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The Reason Why Are Trucks Getting Bigger

(toddofmischief.blogspot.com)
173 points yasp | 1 comments | 11 Aug 22 13:06 UTC | HN request time: 0.2s | source
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aejnsn ◴[11 Aug 22 14:05 UTC] No.32425777[source]▶
My truck doesn’t drive near pedestrian areas. A smaller truck cannot trailer my work loads or toys. My modern diesel with high-tech emissions systems intact gets 20+ mpg unloaded.

Perhaps some of you remember trucks of the 80s. Not much has changed dimensionally, without safety improvements. Those did ~8-10 mpg unloaded while making 25% of the power with half the tow rating of a recent truck and none of the modern safety features for collision avoidance, blind spot monitoring, etc. The armchair distortion is real here. Please visit the numbers before making blanket anecdotes—the manufacturer websites have good uptime for their brochures. :)

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1. driverdan ◴[11 Aug 22 16:50 UTC] No.32428512[source]▶
> Not much has changed dimensionally

Completely untrue. I have a 2003 GM 1 ton extended cab truck. A 2022 long bed, extended cab F150 is longer, hood is higher, has much larger blind spots, and significantly larger wheels. My truck is wider because of dual wheels but if it was single it would be about the same width.

Trucks have gotten unnecessarily large with ridiculous blind spots.

As for your other comments, my truck does get worse mileage unloaded but about the same while towing. I've upgraded the injectors and tuned it so it has a lot more power than it did stock. The $50k I saved over a new truck will pay for more than a lifetime of fuel.