I’m not talking about the bigger pickups that some people use for legtimate work (F250 or F350) but the regular old pickup trucks that individuals have. I let my daughter borrow my car for a trip to St Louis and I was using her Toyota Corolla to run errands. And F150 parked in the spot beside me. This is the view from the drivers seat
Then I went to Jimmy John’s to get a sandwich and parked next to what used to be a “compact” pickup - A Ford Ranger
Kind of scary looking. But why have pickup trucks gotten so damned BIG?
I just got a Ram 3500 and I don’t look at it merely as a truck, this giant hunk of steel and rubber will allow me to pull heavy shit to every corner of this continent. I don’t mind walking and if I do park near other cars, I have the courtesy to fold my mirrors.
I get it, and I’m not trying to bash pickups, but I remember when, if an F150 pulled into the spot beside me while I was sitting in a Toyota Corolla, I could actually see inside the cab. My neighbor had a Ranger years ago and the drivers seat was lower than my CX5. Now it seems “run of the mill” pickup trucks are twice the size that they used to be.
New Maverick = 90’s ranger
New Ranger = 90’s F150
New F150 = 90’s F250
New F250-350 = 90’s F450
People want bigger trucks not smaller trucks. People pay a kings ransom for a F150 these days. My wife has a 19 F150 Larait. We bought it used with 60K miles for $36K. It is rated to pull 12,000#. My 2008 F350 dually is rated to pull 16,000#. I had a 97 F-450 (AKA original superduty) and it was rated to pull 16,000#.
Soon I will have my 88 Ranger with V8 running again. Its the original Ford Fuckin Ranger!!!
NOt sure what that has to do with the size of trucks. Yeah…there are a lot of bike styles but get this…the bike I ride today is pretty much the same size as the bike I rode in 1977. But thanks for saying “our streets” as they are also there for cyclists to use.
My buddy has a '99 Ranger with 4 on the floor, loves that truck so much he just got it painted. He’ll never get his money back for the paint job, his response is he’ll never sell it anyway.
Im taking the engine out of a 88 ranger that I put in years ago for drag racing. It only got 2 mpg and would only run on 100Ll from airport or higher race fuel. It did epic burnouts on the 14" wide tires. Instead of swapping the parts from the parts truck over to the drag truck, it is less work to swap the engine from the race truck to the parts truck.
While the engine is out it is getting modified again. It is getting a new set of heads with larger combustion chambers, different cam, different intake, and some other parts in a quest to make it street able driving. Not sure yet if I will swap the narrowed 9" rear axle or not. It has a full spool and not really made for street use. Here are some pics of the old race truck and setup.
I got new better heads and putting some other parts I have had on the shelf for about 20 years. I just signed a contract to build a home shop. Crazy inflation had me downsize from my ideal size but it will still be 1800 sqft. The first tool I buy will be a car lift. I will probably pause the quest to get the engine swapped until I get the lift. It will be so much easier to do these kinds of projects when I have a home shop with lift.
