Why We Can't Get Small Trucks Anymore

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the EPA has caused plenty of stupid decisions resulting in the exact opposite of what they are supposed to do
 
I had one of these little buggers, 5 speed.
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:ghostly:
 
I have a Toyota Tacoma from one of the last years they made them small. She's over 20 years old and going strong.
Red, stick.
 
If I would have to name a 3 letter agency I hate the most, the EPA would be it! I had to deal with them the entire time I was working as a engineer and some of the crap they come up with is just ridiculous!!! 2 examples I will never forget: they insisted I fill out information on a form ( permitting stuff for a local city) reporting the amount of snowfall we got in Florida the previous year. I put n/a. They did not accept the entire 30 some page document because of that and told me I have to put an amount. So I put 0 ( zero) , reprinted , made 5 copies and sent it again. Huge waste of time and effort and money. Then, I was supposed to figure out how to clean mercury out of a lake because they caught a fish that had a tiny almost undetectable level of mercury in it ( in a lake that got direct road runoff and nobody fished in ever, it was a nasty little pond) . So we set up water testing to see how much was in the water. ZERO. We tested the muck on the bottom Zero mercury. They still insisted we come up with a plan to remove mercury from the lake....
there are more of those but just to give you an idea how these bureaucratic pinheads operate

it is also hard to find LARGE trucks you can do work with now. We looked last year to replace our Dodge Ram 2500 with a long bed. Not available at any cost around here. Seems like all trucks now have short beds and no more single cabs either. Why do city people need to drive a pickup with a tiny bed ? Fashion statement?
 
the first gen GM S-T trucks & suvs were great, the ford rangers early explorers were ggreat except for the designed to fail battery posts. Engine size has almost nothing to do with fuel economy except on a test track. matched drive train and driver skill does. Foot print should have nothing to do with fuel ratings, taking the stuff back to the dealer for false claims should. Government involvement especially at a bureaucratic level is VERY BAD and needs to stop,
 
sonya123 said:
If I would have to name a 3 letter agency I hate the most, the EPA would be it! I had to deal with them the entire time I was working as a engineer and some of the crap they come up with is just ridiculous!!! 2 examples I will never forget: they insisted I fill out information on a form ( permitting stuff for a local city) reporting the amount of snowfall we got in Florida the previous year. I put n/a. They did not accept the entire 30 some page document because of that and told me I have to put an amount. So I put 0 ( zero) , reprinted , made 5 copies and sent it again. Huge waste of time and effort and money. Then, I was supposed to figure out how to clean mercury out of a lake because they caught a fish that had a tiny almost undetectable level of mercury in it ( in a lake that got direct road runoff and nobody fished in ever, it was a nasty little pond) . So we set up water testing to see how much was in the water. ZERO. We tested the muck on the bottom Zero mercury. They still insisted we come up with a plan to remove mercury from the lake....
there are more of those but just to give you an idea how these bureaucratic pinheads operate

it is also hard to find LARGE trucks you can do work with now. We looked last year to replace our Dodge Ram 2500 with a long bed. Not available at any cost around here. Seems like all trucks now have short beds and no more single cabs either. Why do city people need to drive a pickup with a tiny bed ? Fashion statement?
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From a post in a thread on a similar subject on another forum, Dodge dropped the long bed from their 1500 line entirely and you have to step up to the 2500/3500 to get one.

Look on the fleet side of dealerships to find things like single cab/long bed trucks.

My grandson needed a truck for his new job (elevator repair) and I advised him to not buy anything newer than 2018 (after which the quality of all brands fell off a cliff). Also that the older the better, as it would have none of the phone home, track your movements, remote shut down, spy crap on it.

He ended up getting a 2006 F350 cab/chassis with an 8' pickup bed on it.
 
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300K miles on my 98 toyota tacoma....the small one. It has the slightly bigger cab with two tiny seats in the back. It also takes 14 inch tires which I buy used from a guy who services the little mail trucks, they take 14 inchers and have super heavy sidewals to protect against rubbing curbs....really tough tires.
 
