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Posted: 2/22/2020 3:50:10 AM EDT
Tacomas are still fairly small but every manufacturer used to offer a small truck. Now damn near every truck is the size of a small aircraft carrier. A 1998 Dakota was damn near perfect size. You could get a truck weighing 3,308 to 3,979 lbs, 250 hp which was great for its time and could tow 6k pounds. Put a modern engine in there and you would have one hell of a formidable little beast. Will they ever make a comeback ?
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Ford ranger, chevy colorado? View Quote |
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There is no “small” truck sold in the US anymore. The dimensions of the current smaller trucks are pretty much what 1/2 tons were 20 years ago.
Small trucks were popular when they had small prices. By the time the Tacoma was created, the price was already matching 1/2 tons. It was a hard sell, and so they became 1/2 tons. |
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Quoted:
There is no “small” truck sold in the US anymore. The dimensions of the current smaller trucks are pretty much what 1/2 tons were 20 years ago. Small trucks were popular when they had small prices. By the time the Tacoma was created, the price was already matching 1/2 tons. It was a hard sell, and so they became 1/2 tons. View Quote |
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Jeep Wrangler with the rear seat removed may be the closest you can get today for a small truck.
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Yes it's dead. People want bigger vehicles, and government safety standards have regulated them out of existence.
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It's going to be a sad day when my 2nd gen taco dies.
I want a truck with a 6ft bed that will fit in my garage. There's nothing on the market currently that will fit that requirement. |
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The small trucks of today (they’re actually called mid size trucks now) are still small compared to the huge half tons and of course the massive HD trucks on the market today.
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Ford is working on one rumored to be on their new Focus platform. I bet it will sell very well.
https://www.tfltruck.com/2019/03/2021-ford-courier-mini-truck-prototype-shows-independent-rear-suspension-and-dual-exhausts-spied/ Attached File Attached File |
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Quoted:
There is no “small” truck sold in the US anymore. The dimensions of the current smaller trucks are pretty much what 1/2 tons were 20 years ago. Small trucks were popular when they had small prices. By the time the Tacoma was created, the price was already matching 1/2 tons. It was a hard sell, and so they became 1/2 tons. View Quote |
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I swapped out of a large 5th wheel trailer and A Dodge Dually and bought a new motorhome in2016. We needed a towable truck. I looked around and the ONLY candidate for US was the GMC Canyon. I has electronic shift driveline disengagement which is WONDERFUL for hooking/unhooking. We bought it and off we went. Over time , after owning many NICE trucks over the years I've come to like my little truck very much. It's as nice inside as any truck I've ever had. Has all the bells and whistles I need. The best things are the ease of use for me. I can ACTUALLY reach into the bed and retrieve something. It is super easy to park and get around traffic in. Big enough inside for both of us AND a 92 lb Boxerdog. Plenty of storage under the back seat.
For power it pulls our small trailer with our CanAm Commander on it just fine even through the mountains. By itself I've made many many 400 mile roundtrip days in it to my sons home range to practice LR stuff with him. Never once have I felt uncomfortable. I'm just generally very happy with the product. I hope they have a similar model when its time to trade again. |
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Quoted: The 2020 Ranger is the size of an early 90s F150. They are not "small trucks". They are quite a bit larger than the third gen Ranger. View Quote |
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Got a ‘20 Tacoma, I don’t need a big truck, I just haul camping gear, occasional run to the dump, plus I get 18 mpg
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Yes it's dead. People want bigger vehicles, and government safety standards have regulated them out of existence. View Quote |
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The 2020 Ranger is the size of an early 90s F150. They are not "small trucks". They are quite a bit larger than the third gen Ranger. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
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Ford ranger, chevy colorado? Kharn |
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I liked the older Dakota I rented a while back. That little V-8 moved that truck right along.
Too bad the Dakota was such an unreliable, poorly built POS overall. |
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I have an '11 GMC Canyon.
Love that damn truck. Pulls my boat, dirt bikes, quads with no problems. Drives like a sportscar. Extended cab opens to put guns/gear/groceries super easy. I think it has 242HP with the 5 cylinder. New Colorados are definitely bigger. |
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https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/300897/download__1___2__jpeg-1286327.JPG I want one in the worst way... View Quote |
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Quoted:
There is no “small” truck sold in the US anymore. The dimensions of the current smaller trucks are pretty much what 1/2 tons were 20 years ago. Small trucks were popular when they had small prices. By the time the Tacoma was created, the price was already matching 1/2 tons. It was a hard sell, and so they became 1/2 tons. View Quote |
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I don’t think the Ranger getting a little larger is a bad thing. Extra room is needed as things change in your life. As long as it was the wife and I with one dog the Ranger was perfect for traveling to the cabin and hunting. After adding a few more pups in our life it got a little cramped. We still use it for that but most of the time we take the 4Runner.
