Well yes I'd really like an unironic tank actually, but you get it
i absolutely hate what the US has done to its truck market. over a decade ago, i started down a career path that a light duty pickup would be ideally suited, and if i could get a diesel, it would be that much better. i'm a big guy, but i can fit into tiny cabs no problem. what i needed was a little guy that sipped fuel and would let me pick up / move a few hundred pounds of loose material or cargo. think specialized landscaping.
trouble is, that kind of vehicle is not made in america anymore. and is de facto not allowed to be imported into america, due to some nixon era protectionist horseshit (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken_tax). not even gas, let alone a diesel. there used to be vehicles in that class. the Chevy LUV, various Datsuns in the 70s and into the very early 80s same with the VW Rabbit Pickup. google any of these vehicles to see pictures. they fucking existed and they were popular. dodge used to have a "Ram 50" with a long bed that was just a gorgeous little worker's truck until 1986. the true light duty pickup in america was all but gone, with maybe 1990 chevy S10 or the mid 90's ford ranger, still looking kinda small at the right angle, but not really a small truck by comparison to the halcyon days of the late 70s and early 80s.
by 2000, the only light duty pickups on the road were those well maintained princes of yesteryear, and the slightly large old tacomas and S10s passing themselves off as little trucks when seen next to the looming giants.
now, if you go literally anywhere else on plant earth, you can find light duty pickups, even diesels. they're all over latin america, europe, asia, central africa. one might even say the small, versatile tiny pickups are the standard vehicle of the working people of the world. not here in shitty america. for a brief moment there was talk of india importing their little mahindras to the US through a single dealership in Texas, but some mysterious lawsuit made it go away. here in shitty america, if you want a small pickup, you need to find a old grandpa with a well maintained little pickup that he keeps in the garage and offer him money to will it to you. or you can order something shipped via a container, but the DOT will require it to be more than 20 years old, have a governor installed to keep it under 25mph, and forbid you from operating it on public roads.
i have looked into this, because Kei Trucks are the most beautifully designed trucks on the planet. i had the pleasure of using one when i worked on a small farm in east asia... a used (mid 2000s), beat up 4WD Daihatsu Hijet with a hydraulic lift. the engine was like 700ccs and it hauled serious ass and serious weight up serious grades. my blood rushes when i think about how much i hate this country for not letting us have that kind of truck, instead offering us a buffet of oversized turds that swill gasoline and basically suck at everything that anybody who needs a truck wants one for. fuck this stupid country up its stupid ass. american pickup trucks are garbage and i would relish the opportunity to strangle every american truck manufacturer with my bare hands.
some people turn their heads when supercars go by, or cars with lots of aftermarket work... not me. my head only swivels for those rare gems, the light duty pickups of decades passed, chugging along and keeping the dream alive.
I really wish I could find a light duty pickup. I appreciated and felt every word of this post. Right now I've got an older midsize SUV that's basically a light duty with a canopy permanently welded onto it, and it works, but it would be nice to not have to worry about height clearances and it would be nice to have better shocks, right now I just underinflate my tires because I drive on a lot of dirt or gravel road.
Capitalists pricing me out of being able to properly do my job is just par for the course for their myopic bullshit, yet I will still whine about it, because it's dumb and I will impotently hate it.
Australia's love of the Ute (a pickup made from a car chassis) does have some advantages.
My farm family has 2 early 90s Ford Rangers from whenever they were producec that will be forced into service until the end of time. Then they have an F150 that could basically crush the two without a second thought. Runs half as well and had huge blind spots. Ick.
I love how used Bajas or 90's S10/Tacoma go for like $15,000. Same with older Jeeps. It's like you aren't allowed to have a vehicle that might possibly have a use outside driving you to and from the suburbs.
Argentina is having thebsame shit, but here started later. I used to drive a Chevy/Isuzu LUV running on diesel of course and it was perfect
Hear hear. I want someone (me if i have to) to design an affordable, road legal pickup that can also be added to something like the Open Source Ecology thing.
