Who has a pick-up truck?

Trucks are great for hauling bikes, and tend to stand up to a lot more abuse than cars. They certainly come in all sorts of shapes and sizes, and depending on what your needs are there are lots of great options. If you need additional people space maybe a used Toyota Tacoma quad cab, or maybe a Subaru Baja or Honda Element possibly if you like a little more fuel economy. I have a 1991 GMC Syclone that handles the bike hauling for me 95% of the time for me. Very convenient and if I keep my foot out of it and drive sensibly I get around 19-21 mpg even with the AWD drivetrain. My goals in life revolve around speed and not people carrying so it works out just fine for my needs.



Bottom line is that trucks are a great bike hauling solution!! Another option would be to consider a Subaru Forester wagon. I have had one of those in the past and they are also great for hauling people, bikes, and camping gear.

Pick-up man

I have been a pick-up man since 1985 I have owned 4 of them starting with a 1981 Datsun (not Nissan), 1985 GMC 1500 4X4, 2000 Toyota Tacoma 4X4 extended cab, & 2005 Chevy 2500 Duramax 4X4 crew cab. By far my favorite had been the Chevy Duramax. I got ask a lot how it compares to the Toyota--I loved my Toyota but there is no comparison. The Chevy is a better truck!! The bottom line for my is the Chevy gets the same gas mileage, but is a lot bigger, rides better and faster!!! As far as reliability the Chevy has beat the Toyota too, the Toyota when back 3 times in 100,000 miles for warranty issues, the Chevy has been back 2 time in 89,000 miles. Both Toyota and Chevy provided excellent customer service. But it is kinda an unfair comparison the Chevy was almost twice as expensive and is a diesel, but it is a damn good truck. I will be getting another Chevy when mine gets 175,000 or so miles on it.

I'm a fan of the p/u myself. I'm driving my '99 Dodge Ram 1500 Quad Cab 4X4, bought it new. I have the small V8 and I get about 16mpg combined hiway/city but I baby it to get that kinda mileage. Straight highway it can get 17-18. Never had a lick of trouble with my truck except that I just replaced the power brake vacuum booster. I use it for hauling dirt bikes, ski trips, hardware store runs as well as transporting the mountain bike. I just toss the bike in the bed of the truck and I have a folding bedcover that keeps it out of sight. the folding bedcover is sweet as you can just fold it back if you need to haul something big but it's a lockable hardshell so when covering the whole bed it's semi-secure. I've often thought about replacing it with a Subaru Forester or Outback but then I'd have to get a dirt bike trailer and I might have to take the front wheel off the MTB to get it in (20MM axle doesn't make that appealing).

this really helps. thanks! for sure it would have to be a quad cab (4-door)- i want it to have the room of a car (of course more is nice) inside and then the flexibility of 4x4 and storage in the bed. it would be me, my wife, and my son- and sometimes one or two others (hence the need to be a quad cab).

i don't have anything to pull right now but i'm entertaining the idea of a pop-up camper. right now we tent camp and enjoy it but i'm sure one day will move toward camper camping. it's also nice to have bikes in the bed along with other camping supplies and not worrying about dirt, mud, etc.

i'm fine with buying used but have heard people really beat the heck out of trucks with hauling and plowing and construction work and sometimes it's not the best to buy used. you find that true? i guess some of that can happen with any used vehicle- i'm all about spending less but have no issues throwing down $30K for a nice truck. not even sure what that would get me new anyway- haven't done that much research yet. ez

i'm fine with buying used but have heard people really beat the heck out of trucks with hauling and plowing and construction work and sometimes it's not the best to buy used. you find that true?

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My Silverado was used and the previous owner used it to haul large trailers. SOB turned it in for a Titan because he wanted more power which was stupid! He could have saved money buy getting a 2500 used off of the same lot and they were all in great condition and with less mileage. I have no issues hauling or pulling anything whatsoever since the guy turned it in. Only issue I had with it was the speedometer which was a recall but that was a free fix. Also you say you're 6'4? I'm 6'2 and I raised the seat all the way up and still have headroom and room on the sides for my long arms. I can also fit 2 bikes in the cab and 6 on the bed and probably 4 to 6 or more on the hitch.

I would take used over new any day!

Oh yea.. before I forget. You have auto 4WD for driving on snow/ice, 4H WD for off road purposes, 4L WD for pulling trailers, and your normal 2 WD for normal driving. Every time I go out after a snow storm I like to see if I can skid and catch traction but my truck just wont let me because of the Auto 4WD option. Never settle for a 2 WD truck. :nono:

Treat it right and she'll take you anywhere.

skyliner1004 said:

check out the Honda Ridgeline. They won truck of the year the first year-model that it was released. It sure is a winner. You get the honda reliability + high resale value.

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Sorry not a truck.:nono: Truck by most is a framed with bolt on body to handle hauling and towing. A frame is the backbone which the truck is built on. Honda makes great cars, motorbikes, engines but is not a truck manufacter. Ridgeline is front drive mostly until wheel slips happens and then drives rears with a bias of 60/40. Front wheel drives is good again for cars but not trucks. Also Ridgeline is a unibody frame that is the same for minivan and pilot models, Again great for a car but most truck the body would not last a few years. Think a unibody is as good as body on frame try loading 1500 lbs to any car and see. Unibodies are stiffer and ride better but are not design for heavy light work as pickup are. I know Honda Ridgeline is rated for 1600lbs but do that day in and out and see how long that body remains tight. If unibodies design were the best, the heavier truck class 5-8 would use it. But all trucks use a body on frame design, a design for work and not for comfort. Toys are goods if American brands are not your cup of tea. Both models are framed vehicles (made to haul and tow) Rear drive or four drive. My favorite is Dodge or Ford. The two of the three Ford trucks I owned had over 250,000 miles and were fairly troublefree. The last Ford I sold due to a offer I could not say no to and got the Dodge sticker was a hair under 7500 and paid cash after talking the dealership down to around 7000.

Car and Driver and Motor trend think trucks include unibodies as trucks. :nono: :madman: