Back when I was young, I had a job building, and installing, custom stereos for cars. The place I worked at also did a lot of modifications, one of the most popular things we did was lift trucks, add huge wheels, move exhaust to end above the backs of the cabs, etc. People who had trucks like that, just like the people with the stereos you could hear 5 miles away, absolutely did concern themselves with the way they were perceived, having that tricked out truck. They also rarely used them for work, or took them off road. They liked to cruise them down the night life areas, and show off. They would talk about how excited they were to do this. This was the same with people who tricked their cars out like something from TFATF movies. They never raced, they just showed off.
A lot of that is for the same reason people dress nice or have nice accessories like watches and handbags: Conspicuous consumption makes it look like you have money to at least some people.
And anywhere there are vehicles there’s going to be a vehicle culture, from low riders to pickups to rice tractors
At least performance mods can improve efficiency, with the focus of getting more power from the motor to the pavement. If they are actual performance mods (as opposed to just making exhaust louder or adding a rear spoiler on a front wheel drive car), with exceptions of ones that do that by increasing fuel use.
Though even with that one, driving style can matter. Anecdotal, but my car has a sports mode and an eco mode, as well as a fuel use indicator. I found that using sports mode and then having a range of speed I’d drive at (accelerate hard to top speed of the range, then reduce power so that it slows to the low end then accelerating again) was the most efficient way to drive it. If I tried the same in eco mode, the reduced power meant I spent more time doing the acceleration, and either of those was more fuel efficient than just maintaining one speed. Though it was a frustrating way to drive (both for me and I’m sure for anyone who ended up behind me). You couldn’t go on auto pilot doing it that way and had to pay constant attention to your speed.
It’s kinda like the race to idle strategy for CPU/GPU efficiency. Use lots of power when it’s needed so that it can go back to using much less power.
Yeah, I don’t mind mods that make things better for daily use. I also don’t mind big performance mods, or truck get bigger mods. There is a caveat though, please put the mods to use. If you spend 10k turning your car into a racing/performance car, and you take it to the track, good for you for having a hobby, and skill. Need a big fucking truck to hall around your construction site worth of tools, and materials? Awesome, you have what you need. Modify it for off road use? If you go off road, even just for fun, sure, fine. If you need it because you work in remote locations, or something, wonderful, you have what you need.
Having these loud, intrusive, difficult, gas hog, emission machines, and all you do is daily drive it, and show off? Well, I will look down on that behavior.
If I could trade in my current truck for something more economical, with similar cargo space for the things I actually use it for, I’d take it. Can’t afford a new vehicle, but if I could trade my truck in for one of those stubby EU type trucks, whose beds are almost the same size, I’d do it.
I used to love bombing around the winding roads in the middle of winter at night, you can see people coming for a mile down the road and can go fast. It was fun. I don’t need a big 2,000lb monstrosity to get the same feeling. An ebike and woods will do it.
You should look at importing a kei truck from Japan. They’re tiny little things but the bed is still about the same size as an American pickup. They’re cheap too, including any extra import fees, still less than a truck here, I think like $10,000 total. And if you like working on cars, it seems like it’d be fun to convert to an EV.
Have you considered a cargo van? They tend to get slightly better fuel economy than similar sized trucks. I also find them much better to work out of. Their beds are low, their cargo is covered, you can build shelves and workbenches along the walls, they lock more securely than a truck cap, and they have better visbility.
I’d like to have one, actually. There’s a few with a sloped front that allows for way better visibility that get great gas mileage.
Everything is expensive as shit though…
I’d love to get an Electric van. I don’t need the huge amounts of height some have, it seems trucks get wider and vans get taller. the enclosed cargo space is great for peace of mind, though.
In a perfect world I would get a van with a small frame and small forward silhouette, with no hood or sloped hood, that sits no more than 8ft off the ground. Having a higher suspension, or the ability to raise the suspension for better off-road clearance is nice for some jobs, but not strictly necessary.
I just started working out of a tall van I can stand in. I can’t imagjne going back to crawling around vans. We do need a lot of space for some of our jobs so we do end up needing the larger cargo area. The back of the van doubles as a workshop which is nice as well. Our company did buy a smaller all wheel drive van for some of the more remote places we service.
The upfront cost is a lot but compared to modern trucks worth making the switch when the time comes to replace a work truck. Another benefit of the van is the side can be an excellent billboard when you put the company phone number and name along the side.
Oof yeah, if you work IN the van, standing room would be fantastic.
Right now I have work tables I flip out of my truck bed that all my stuff goes on. If I had to fabricate things on the fly more often, I’d definitely want the tall enclosed space. Slap an exhaust fan on there and good to go.
I imagine it’s great for cold days and rainy days, too…
The lady doth protest too much, methinks. Every single time anyone posts something vaguely critical of these emotional support vehicles, we always get someone with a bruised ego in here trying to fight the entire community over it. Which is hilarious because it kinda just proves the whole point. If it’s not about image then why are people so sensitive about it?
There really isn’t any other explanation for why these monster trucks have become so popular than vanity. Larger trucks with higher, smaller beds have become the norm, and they’re actually less useful for the things you might need a pickup for. And there’s similarly no reason to think that Americans have suddenly discovered a huge need for pickups that didn’t exist 50 years ago. Yet their prevalence on the road has increased dramatically.
It’s just another fashion accessory. But unlike the fedora, it’s a deadly one, and so of course we will criticize you. Don’t like it? Easy solution: stop choosing fashion accessories that kill people. There are plenty of other ways to cosplay wealth or rugged individualism.
Y’all can’t fathom using the vehicle or having fun.
with the trucks on the market at this point, the actual “use case” functionality comprises maybe 10% of the reason people buy them. the rest is peacock feathers sticking out your ass
and the “you can’t fathom having fun” bit LOL – classic “you just don’t get it” defense of anything dumb. and the fact that there’s always always someone who has to chime in and come to the defense of stupidly large obnoxious emotional support trucks just proves the point: “y’all” can’t handle anyone not thinking you’re cool because your goofy ass truck
Instead, experts say, much of the big pickup mania is being driven by consumers’ self-image.
“Today, personality and imagery are playing an even more important role in how consumers choose which truck is right for them,” Strategic Vision researcher Alexander Edwards told Axios.
The firm surveys owners each year about the character traits they associate with their vehicle. Two words set F-150 owners apart: “powerful” and “rugged.”
dude, the trucks are just stupid security blankets. which would be fine if they weren’t such a nuisance, a danger to others on the road, and didn’t take up 4 parking spots. congrats, you are doing the exact opposite of making a case for buying one of these ridiculous bullshits
LOL you’re literally demonstrating my point with every comment you make. it would be adorable if it weren’t so sad. best advice i can give you is stop being SOOOOO concerned about what the entire world thinks about your own perceived lack of manliness
Modern trucks are signifcantly larger and bulkier than their older counterparts. Their bed and bumper heights have increased and many of them have become luxury vehicles. The truck went from a workhorse to the family vehicle.
Many people also buy a vehicle, such as a truck, that is significantly over qualified/over capable for the majority of their trips. If you buy an oversized vehicle, it is on you to deal with parking it and fitting it places, it should not be society’s problem to service oversized vehicles.
Ah yes, so much fun to be had on the daily commute, stuck with everyone else from your sleepy suburb on a congested highway moving at glacial speeds because there’s no other option to safely and effectively get around for the people who don’t want to be there and can’t get out of your way.
Sure, you can take that thing out on weekends on country roads, mudding, camping, hauling ATVs to your favourite trails, building you or your buddy’s cottage, whatever you dream - but that still leaves 5 days of the week in traffic hell if you work in a city. Do you really want your neighbours to be left with no options to get out of your way so you can enjoy driving more on those days?
