Mid-size truck (Tacoma, etc.) - short bed or long bed?

I assume there are a lot of Tacoma owners on here. Did you go for the short bed or the long bed? And for those who went with the short bed - do you find it big enough or do you wish you went with the long bed? My first thought is that a 5 foot bed sounds small and very limiting, but I've been paying more attention to it driving around town recently and surprised to see that the vast majority of mid-size trucks seem to be short bed (even for mountain bikers). Planning on using it mainly for skiing, mountain biking and camping type stuff.

Short beds more than enough room for me.. I'd rather have the 4 doors than the extra box space cause I don't need to haul that much crap.. and the 4 door long box just looks too long and cumbersome.

Short bed works for me. I also have to drive downtown and park regularly so it makes that a whole lot easier. The only time i find myself wishing for a long bed is camping with the bikes.... The back fills up pretty quick with all the gear so requires a bike rack be used...

The long bed on a Tacoma fits a bike better than my ranger did and with  a cap I can lock  the bike in there.

BTW I bought the cap at Raven in PG and it was 500$ cheaper than Capit for the exact same Leer cap

as for extra length I live in a town that still has Angle parking on main st

I have an old 4 door Frontier with the long bed and it is still not that hard to manage the length.  We have a really tight turn into our garage and my wife can handle that no problem.  Just sayin.

Having said that I bought it 2nd hand and would have preferred the short box if I could have found one I liked.  I don't generally find I need the room since it is just for the odd garbage run or storing bikes back there.

Posted by: MaxRockatansky

Short bed works for me. I also have to drive downtown and park regularly so it makes that a whole lot easier. The only time i find myself wishing for a long bed is camping with the bikes.... The back fills up pretty quick with all the gear so requires a bike rack be used...

100% Agree, camp gear fills the bed quickly

Not sure about the newest generation, but to get a manual transmission with 4 doors & 4x4 I had to go short box (if you like to shift gears)

I like the idea of a shorter truck in general (wheelbase and overall length) so would like to go short box as long as it will do the trick. Thinking of getting a camper shell. I figure there should be enough cargo space for 99% of the time if I have the short bed + extra height of the camper. Would probably have to use my bike rack for bigger trips but I can live with that. 

You guys can fit normal length skis (185cm) in the short bed, right? I assume you just have to put them diagonally?

I have a roof top tent and mounted it on a bedrack over the box, so that it doesn't stick up over the cab, even with carrying a 33 inch spare in the box ( building a swing out tire carrier in a couple weeks for it) I have more than enough room for all my camping and recovery gear. 

Frontiers come with roof racks so easy enough to mount skis there.. also unlike the Tacoma, it comes with modern technologies such as disc brakes.. lol couldn't resist that dig, I bet tacos are easier to park.. frontys have a lunar orbit in place of a turning circle.

Bro-in-law and sister were looking at a new Taco; I asked them if they’d buy a 2020 bike with rim brakes. They bought an F150 in the end.

Posted by: Endur-Bro

Bro-in-law and sister were looking at a new Taco; I asked them if they’d buy a 2020 bike with rim brakes. They bought an F150 in the end.

The truck I am most interested in is actually the Ford Ranger. Only available in short bed (supercrew version) so that's why I am asking. Just mentioned the Tacoma because I get the impression that it's the most popular truck by far amongst mountain bikers in BC.

Posted by: Adam-West
 frontys have a lunar orbit in place of a turning circle.

pfft, try a full size crew cab truck with an 8ft box

Hey guys - synchro has a bigger truck than you!

And yeah, get the “long” box. It’s still a pretty small truck and cameras make parking a truck super easy anyway.

F150 Platinum or Limited get that full size quad you can dress in and auto parallel parking feature.

Or you could be bold and ignore the haters.  Get one of these bad boys.  It comes with a ramp.  It's perfect.