Pick Up-Truck posers...

[bad Chad]

Here in the mid west they seem everywhere.  Late model high line pickups, that appear to never have carried anything even a bit dusty in the bed!  As far as I can tell, motorcycle posers have nothing on these dipshits, although many have the obligatory "Harley" decal on the back window.

[John A]

clones

[twowheeladdict]

Here in the mid west they seem everywhere.  Late model high line pickups, that appear to never have carried anything even a bit dusty in the bed!  As far as I can tell, motorcycle posers have nothing on these dipshits, although many have the obligatory "Harley" decal on the back window.

They are as plush as a luxury SUV so why not?

[twowings]

Not to mention the ridiculous obsession with 'rolling coal'...so your mega-truck can fart diesel fumes...just how much did you have to spend for that special effect, buttercup??  Probably enough to buy several nice motorcycles....

[Knuckle Dragger]

Some drivers I'm sure have a genuine, demonstrable need for the substantial cargo capacity of these automotive behemoths.  But similar I suppose to Australia, most simply don't.  In fact, the 4-door 4x4 'Utes" as we call them (actually much, much more compact than those particular models to which you refer) are consistently Australia's best selling vehicles.

What pisses me off most about 'em, however, is their abysmal fuel consumption figures.  Wantonly wasteful of a diminishing resource that would be far better directed towards a more efficient motorcycling future!

[guzzisteve]

Chad, They can't push their HD into the truck, they pull trailers.

[Guzzistajohn]

Ooooo I'm offended  I drive a F150 that's had nothing but dirt bike and camping gear in the back. But it has a deadhead sticker in the back window 

[Murray]

In fact, the 4-door 4x4 'Utes" as we call them (actually much, much more compact than those particular models to which you refer) are consistently Australia's best selling vehicles.

What pisses me off most about 'em, however, is their abysmal fuel consumption figures.  Wantonly wasteful of a diminishing resource that would be far better directed towards a more efficient motorcycling future!

The manufacturers won't tell you because it doesn't sound as good but the vast majority of the sales go to mine sites and fleet sales. Want efficiency takes the bus/train, motorcycles are pretty abysmal as soon as you start scaling things.

[Perazzimx14]

Only thing worse than truck "posers is "real" truck owners whining about them.

Why do you have a motorcycle? You certainly don't need one.

[canuck750]

Alberta is full of the quad-cab pickup,  jacked up, all black, diesel belching jack-ass mobiles.

But in defense of big pickups my business partner has always driven a full size pickup, 4 door models for the past 10 years, mostly Chev / GMC but Ford as well. He has a lake cabin and genuinely uses his truck, there are fresh killed elk or deer in the box most every fall. The ride quality keeps getting better and the trucks are very nicely finished. He traded his 2016 Ford Eco Boost F150 for a 6.2 litre gas Chev Silverado, the big V-8 gets better gas mileage than the smaller displacement Ford (as high as 28 mpg highway) and even gets better gas mileage than my mid size BMW M550. I took a 2018 Dodge 1500 gas V-8 quad cab to B.C. to pick up a milling machine and I was blown away by how comfortable it was and what great gas mileage it got.

[T4halo]

22mpg. Has pulled my camper all over the US. Tows my CJ5 to deer camp. 200,000 miles and I’d drive her anywhere. Probably last me 10 more years.

93 Cummins

[Knuckle Dragger]

Well, my Ute is a lightweight.  Maybe 1500 kg.  6 cylinder petrol-powered 3-seater 2WD with a Dana Spicer Diff Lock.  It still uses more than twice the fuel (well-laden it's 3 times) for any given distance & road or off-road conditions, either empty or laden with a Tonne of firewood (the main reason I drive it), than any motorcycle I've ever owned.  The best mileage I've ever achieved consistently as a long-term average is 10.2 - 10.3 L/100km (approx 27 MPG).  With a fiberglass canopy & racks mounted on the back, average consumption increases to 12.5 L/100km (about 23 MPG)!  My bikes consistently better 5.0L/100km (56 MPG).  My diesel Econetic car (German) averages 4.5 L/100km (63 MPG).

95% of my travelling is solo & unladen, however.  Meaning the ute wastes 2-3 times as much fuel as a 2-wheeled alternative when not actually used for its primary purpose (carting firewood, timber, soil, gravel, tools etc.) which is realistically only a total of about 5% of its total mileage.  Ergo, it uses twice as much fuel for about 95% of the time.

Using the term 'truck' to describe a utility vehicle is a ludicrous misnomer.  They're not 'heavy goods vehicles' with 110 or even only 22 wheels hauling up to 175 Tonnes at a time.  They're just oversized & overweight cars with an often ridiculously short 6' tray out back. A proper lorry efficiently transports bulk goods intra- and internationally.  Many (maybe even most) of these 'baby trucks' (girly trucks??) are mere playthings at best or maybe (as the old joke implies) a compensatory substitute for phallic inadequacy.

They are of course also legitimately essential workhorses for forestry, agriculture, mining, on-site machinery servicing & repair crews and other specialist small but heavy loadbearing enterprises too.

Ute bodies (pickups to you foreign nationals I think) at least carry the weight safely low, within the vehicle's wheelbase & between the rear wheel radii.  Traybacks in English or 'trucks' in American must carry their payload above the wheels, often dangerously high & even on occasion behind the rear axle!

