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this post was submitted on 10 Sep 2025
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Owning a pickup truck is pretty awesome, and I don’t think I’ll ever buy a different type of vehicle again.
Mentioning it online gets hate, but in real life people keep coming up to me, complimenting how nice it looks, asking questions about it, and kids give me thumbs up when I drive by. All of that is just a bonus on top of the fact that I love driving it and the way it looks - and that’s all that really matters.
Trucks are fun, 100%. Id love a small truck with a tow package, i don't need a gigantic Ram child-flattener but having something versatile and tall enough to clear some obstacles is always nice. RIP that little Mazda i got circa 2007 for $500 with no working gauges and a fuel leak, when it felt like driving i loved it.
Honestly if those Slate (is that right? Im still half asleep) trucks take off I may get one
I love my 99 ram and I can't imagine having a bigger truck for every day use.
Just get a van instead, bro. They're way more practical.
I literally have one, why does someone have to say that every time. There are reasons to have a truck.
If the reason is a small dick complex, sure. And also a disregard for safety and the energy consumption ending up costing way more for the American worker.
👍
How often do you haul stuff you need a truck for?
Crucially, that wouldn't be better carried in a van.
Why does that matter though? A van is just as big and heavy with even worse visibility around you.
You're aware that mirrors exist, right? And that vans also often have back windows? And that the visibility is actually worse with those big trucks?
Yer talkin' bull, lad.
Huh? Vans typically get about the same shit gas mileage as trucks.
Are you paid by some truck company? Vans absolutely better carry. They also have cover, so the stuff you carry doesn't get wet.
There's covers for trucks too
I use it for work so pretty much every single day but that's besides the point. It would be awesome even if I had no need for one.
I was just curious. You mentioned just liking the truck enough that I wondered if it was more fashion or function. Nothing wrong with fashion of course, who wants to drive a vehicle they don't like the look of? I have feelings about efficiency, but that's your wallet, not mine.
I want to get a small truck for my wife (she's always got a project going that would benefit from cargo space) but small trucks are tough to come by these days. I wish Rangers weren't as big as F150s used to be.
Asking the real questions.
Speaking as a Texan, I associate the worst of truck driving with “being an ass.” It’s not always true, but man, if someone’s gonna cut me off just to be a jerk, it’s usually a lifted abomination.
This though:
This is fine.
No, it’s magnificent.
That small red truck is a truck of a man who truly is masculine. Doesn't give a shit what other people think, needs it to carry supplies, and didn't want to waste any money.
Giant lifted trucks are the opposite of masculine. They're for showing off, desperately trying to get people to notice them, they arely if ever haul anything (if they even can anymore with the lift), and they wasted huge amounts of money.
If it were a nice person inside and they just liked the 'lifted' style though, that's one thing. I think there's something to be said for auto personalization culture, like people do with jeeps and the Slate is trying to start up. I actually knew a really short girl who drove a lifted truck and simply thought it was neat, heh.
But usually, I wince in anticipation of what flavor of 'macho' is going to step out. Like you said perfectly, it's usually not Hank Hill.
That's neat you found a girl like that, but it is not the norm from my experience, as it looks like it's yours too. I usually see a lot of angry men who are too eager to swerve lanes and show off how cool their truck (and by extension they) are.
I dunno, chief. That "small" red truck is big as well. And the stuff in there will still get wet. Much more practical to have a van.
Oh completely agree - but if forced to choose between those two types of trucks I know which one I'd say is more reasonable.
I mean, sure, but I were forced to pick I'd rather bring both to the scrapyard and get a bike instead. Or a van, but yeah. Choosing the lesser evil over time will lead to the actually good options getting eliminated.
The rise in pickups causes everyone’s insurance rates to go up because of the increased fatality of average crash now, they blow through our global carbon budget even faster, they make roads less safe for everyone, they drain your wealth away from your kids inheritance and directly into banks and oil companies. I know you love bankers more than transmitting generational wealth to your kids. Fuck them kids. The bankers need your money more.
I agree with 95% of FuckCars. Cars should not be the default in our society. Cars are at the root of why our cities suck so bad. We need to do as much as we can towards walkability, bikability, and public transportation. Cars won't go away completely, but they don't have to be so prevalent.
The 5% where FuckCars goes wrong is people who don't know anything about cars talking about cars. Their treatment of trucks vs vans is one of those. Vans are useful for trades, and so are trucks. Let the workers decide which one they prefer for their job.
Those workers usually don't need an F150 the size of a small house. They don't even want an F150 the size of a small house. That doesn't mean a van is necessarily what they want.
Well, I've atleast got the two seater with a long bed so it's barely adequate for what I need it for at work. It's undeniable that a similar size Vivaro or Transporter would be more practical but I'm willing to trade some of that for a fun truck.