Most of these oversized trucks you wouldn’t really want to take offroad. They’re built to exploit a tax loophole, not to actually be good trucks. Because they’re generally pavement princesses anyway the makers know they can skimp on the parts that make good offroaders, like suspension and transmission.
The people who know anything about offroad wouldn’t look at them twice anyway, so it’s not where their market is.
Being giant and heavy is actually pretty bad for offroad performance, which is why people will cope by talking about “towing capacity” instead, where weight is an advantage, although most of these trucks don’t get used that way. If you want good offroad performance something like a Jeep is a way better investment.
Whistlin’ Diesel is pretty good at beating on these trucks and showing how weak they are.
Although one time he tried to kill an older model Hilux and it was hilarious to see the dangerous lengths he went to try and fail to break anything on that truck.
Some trucks are made to do work, and it’s not these giant hunks of overpriced garbage.
Another big consideration for off roading is the wheelbase. Shorter wheel bases are easier to maneuver around tight trail corners. They also tend to have better approach angles for hills. There are some situations a long wheel base is better off road but more often shorter is better.
LOL, your inability to comprehend is your problem, not his.
The point is that making transportation alternatives available to the people who don’t like driving leaves more room on the roads for the people who do.
![[meme] reason for bike commuting](https://sopuli.xyz/pictrs/image/ea0cd0b4-1ef1-49cf-b917-320da29efb55.webp){kind=link}
what are these people expecting everyone’s reaction to be when they buy these cartoonish giant clownshoes trucks?
because i see those things and think “oh look, another sensitive douchenozzle”
Back when I was young, I had a job building, and installing, custom stereos for cars. The place I worked at also did a lot of modifications, one of the most popular things we did was lift trucks, add huge wheels, move exhaust to end above the backs of the cabs, etc. People who had trucks like that, just like the people with the stereos you could hear 5 miles away, absolutely did concern themselves with the way they were perceived, having that tricked out truck. They also rarely used them for work, or took them off road. They liked to cruise them down the night life areas, and show off. They would talk about how excited they were to do this. This was the same with people who tricked their cars out like something from TFATF movies. They never raced, they just showed off.
A lot of that is for the same reason people dress nice or have nice accessories like watches and handbags: Conspicuous consumption makes it look like you have money to at least some people.
And anywhere there are vehicles there’s going to be a vehicle culture, from low riders to pickups to rice tractors
At least performance mods can improve efficiency, with the focus of getting more power from the motor to the pavement. If they are actual performance mods (as opposed to just making exhaust louder or adding a rear spoiler on a front wheel drive car), with exceptions of ones that do that by increasing fuel use.
Though even with that one, driving style can matter. Anecdotal, but my car has a sports mode and an eco mode, as well as a fuel use indicator. I found that using sports mode and then having a range of speed I’d drive at (accelerate hard to top speed of the range, then reduce power so that it slows to the low end then accelerating again) was the most efficient way to drive it. If I tried the same in eco mode, the reduced power meant I spent more time doing the acceleration, and either of those was more fuel efficient than just maintaining one speed. Though it was a frustrating way to drive (both for me and I’m sure for anyone who ended up behind me). You couldn’t go on auto pilot doing it that way and had to pay constant attention to your speed.
It’s kinda like the race to idle strategy for CPU/GPU efficiency. Use lots of power when it’s needed so that it can go back to using much less power.
Yeah, I don’t mind mods that make things better for daily use. I also don’t mind big performance mods, or truck get bigger mods. There is a caveat though, please put the mods to use. If you spend 10k turning your car into a racing/performance car, and you take it to the track, good for you for having a hobby, and skill. Need a big fucking truck to hall around your construction site worth of tools, and materials? Awesome, you have what you need. Modify it for off road use? If you go off road, even just for fun, sure, fine. If you need it because you work in remote locations, or something, wonderful, you have what you need.
Having these loud, intrusive, difficult, gas hog, emission machines, and all you do is daily drive it, and show off? Well, I will look down on that behavior.
