NCL4701
Well-known member
Equipment
L4701, T2290, WC68, grapple, BB1572, Farmi W50R, Howes 500, 16kW IMD gen, WG24
Not too shocking. My first pickup was a 1973 D100 with a little 318 V8, regular cab, and 8’ bed. It had the Adventurer package so it came with upgrades such as carpet, AM/FM radio, and air conditioning. Gas tank was behind the seat so the only in cab storage was the glove box and under the seat. I couldn’t afford a toolbox so if I had stuff in the bed that needed to be secured at a stop on a trip, it had to be packed into the cab when parked and moved back to the bed when it was time to leave, or just don’t stop. Looking back on it, not sure how it put up with some of the stuff I did with it. Like flat towing an old flatbed Chevy C60 with a blown engine from Morrisville to Wendell with a chain at 60mph and a brakeman in the C60. For those unfamiliar with the area, the entirety of Raleigh is in between and it’s kind of hard to pull that off stealthily with a straight piped truck, but in the 80’s you could get away with more sketchy stuff than you can now.
Now I have a 4 door Tundra with a 5.7L V8, 6.5’ bed, and a tri-fold tonneau. Yeah, the bed is pretty short, but everyone I know who has a 4 door pickup with an 8’ bed complains about it not fitting in most parking lots to the point it’s necessary to research parking options before going anywhere unfamiliar. It’s bad enough around here it makes it challenging to impossible for a daily driver. That and looking at specs on a pretty wide variety of pickups before buying the Tundra, it was pretty obvious modern pickups’ cargo capacity is generally rather picayune compared to tow capacity. For instance my current truck is rated at 1300lb cargo capacity, which IMO is downright embarrassing for a 5300lb dry weight vehicle. But it’s rated at 9,999lb tow capacity; a bit more respectable. So if I want to haul a refrigerator or a deer carcass or pick up some odd stuff from an estate sale that might not fit in a SUV, a 1300lb capacity truck with a tonneau that can be open or closed works well. If I need to move a lot of something, such as when my wife found a smoking deal on 6000lb of paving stones (seller who over ordered will load pallets with forklift but have to arrange transport yourself), I need to transport my tractor, etc. I’m hooking up the most appropriate of our enclosed trailer or one of the two flatbeds and don’t care one whit how big the truck bed is.
Much as I loved that old D100, the Tundra is much more versatile and capable, even with a smaller bed and bigger cab.