I actually want to get a pick-up truck for furniture, not like one of these road monsters, but something reasonable, like a 2 seater with lots a bed space. Like an old Chevy or something.
Why not a van? Can typically carry more and keeps it dry.
The number one reason I went with a pickup over a van is that it just looks way better. Vans are boring. But also that my pickup has a 4WD, low-range gear box and a diff lock which vans don't. It also has a camper shell on it so stuff on the bed stays dry too.
Hah, you took the one part that makes a truck stand out from a van, and put a box over it making it a bad van!
My apologies for not consulting your opinion when building out my truck.
Not a truck guy, but I've had enough vans to know that not having an open top REALLY reduces the potential of what you can put in the back.
Get a van instead. Don't start becoming part of the problem.
I like these answers that are actually divisive
I agree. I don't need the truck part very often, but when I do, it is so nice. I got a BEV truck and it's also stupid fast, especially for a truck. And it has outlets everywhere, 4x 110V 20A in the back plus a 220v 30A, and more 110V in the cab and the frunk! 130kWh of mobile power.
The suspension is sloppy, the tires are squishy. But I don't mind that most of the time (I do wish the dampers were a just bit more aggressive).
Crazy watching you get downvoted for driving a pickup.
Most of the people on these forums live in major cities and don't do any real work with their lives, so it's understandable.
I guess I was mistaken for holding them to a higher standard.
Uh, nope. Lived in rural America. Most truck drivers are pavement processes who haul something maybe a handful of times a year. The vast majority.
There was not a shift from 30 years ago everyone driving tiny cars and hatchbacks to now where everyone became blue collar and needed a truck for work suddenly. It's corporate marketing. Corporations can get around fuel standards by making trucks instead of cars, so they convinced everyone that having a truck was somehow necessary, and the good people of the USA gladly ate it up making the f150 the most popular vehicle on the roads followed by the other truck models.
Also, "most people ~~on these forums~~ live in major cities". Ftfy. It wasn't until I left my town in Iowa did I realize how many people there are. The entire population of thestate of Iowa lives in my one city.
Yeah, you're clueless.
Pickup trucks are useful for more than just work.
Insulting me doesn't make it untrue.
Trucks are for hauling things and towing things. Again, the vast majority of truck drivers, and I'm not saying all, but the vast majority of people do not need a truck.
Most truck beds now are only a few feet long. Minivans and old school station wagons can store more in them then most modern trucks can. Why do you think Amazon and UPS use vans instead of pickups? Because they're more efficient at hauling things.
Then even if you need to haul things and you choose to disregard the whole thing about vans having more cargo space, I ask how often? How often do you actually roll up to the home Depot and grab a while pile of lumber to take home that wouldn't fit in a van? If it's not once a week or more that you fill the truck, congrats you're losing money on your truck. Truck rentals are about 20 bucks and haul my stuff just as easily back to my home, with the added benefit of them I'm not paying for gas and maintenance for this giant thing as my daily driver nor a huge car payment either.
Oh and proof of all of this? Crew cabs. The stupidest invention and absolutely proof it's just marketing. "Hey we convinced you that you need a truck even though all you really need is a rental truck every once in a while, but oh no you have this family, where do they go? Don't worry now you have five seats AND a shortened bed!". They already solved that problem. Vans and station wagons. Can haul minimum 5 people and if you needed to haul shit you just folded down the seats, could fit an entire sheet of plywood in there.
Same goes for towing. If you own a boat I might get it, or again a trailer if you're towing something regularly, then sure, you need the torque.
I would wager that 95% of truck owners do not actually need a truck.
How am I going to move an ATV in a minivan or station wagon?
I invite you to read my comment again.
Again though, I ask how regularly you do this. If you go out every week? Sure it makes sense, have a truck to carry them out every week. However, an ATV is light enough a cheap trailer attached to any number of vehicles would be able to tow it. If it's monthly or less, then again, renting a truck is cheaper on the books, or again a cheap trailer is only a couple thousand.
Again, I grew up in rural America surrounded by truck people exactly like you. This is not some new opinion I gained a couple months ago. Do you want to keep trying to trip me up because I guarantee I've heard it all before. To date there are only maybe a small reasons I see to own a truck, and most of them involve some level of using it for blue-collar work.
Sounds like a job for a trailer
Do you know Brooks Wheelan?
It's perfectly representative of the opinion asked for.
Getting down voted is hilarious, because we're admitting "fuck you, this is actually awesome."
Out of curiosity, why did you buy it? It's so big and seems like a safety hazard for people, wasteful as well.
What would've convinced you to switch back to something else? Or what would convince others to do so?