They aren’t. See the fuck cars folks like to joke that they just want attention. Y’all can’t fathom using the vehicle or having fun.
Hi, I use a truck daily for work.
If I could trade in my current truck for something more economical, with similar cargo space for the things I actually use it for, I’d take it. Can’t afford a new vehicle, but if I could trade my truck in for one of those stubby EU type trucks, whose beds are almost the same size, I’d do it.
I used to love bombing around the winding roads in the middle of winter at night, you can see people coming for a mile down the road and can go fast. It was fun. I don’t need a big 2,000lb monstrosity to get the same feeling. An ebike and woods will do it.
You should look at importing a kei truck from Japan. They’re tiny little things but the bed is still about the same size as an American pickup. They’re cheap too, including any extra import fees, still less than a truck here, I think like $10,000 total. And if you like working on cars, it seems like it’d be fun to convert to an EV.
Have you considered a cargo van? They tend to get slightly better fuel economy than similar sized trucks. I also find them much better to work out of. Their beds are low, their cargo is covered, you can build shelves and workbenches along the walls, they lock more securely than a truck cap, and they have better visbility.
I’d like to have one, actually. There’s a few with a sloped front that allows for way better visibility that get great gas mileage.
Everything is expensive as shit though…
I’d love to get an Electric van. I don’t need the huge amounts of height some have, it seems trucks get wider and vans get taller. the enclosed cargo space is great for peace of mind, though.
In a perfect world I would get a van with a small frame and small forward silhouette, with no hood or sloped hood, that sits no more than 8ft off the ground. Having a higher suspension, or the ability to raise the suspension for better off-road clearance is nice for some jobs, but not strictly necessary.
I just started working out of a tall van I can stand in. I can’t imagjne going back to crawling around vans. We do need a lot of space for some of our jobs so we do end up needing the larger cargo area. The back of the van doubles as a workshop which is nice as well. Our company did buy a smaller all wheel drive van for some of the more remote places we service.
The upfront cost is a lot but compared to modern trucks worth making the switch when the time comes to replace a work truck. Another benefit of the van is the side can be an excellent billboard when you put the company phone number and name along the side.
Oof yeah, if you work IN the van, standing room would be fantastic.
Right now I have work tables I flip out of my truck bed that all my stuff goes on. If I had to fabricate things on the fly more often, I’d definitely want the tall enclosed space. Slap an exhaust fan on there and good to go.
I imagine it’s great for cold days and rainy days, too…
The lady doth protest too much, methinks. Every single time anyone posts something vaguely critical of these emotional support vehicles, we always get someone with a bruised ego in here trying to fight the entire community over it. Which is hilarious because it kinda just proves the whole point. If it’s not about image then why are people so sensitive about it?
There really isn’t any other explanation for why these monster trucks have become so popular than vanity. Larger trucks with higher, smaller beds have become the norm, and they’re actually less useful for the things you might need a pickup for. And there’s similarly no reason to think that Americans have suddenly discovered a huge need for pickups that didn’t exist 50 years ago. Yet their prevalence on the road has increased dramatically.
It’s just another fashion accessory. But unlike the fedora, it’s a deadly one, and so of course we will criticize you. Don’t like it? Easy solution: stop choosing fashion accessories that kill people. There are plenty of other ways to cosplay wealth or rugged individualism.
Whatever you say. You all clearly know what truck owners are using their trucks for. Clearly a long bed is the only reason to own a truck!
https://www.motorbiscuit.com/most-pickup-truck-owners-dont-actually-truck-stuff/
with the trucks on the market at this point, the actual “use case” functionality comprises maybe 10% of the reason people buy them. the rest is peacock feathers sticking out your ass
and the “you can’t fathom having fun” bit LOL – classic “you just don’t get it” defense of anything dumb. and the fact that there’s always always someone who has to chime in and come to the defense of stupidly large obnoxious emotional support trucks just proves the point: “y’all” can’t handle anyone not thinking you’re cool because your goofy ass truck
Oh we’re just inventing numbers now? I’d say 98.72 % of raptor owners use them as intended 62% of the time!
