Long or short bed pickup?

[Montana_5621]

I have never owned a truck, but will need one soon, as we prepare to fulltime RV. We are considering a Montana 3400RL and was wondering what the considerations are concerning whether i need a long or short bed pickup.
Thanks
Al

[Glass Guy]

In my oppinion the longer wheel base makes for a better ride and you don't have to worry about putting the front corner of the fifth wheel through the back window of you tow vehicle, this is just my personal oppinion, on the other hand it's a lot easier to find a parking spot with a short box, if you plan on parking it in your garage is will a long box fit, something to consider, it pretty much has to do with what you think will work best for you. Good luck and welcome to the club., Roman

[DCP]

I would't trade my long bed for a short bed for anything. I always seem to fill it up with "stuff".

[Montana Sky]

Al,
It all comes down to personal choice. I have the short bed with the Superglide sliding hitch, have not had any trouble with this set up. I do like the long bed for the fact of the larger fuel tank, but wanted a crewcab and a crew long will not fit in my garage. Trying to figure out what is the best truck and floorplan is half the fun of owning an rv. Enjoy and make sure to take your time when choosing, there is alot to consider.

[rames14]

Depends on lots of factors. The long bed has more storage. The short bed is easier to maneuver and also will fit in a garage even with the extended cab. The long bed doesn't require a slider hitch, but the short bed might. There is another post going on this right now I think in the General area.

[Driftwoodgal]

I curse our long bed truck ever time we have to go to a grocery store or shopping mall and find a parking spot. I love the long bed with the crew cab when we are hauling things and need the extra room for the groceries from the store. When towing hubby thinks the long bed rides smooother. We ended up buying the long bed because of the possibilty of problems parking and towing the rig. Besides hubby is an insurance adjuster and when he needs a generator it goes into the back of the truck.

[Charlie]

Long bed definately....think that the price of the slider hitch would more than off-set the added price of the long bed. Only down side I have is it does not maneuver in parking lots as well as the short bed. There is not a problem of mine fitting in the garage as the garage is 50' long.

[Mac]

Al,

I'd say it's all personal choice. Maybe if I could fit a long bed in my garage I'd consider it but I can't. I'm so used to seeing mostly short beds anymore that I just prefer the look. But as I said, it's all your choice and what YOU want.

mac

[Glenn and Lorraine]

Hands down, Shortbed.
Without the trailer it's easier to park at the Wal*Mart. Won't stick out a extra foot plus.
More maneuverable especially with the trailer in those tight RV parks. Not every site is a pull thru.
As far as the ride, I have never noticed a difference when driving my shortbed compared to my buddies longbed

[Sunseekers]

It had to be a short bed for us so that it would fit in the garage. We had a long bed with other 5th wheel but we did not like it as it was hard to drive around town as that is our only vehicle.
The only down side is that the fuel tank is on the small size but then $ could solve that by replacing the tank. It is easier to carry 2 extra 5 gallon containers.
Bottom line is that it all depends on what fits your needs!

[Bill and Bobbi]

Personal choice is what it comes down to. I went from short to long bed for the larger fuel tank and I didn't want to buy a sliding hitch. - Perfectly happy with my current Reese 20k, it's now in it's 4th truck. I did get tired of worrying about running out of fuel or looking for a gas station after only a little more than 120 miles. I don't like to have to spend extra BUCK$ changing things on a truck that is still under warranty. I'm not crazy about carrying full gas cans around either...

[ragdoll]

Agree it is a personal choice but long bed for sure - have owned quite a few pickups and never a short bed. We have to catty corner our SUV in the garage when we take off, so garage parking doesn't come into question. As far as parking we just park farther out. Good luck on your choice and welcome.

Safe travels.
Lorraine

[Fordzilla]

I have always had a long bed. Bigger fuel tank, more storage and better ride quality while towing and when empty. I really need the exercise so I don't mind walking from the far ends of the parking lot.

[Emmel]

I'm very happy with my shortbed, but you have to watch your pin weight also. It doesn't take much extra firewood along with thw weight of the Monty to get a couple thousand pounds back there. Terrible reason to have a short bed is that a long bed crew cab will not fit in my garage. I guess I will have to rent a garage to keep it in while we are out for 4 or 5 months! The best reason (for now) the truck is paid for and I don't need a new one yet, but when I do, I will be looking at longbeds.

[Dave e Victoria]

I sure did prefer the shortbed. Looks better, parks better. But one tons don't come that way so will have to enjoy the convenience of a bigger tank. I think Bubba rides slightly better when tgowing than the shortbed did. Not sure if that is duet to dual tires or longer wheel base but think it is the latter.

[Garin1]

Al, personally I chose the short bed one ton single rear wheel and am very happy with it. It is also my daily driver and it drives and turns like a car. Wouldn't have anything else for my needs.

[sreigle]

A slider may not be necessary if your Montana has the new nose. Ours has the oldest. I've used the slider four times in eleven years of shortbed fifthwheel towing including more than three years of fulltiming. We've done about 50k miles in those fulltiming years. Even the older Montana nose is rounded and you only rarely need the slider. But with the older nose I'd have the slider just in case.

I want to address the "wheelbase" comment. I agree longer wheelbase rides better. However, that has nothing to do with shortbed vs longbed. My shortbed crewcab truck has a 156 inch wheelbase. That's longer than any extended cab longbed truck on the market. The only time wheelbase relates to shortbed is if you are talking the same cab configuration. This is a common misunderstanding. So, my crewcab shortbed truck rides better than a supercab/extendedcab longbed truck when empty because it has a longer wheelbase than those do.

As for tanks holding more fuel, that's a legit comment. However, neither of us can go long enough without a break to use those extra gallons anyhow. So it's a non-issue to us. 19 gallons of diesel is plenty for us. And even though it costs me just as much per thousand miles as the guy with the big tank, it doesn't sting quite as much at fillup time.

In my opinion, both the shortbed and the longbed truck do just fine. If you have anything but the new nose on your Montana, then I'd recommend a slider with the shortbed. In my opinion, I would make this decision based on other factors, like garagability, if that's important to you. Or parking difficulty, if that's important to you. Etc.

Emmel, what's the deal on the pinweight on shortbed vs. longbed? On your brand of truck is the payload different? I'm looking at the Ford guide and comparing 4x4 crewcab longbed with shortbed. Payload for the 5.4L engine is identical. For the V10 it is 98 lbs more payload for the longbed. But for the diesel the payload is 128 lbs more for the shortbed. I have no idea why. This is for the F250.

[Mac]

Steve,

Do you have the SuperGlide or a manual Reese slider? I have the Reese now and have never used it, but this is our first full season in the Monty too. I think just to be safe I'll get the SuperGlide when and if I can afford a new TV.

mac

[sreigle]

I have the Reese manual slider. The superglide is always a good choice. If starting over I'd seriously consider that, too.

On your manual slider, test it occasionally to make sure it slides easily. I sit on the in-bed toolbox, trip the handle, then put both feet on the hitch and give it a shove. It should slide easily. Mine didn't, at first. Then a friend took a can of that slide lubricant (meant for fifthwheel slides) from camping world and sprayed the heck out of the slider mechanism. Since then it slides easily.

[Mac]

Steve,

That's good advise, I've not tested it for a long time, I'll do that this week, thanks again!

mac