Patchouli said:
Come to Texas @sonya123 there are pick up trucks everywhere, except not in my driveway.
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this made me look again. NO, nothing here, I tried a few sites but no such truck within 100 miles of us. I put in 2500 engine, 4wd, 8 ft bed
Nothing
It's ok, ours passed inspection last year ( it is rusted bad on the bottom)
hopefully it will pass again this year, husband pained anti rust stuff on the bottom

there are tons of trucks for sale but no any with a 8 ft bed. Most have 4 doors and a short bed. And ALL of them have ridiculous prices!
 
Patchouli said:
Why do farm trucks or older models have to get inspected in Virginia? As far as I know, @sonya123 here in Texas that’s not required. Right @Pearl ?
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if you drive them on the road they have to be inspected here. We do have a farm tag on it, which is just cheaper on registration

besides, if the frame falls apart it won't matter....we will still not be able to drive it
 
Patchouli said:
Why do farm trucks or older models have to get inspected in Virginia? As far as I know, @sonya123 here in Texas that’s not required. Right @Pearl ?
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Vehicles 24 years old and older and gasoline engine farm trucks only require a safety inspection (horn, lights, brakes, windshield wipers) instead of an emissions inspection!
 
Pearl said:
Vehicles 24 years old and older and gasoline engine farm trucks only require a safety inspection (horn, lights, brakes, windshield wipers) instead of an emissions inspection!
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our area doesn't have emission inspections, just safety stuff like ...a rusted frame ...( or brakes, or missing lights stuff like that)

Florida had no inspections at all , not even for safety stuff
 
sonya123 said:
this made me look again. NO, nothing here, I tried a few sites but no such truck within 100 miles of us. I put in 2500 engine, 4wd, 8 ft bed
Nothing
It's ok, ours passed inspection last year ( it is rusted bad on the bottom)
hopefully it will pass again this year, husband pained anti rust stuff on the bottom

there are tons of trucks for sale but no any with a 8 ft bed. Most have 4 doors and a short bed. And ALL of them have ridiculous prices!
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Are you searching new or used trucks?

My grandson said there were lots of long bed F250/350s in his used search.
 
Steve_In_29 said:
Are you searching new or used trucks?

My grandson said there were lots of long bed F250/350s in his used search.
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I don;t like fords oh and used and not too expensive

and where are they? I think the problem is we were looking for something very specific
if you have a link to those trucks I will take a look at the website!
 
sonya123 said:
I don;t like fords oh and used and not too expensive

and where are they? I think the problem is we were looking for something very specific
if you have a link to those trucks I will take a look at the website!
Click to expand...
No links as it wasn't me doing the search and I don't know what sites he was looking at. He is in Colorado and the trucks were from there to Texas in his searches.

With the current exorbitant pricing on new trucks, the prices on used have been increased so "not too expensive" might be hard to achieve.

If you are super specific about what you want, you might have to consider vastly widening your search area. From your previous post, am I to take it that you are looking for a single cab, long bed? 4x4? How old? Engine?

One problem with finding older vehicles in the northeast/midwest is that the road salts tend to do them in.

His rust free, 2006 Ford single cab, diesel, 4x4, pickup conversion cost him $12K and was just an hour away. With the value of all the add-ons (commercial topper, bumpers, wheels/tires, pickup conversion, upgrades on engine, lift, etc) he basically paid for them and got the truck for free. Blue book on a single cab, cab and chassis was only $10K so he had to come out of pocket $2K to get the loan.

And before anyone bitches about him getting a loan for a 2006, his financials were in a state of flux still after getting out of the Army and didn't have $12K in cash available. Things settled down right after he got the truck when his back pay from the VA came in, so he is going to let the note run for 6 months to build credit and then pay it off.

As to not being fond of Fords I can say that not even my 1999 Ranger (to say nothing of my 2007 F350) has to be coddled like my neighbor's Ram 1500. When I help him transport things he is always having to tell me to take it easy when tightening cargo straps. You can see the bed flexing before the strap is even really tight.
 
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