Now go hit up Google and link me a secondary source leading back to a 2018 study done by a trade group (axios) that you didn’t have access too.
LOLOLOLOL
https://www.axios.com/2023/01/23/pickup-trucks-f150-size-weight-safety
dude, the trucks are just stupid security blankets. which would be fine if they weren’t such a nuisance, a danger to others on the road, and didn’t take up 4 parking spots. congrats, you are doing the exact opposite of making a case for buying one of these ridiculous bullshits
Where is the data and methodology? Oh right it’s not there.
LOL you’re literally demonstrating my point with every comment you make. it would be adorable if it weren’t so sad. best advice i can give you is stop being SOOOOO concerned about what the entire world thinks about your own perceived lack of manliness
It’s amazing how folks get off topic and start personal attacks when you point out they are making things up.
Been a year and not a single one of you have been able to actually pull the data on trucks y’all love to bitch about.
It’s cult/GOP like.
“giant land-blimp trucks are cool because you can’t find a quantitative study that says they aren’t !!!”
good job champ. keep up the good work standing up for those poor sensitive unmanly truck drivers
i’m honestly glad you’re here. thanks for the entertainment
Modern trucks are signifcantly larger and bulkier than their older counterparts. Their bed and bumper heights have increased and many of them have become luxury vehicles. The truck went from a workhorse to the family vehicle.
Many people also buy a vehicle, such as a truck, that is significantly over qualified/over capable for the majority of their trips. If you buy an oversized vehicle, it is on you to deal with parking it and fitting it places, it should not be society’s problem to service oversized vehicles.
Where at any point did I say it wasn’t up to them to deal with parking? Y’all love to lecture.
Ah yes, so much fun to be had on the daily commute, stuck with everyone else from your sleepy suburb on a congested highway moving at glacial speeds because there’s no other option to safely and effectively get around for the people who don’t want to be there and can’t get out of your way.
Sure, you can take that thing out on weekends on country roads, mudding, camping, hauling ATVs to your favourite trails, building you or your buddy’s cottage, whatever you dream - but that still leaves 5 days of the week in traffic hell if you work in a city. Do you really want your neighbours to be left with no options to get out of your way so you can enjoy driving more on those days?
Most of these oversized trucks you wouldn’t really want to take offroad. They’re built to exploit a tax loophole, not to actually be good trucks. Because they’re generally pavement princesses anyway the makers know they can skimp on the parts that make good offroaders, like suspension and transmission. The people who know anything about offroad wouldn’t look at them twice anyway, so it’s not where their market is.
Being giant and heavy is actually pretty bad for offroad performance, which is why people will cope by talking about “towing capacity” instead, where weight is an advantage, although most of these trucks don’t get used that way. If you want good offroad performance something like a Jeep is a way better investment.
Whistlin’ Diesel is pretty good at beating on these trucks and showing how weak they are. Although one time he tried to kill an older model Hilux and it was hilarious to see the dangerous lengths he went to try and fail to break anything on that truck.
Some trucks are made to do work, and it’s not these giant hunks of overpriced garbage.
Another big consideration for off roading is the wheelbase. Shorter wheel bases are easier to maneuver around tight trail corners. They also tend to have better approach angles for hills. There are some situations a long wheel base is better off road but more often shorter is better.
Wat?
What does that even mean?
“Do you really want your neighbors to be left with no options to get out of your way”
Jesus 🤦♂️
LOL, your inability to comprehend is your problem, not his.
The point is that making transportation alternatives available to the people who don’t like driving leaves more room on the roads for the people who do.
👌👍
Don’t you have something to scrawl in a gross bathroom stall or something?
I’m sorry for pointing out that OC has invented a need for reactions 🤷♂️