Its because 90+% of trucks aren't made for working people to buy anymore. They're for small business tyrants or middle management who have are insecure in their manhood because they see manliness as an outward projection instead of something of intrinsic positive traits.
or dipshit wealthy white dudes from the coast who move to a more rural area and land a six figure job & suddenly decide to become a mudding enthusiast out of the blue
I meant more that they are looking to purchase and project the traits (because its much easier) instead of working or cultivating them, if that makes sense?
I don't even get the "I have to carry tools" argument. The percentage of trucks vs cars sold now is way up to even 10 years ago, and it's not like everyone has taken up home improvement. It's so clearly petro-masculinity.
I feel like I see cargo vans being used more by construction/landscaping type businesses these days
Unless you really badly need the better suspension of a truck, it’s the more practical choice
My buddies dad does general contract work and he had one of those big trucks with the tool kit and everything on it. Only used it when he absolutely had to cause it used so much damn fuel and couldn't even use it to haul shit if it was gonna rain. Sold it for a transit van then pimped out the back with custom shelves and stuff to carry all his tools. It's a mini portable workshop and he loves it. Uses way less fuel and much nicer ride.
And when I say custom I mean the man got in there with plywood and steel and built it himself. Only thing he spent money on was a nice mat for the floor. It was completely bare when he got it.
I sure do love to see $50,000 full-cab trucks driving down a residential area with no passengers and an empty bed.
Showerthought edit: They probably started doing the hardtop truck bed covers specifically so noone knows you are hauling dead air in the back of your over-priced PeenMachine
I think those really had a surge in popularity when gas prices went way up in the 2000s. The two main benefits to those are better aerodynamics and fuel efficiency (marginal gains, obvs), plus the ability to lock the thing rather than having to leave anything you are carrying up for grabs.
I do think you're on to something, though.
It's better when there are no passengers. Having to ride in someone's ego machine that is really set up entirely around the driver's seat sucks. It's always cramped and i have to hear them listen to bad country and brag about four wheel drive or whatever when I'm just waiting to jump out and do stretches.
Because it is and is totally meant for towing a load, not just tooling around town.
i know we're not supposed to blame individuals for climate change because capitalism is responsible, but holy shit that guy needs to have his truck taken away
i'm unironically becoming an eco-stalinist, no more fucking trucks
Eco-stalinist
Furiously writing it down in the list of cool usernames for when I got banned
he just said “non truck guys just don’t understand.”
This is literally Peter Griffin, when he grew a moustache. lmao.
The thing that bugs me most about newer pickups is the bed height. Like wtf no I don't want to lift everything above my nipples every time I load my truck.
Also me: "maybe I should put a flatbed on the 3/4 ton". Something something dialectics.
Also a lot of these are fucking awful trucks. Stuff like the Chevy Avalanche makes it so clear that it's not actually about carrying cargo, but because you need a big vroom vroom to feel like a man and SUVs are for women. Nevermind that you only need the power twice a year to haul your $30,000 trailer to a glorified parking lot with a fire pit that's a half hour drive away.
$30k is a low-ball for the kinda trailers these dudes have. My uncle has one that's like $200k..I've seen it used maybe once
The best cars are the ones that couple together in long lines and are towed along rails.
Station wagons and hatchbacks do everything SUVs do without the horrible gas mileage or danger to pedestrians. There is no reason to have such a high ride height and tall grille.
Finally, the comment that makes them bring back the downvotes.
lol the bed is basically the same size, you just strapped it to the front half of a full van
Trucks are growing in size as people are increasingly alienated and emasculated although this also has something to do with how it’s apparently cheaper to build bigger cars for some reason?
Toyota Hiluxes are literally not sold in the US because of some stupid trade slapfight or something
Yeah, both for the mileage reasons someone else described, and because they can get away with charging more for them for whatever reason. They don't make small hatchbacks anymore, but you can get a subcompact crossover that's basically the same thing, but with its floor raised a few inches and an extra three or four grand tacked onto the price!
And here’s me spending my money on platform thigh high boots
Also hate that these same people can't stand to damage their interior and opt to tie their dog out back to ride in the truck bed.
But it snows sometimes! And I occasionally drive on a gravel road to go camping!
Also these people 100% still crash when it does snow because they don't slow down and think a 4x4 is some-kind of snowmobile.
