are welcome to prove me wrong. Bring your best defense of these beasts and try to change my mind—but I’m warning you, I’m pretty set in my ways

benk wrote:

Yup and is the basis for referring to how our trucks are more car like
mainly due to the masses now into our types of trucks....call them the
"Fashion Statement Crowd"

They generally have no clue, and/or care for the actual usage of these
trucks. More of how they look and the bigger the better. Often ride
quality is way up there on their 'have to have' list and the functionality
some times not even on that list.

Marketing verbiage plays this game and so often confirmed here on these
types of forums where someone only refers to their 'half ton' and
can tow a mountain. Even one member who posts often who only referred to
his 'half ton' in advice to everyone. I've had several PMs and one
guy burned up his diff and asked why this guy can and he couldn't.

Not all 'half ton' are the same and why suggest just using their GVWR's

These folks think a taller truck is more capable than a higher GVWR,
but shorter truck.

Remember when the low riders were going to 19"..even 20" wheels?
Laughable, but more and more trucks now come stock with them. Fashion
statement driven.

Clueless, but they are the mass that OEM marketing ID groups pay
more attention to...as when they order, they check off every option
on the list.

That then gets into the folks coming in here wondering why their 4x4
is making funny noises. Ask if they drive on pavement while in 4x4.
Yes and why not. Then others will chime in saying it is perfectly ok
as they do it all the time. The then got dash mounted 4x4 buttons as
the floor mounted levers were both confusing and not convenient for them...

This type of stuff goes in circles and boils down to this type of buyer
(as a general thing...not all of course)

shepstone wrote:

I said something about this a few years ago and almost got blacklisted because of it. It’s not the people that use these trucks for work or hauling an RV, but the ones who like to comute to work in a truck that is all dressed up like a rainbow, and clog up the freeway with a monster of a truck and one person.... I own a construction company and my trucks do take up a lot of space and go through a lot of fuel I won’t deny that, but I don’t see the point of an empty monster comuter truck.

Cummins12V98 wrote:

I only tow 23-25k. My Dually sets nearly level, NOT high in the rear. Actually not low in the front either.

Cummins12V98 wrote:

Buy a RAM 3500 SRW or DRW. Mine sets 55" top of bed back corner loaded or not. Reason??? It's the Factory Rear Air Ride. Truck sets almost level ALL the time even with my 5,700# pin weight.