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My '97 extended cab Ranger 2wd, 2.3L, 5-spd XLT would get 27-28mpg on the highway with A/C on. Low 20s around town. Nothing can touch that anymore.
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Trucks are too danm big
I want a truck the size of a danm forte, but no All I need or want is a 5 foot bed, 2 doors and a 2L engine |
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It's going to be a sad day when my 2nd gen taco dies. I want a truck with a 6ft bed that will fit in my garage. There's nothing on the market currently that will fit that requirement. View Quote |
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Per Google-
1992 F-150 = 79" wide x 197"-235" long 2020 Ranger = 78" wide x 211" long |
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You must have a small ass garage. Guy across the street parks his Silverado 2500hd with long bed quad cab in his garage. And that's an apartment garage. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
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It's going to be a sad day when my 2nd gen taco dies. I want a truck with a 6ft bed that will fit in my garage. There's nothing on the market currently that will fit that requirement. This is not even a quad door cab That’s too tight to even be reasonable |
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And at that size, weight, gas mileage, and price point, you might as well get a half ton. Kharn View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
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Ford ranger, chevy colorado? Kharn https://www.brandonford.com/vehicle-details/new-2019-ford-ranger-xl-tampa-fl-id-33547571 |
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Wasn't there rumors a few months ago Ford is testing a new 'Courier' that is the size of small trucks in the 70s and 80s?
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Jeep Wrangler with the rear seat removed may be the closest you can get today for a small truck. View Quote Read your comment and thought "yeah, good point" . Remembered that I daily a JL.Wrangler with the rear seat removed from the day I bought it I love the damn thing, 285 hp, 8 spd ZF trans, 4.10 gears with a weight of 2977 (no seat, no spare and muffler delete) so it's relatively quick. It is quick and shorter than most 4 door compacts. Sits up higher for a better view and can navigate over curbs. But the fact that it is such a tiny sliver of the market ... |
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Personally, I won't buy any truck less than 3,980 pounds. But that's just me...
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I have a 2015 quad cab Tacoma TRD that’s been great and my FIL picked up a 2019 Colorado that he likes so far.
My only grip with the Tacoma is that it is a PITA with a rearward facing car seat and I wish it had a bit more power at elevation. On the flip side, it’s never given me a problem and will go damn near anywhere. I have 19 GMC 1500 4x4 company truck and wouldn’t dream of taking it up some of the mtn trails here. |
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The problem isn't that no one wants a small truck anymore.
The problem is no one wants to pay $30k+ for a small truck. The combination of .gov mandated safety and emissions regulations is the main culprit in the demise of the small truck market. ETA: In high school, I had a 1981 Datsun pickup. Four banger, carbureted, 5 speed. It got 30 to 35 mpg. Is there even a new truck made today that will get 35 mpg? |
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no it is being forcecfully drown by the big compsnie to sell more 65K trucks
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That is kinda funny.
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Not quite, if you shop around that is. https://www.brandonford.com/vehicle-details/new-2019-ford-ranger-xl-tampa-fl-id-33547571 View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
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Ford ranger, chevy colorado? Kharn https://www.brandonford.com/vehicle-details/new-2019-ford-ranger-xl-tampa-fl-id-33547571 Kharn |
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The market is getting a combo of what the Gov and the market want.
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Everyone on here claims they want a small truck, but the market doesn't bear that out. There isn't a crank window/no frills/non-fancy-electronics small truck that people will buy, unless you include the Nissan Frontier that everyone loves to shit on because it's old an outdated, even though it falls square in the price and capability range everyone claims to want.
I have also not seen anyone post a picture of their small trucks where they aren't all crew cab, and people mock the guys who post their standard cab full size work trucks. There aren't small pickups because nobody buys them. Everyone buys a crew cab medium pickup instead, and enough people complain that their small pickup isn't big enough, so they've grown into the size a 1990s F150 used to be, so that the full size king ranch behemoths don't have to be constrained by former operating size. |
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I saw a regular cab short bed truck a few days ago. Looked like a toy. OTOH I parked my 09 GMC 2500 HD CC LB next to a new, lifted Ford Super Duty 2500.....what a monster.
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The problem is that mid sized trucks essentially cost the same as full size trucks. Makes more sense for most people to buy the bigger more capable truck.
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Quoted:
There is no “small” truck sold in the US anymore. The dimensions of the current smaller trucks are pretty much what 1/2 tons were 20 years ago. Small trucks were popular when they had small prices. By the time the Tacoma was created, the price was already matching 1/2 tons. It was a hard sell, and so they became 1/2 tons. View Quote |
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The small to midsize trucks now days are the size of full-size trucks 25 years ago.
Modern day full size trucks are huge. I drove a 91' GMC Sonoma through HS and college and it had less room than a VW bug inside. |
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