Newer trucks

Why are all newer trucks 4 door with uselessly short beds?
Why are all new trucks stupidly priced?
What happened to reg cab with 8' beds?
Why are the few reg cab trucks I see, all white?

4 doors to fit the family. Short bed because they would be soooo long and the family doesn't need the bed

High price because they are usually high optioned and a lot of vehicle.

You do still see some regular cab long bed but only in commercial use,

White is cooler for the commercial use, neutral color.

why do all the new trucks start to rust one year into the payments? No thanks, I'll stick to my '81

No demand for regular cab 8' bed trucks except for the trades, and that's why they are white. They are going to build what sells and the decked out 4-doors are selling.

Yep, you want a bare bones truck you'll have to buy a work truck or order it that way. And forget about trade in value just keep it forever.

Why are all newer trucks 4 door with uselessly short beds?
Because generally, the population keeps getting bigger and fatter and people can't fit into cars anymore. Therefore, they buy trucks as family vehicles and the vehicles are used more to haul people than cargo.


Why are all new trucks stupidly priced?
Because people are willing to pay the outrageous price. The profit margin on these vehicles is huge, even after giving buyers 10K or more off MSRP. The auto makers will keep bumping up the prices till sales fall off. Then they'll give huge rebates and people will brag about the great deal they got. And the automakers still rake in huge profits.


What happened to reg cab with 8' beds?
The majority of trucks are now used to haul people instead of cargo, therefore no need for an 8' bed unless you are a contractor. I still have an '87 Dakota with regular cab and 8' bed in very nice condition, but most have been used up and junked. I get offers fairly often from people who want to buy it.



Why are the few reg cab trucks I see, all white?
Contractor's color of choice.

I much prefer my '79 Power Wagon to the new trucks, but I have to disagree with you here. I don't think they rust after a year, generally speaking, and have you looked at the drip rail roof area, top of wheel wells, and several other spots on older trucks? And I mean after they were only a few years old.

I worked with a guy had a 2016 Dodge Cummins 4WD. It had rust over the back wheels barely a year after he got it, and he kept it spotless. Dodge does seem to be the worst, but I have seen other brands of newer truck with the bed rot.
Yeah the D Series trucks are known for the drip rail rot. Seems to be no rhyme or reason...I've seen rotteed to death trucks with good cab roofs and clean bodies with rusty roofs.

Mopar, and most of the other brands have decided that sealing the inner and outer bed wheel housing with a water retaining foam product is a good idea. Many are sealing the rockers with the same stuff. The foam makes a nice tight rattle free fit, and its cheap. Then they can sell you a new truck faster because the old one rusted away, its a double win for them. Gene

Rust, what rust.

For me the standard cab was useless. My truck was used mainly to tow my race car. Gets old taking several cars and the pits are already crowded enough.

Now I can haul the wife, grandkids, my son in one vehicle. Not fitting many in the 2018 Moostang my wife owns and she doesn't want to drive a sedan.

8' bed , I fit eveything I need in the 6'4 bed. If I need more I drop the tail gate.

Stupid price. I'm happy with what I paid for my 2018 Ram 2500 Megacab with the Cummins. Listed at almost 59k and I paid 42k.

Why white, why not. I bought white because other than black I like it best for vehicles. No way I'm buying that big of a truck thats black. I have more to do than wash a truck every day lol.

Worst for rust up here in the rust belt are Ford trucks. Altho the last style of GMs were also junk. Dodge fixed most of their rust problems with the 2009s.

The 2018-earlier Rams do have a real moisture trap area above the rear wheels. There is a very tight doublewall area you can feel - you gotta drop the wheelwell liner to get at it though. I rustproofed these areas on mine the spring after I bought the truck - had to do it by feel because you cannot really see this area.

I am not a yuppie so I bought a 2015 2500 4x4 regular cab long box new. They are still out there, just gotta have a good dealer near you like I do, they ordered it and I was there for an oil change on my minivan and walked the lot, I ended up trading in the minivan and driving the Ram home!

have 2003 dually it came with a full plastic liner in the wheel house , if you ever change a bed side you will see that the plastic liner is a necessity .liner keeps mud ,snow and salt from getting trapped between panels. my sits outside all winter and summer.

I just bought another 2011 ram 4 door for my personal truck, I had one, sold it and immediately regretted it, well this "new" truck has bigger rear doors and smaller bed than my other one, didn't know that was possible butt I am stuck with it now. I could use the bed space more than the cab space but I guess I did not pay enough attention to the pics, gonna go ahead and build my 6.4 SRT engine and keep it anyhow. I have ate kids so it is nice to beable to bring more than 2 with me when I go hunting or the store or whatever but they could (and would) still fit in the back of a dakota but the 4 door dak bed is even smaller than this one and useless to me. All the yuppies buying trucks has ruined trucks for people who actually need a truck. I won't afford a new truck so I can't be near as picky.

Too true !!! In 2002, the 4x4's got the wheel liners . . .so when I bought my 2wd, I bought a set from parts department and put them on, from day one !! No rust . . . .

Why are all new trucks all 4wd?

I have a 2006 rwd quad cab long box for a work truck. Its got 525,000 km's on it, and when I looked at replacing it, no dealer could find or allocate a rwd truck, all 4x4.
I like the quad cab, as I keep my high usage tools and fragile tools in the back seat area, The long bed is necessary for the work canopy to carry long ladders and pipe.

What that means is your dealer wanted to sell you one they had on the lot and they did not have any on the lot, too much effort to bring one in from texas or arizona. There are still plenty of 2wds out there though the number is slowly shrininking as everyone watches zombie movies and thinks they will need a 4wd in los angelas when the crap hits the fan. In a northern area like your in you will find that when you go to selling your 2wd it will only bring about 1/3 what a 4wd will bring.

FWIW, Rural dealers are better for what you're looking for

Rhino dart, that is very close to what I'd like to have.
Can be 1/2 or 3/4 ton, 2 or 4 wd, definitely want less than 4 doors, 8' bed a must, and prefer green or blue but just about anything but white or red. Absolutely must be a Dodge. Nothing else considered.

I have been scouting CL for clean southern 80s trucks because I can't find what I want in a newer one. Almost bought an 85 D250 out of Texas a few weeks ago but time spent on truck shopping competed with prep time for my son's wedding. And I lost out on it.
My current 96 Dakota 318 club cab 4 wd, is getting tired. I See a clean rust free twin to it on CL in Arkansas at the moment. Tempting for another mileage eater, as I drive 70 miles a day, thinking of buying that and find a clean 80s or early 90s D250 for the non Winter months, don't want to drive anything too nice on the Illinois salt in the winter. And not scratch the surface of the price of a new one.
Would like to stay below 2002 model but I have looked at newer, only because I do live in Illinois and am getting tired of rust. I don't think I will ever be without a truck as long as I am able to drive/ I hate todays sorry excuses for cars they are all too small.

We sat at the computer and went through the entire cross canada dealer pool, Canadian Chrysler dealers can't cross border shop, there would be too much hassle with warranty, and such.