In years gone by it was required of us young Foresters to carry full 250 gallon fire-fighting slip-on tanker units on the back of our trayback utes for the duration of the peak summer fire season.  My own versions (a Willys 2 tonne trayback tipper & an early model Datsun Nissan Patrol) were pretty hairy traversing cross-slopes of even moderate incline.  Even steep uphill inclines would have the steering becoming scarily light!

Carrying heavy fluids so high & rearwards made for a dangerously unstable load that would've been much safer carried within a ute box body, at least 250-300mm lower.  Our Kingswood utes with small V8s (253 CI) & Limited Slip Diffs were just a whole lot better motor car in every possible way.  Except of course in mud!

The higher the ute's tray or loadbed, the higher the COG of the laden vehicle, the greater its consequent innate cross-slope & cornering instability.  Softer &/or long-travel 4x4 suspension merely exacerbate this phenomenon.  Which is why I prefer an old fashioned diff-locked Falcon ute over fancier but less stable & worse-handling 4x4s for bush work.

But for the other unladen 95% odd of its lifetime: how is this not wasteful?

[bad Chad]

Wow that’s a lot of text.   Someone want to summarize for me?

[John Croucher]

As a Pick Up Poser, I am very happy with my choice in vehicles.  2009 Ford F-150 2wd, short wheelbase styleside STX.  It is safe, heavy, will haul what I need when I need to do so, great ride, great handling, very quiet
 inside, extremely well built, has been dependable with very little maintenance. 

I "was" a road warrior traveling saleman for years.  I chose this vehicle for safety reasons, visibility while driving and to occasionally haul merchandise along with the fact that the roads in Southern Indiana will destroy a motor vehicle.   

Resale value in My area is very high.  My next vehicle will be another pickup truck.  1977 Ford F-150 Camper Special sitting in the Father in Laws garage.  Less than 100,000 miles, rust free. 

Number one vehicle purchased by a Millionaire in the U.S.  A Ford 150 F-150 Pick Up truck. 

[Knuckle Dragger]

How's your local fuel prices John?  Mine are nudging towards US $5 per gallon here in the Antipodes.  Making even moderately thirsty vehicles not just an indulgence, but an unpatriotic extravagance (70% of fuel oils are imported).

I'm assuming local USA prices are less, but would this affect your vehicular decisions if or when prices double?

[oldbike54]

 Come on Spring 

 Dusty

[John Croucher]

How's your local fuel prices John?  Mine are nudging towards US $5 per gallon here in the Antipodes.  Making even moderately thirsty vehicles not just an indulgence, but an unpatriotic extravagance (70% of fuel oils are imported).

I'm assuming local USA prices are less, but would this affect your vehicular decisions if or when prices double?

Fuel consumption has not been part of my buying decision. Today, $2.65/gal U.S.  I have averaged 1,100 gallons a fuel per year.  I estimate I would have to invest $30,000 or more to get 25% better fuel economy and have a vehicle that is close to meeting my needs and wants.  Then factor in the amount of energy and natural resource expended to build this new replacement  vehicle and the conservation factor gets close to zero.  Buying a more expensive vehicle to save 25% on fuel cost and giving up safety, utility, comfort is hard to justify for Me.  I have burned 5 gallons of gasoline in My motorcycle in a day going no where all while enjoying the ride.  I have estimated the total operating cost for My F-150 is $.25 a mile.  $5,000 a year including purchase price, sale tax, annual taxes, repair, maintenance, insurance.  Approximately half that is gasoline. 

[Knuckle Dragger]

Good point about driving an old car to save on running costs.  One of the bigger expenses, depreciation, diminishes as a proportion over time, whereas repairs, maintenance & running costs increase only marginally as the vehicle ages.  It also follows the reduce/reuse/recycle ethos as well.

At 20,000 miles/yr, that sounds like an above-average mileage.  I'm doing less than 1/3 of that these days.  Therefore my unit cost is necessarily higher: just shy of US $0.50/mile (AU $0.45/km).

Given my own much lower mileage these days, I'd expect to run the ute/car/microtruck whatever for about 20 (or 9 more) years or so, only being forced out by diminishing fuel availability.  There's probably a good 50 years or so left of global petroleum supply.  Trouble is, the last of it is going to be bloody expensive I fear.

Entering into a bidding war for fuel supplies in 10 years time with nearly 1.5 billion Chinese comprising the richest & most powerful nation on earth will leave the impoverished west the loser I suspect.

[oldbike54]

 I'll either be dead or old enough to not care in 10 more years , what future generations do is up to them . In other words , enjoy what time you have left , let young people do the heavy lifting , stop worrying . Heck , we don't even know what the next year will bring , change is the one constant , and change is happening at an ever increasing rate . Get out , go to some rallies , take the time to meet your neighbors (man , that is an old fashioned concept) , feed the birds , go for a walk , pet a dog , pat mamma , visit a small town museum , talk to the locals in that small town .


                                                    1st world problems , sheesh 

 Besides , we are overdue for a meteor anyway 

  Dusty

[kballowe]

Ooooo I'm offended  I drive a F150 that's had nothing but dirt bike and camping gear in the back. But it has a deadhead sticker in the back window 

F-150?    Pffffft.   Please.   The ante STARTS at F250
And, Deadhead stickers are for Cadilllacs .
 
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[Sheepdog]

Here on the farm, we have an 11 year old Toyota Tacoma for picking up lumber and feed and a 19 year old Suburban 3/4 ton for pulling trailers and picking up friends and family at the airport. When I am doing errands, I usually take the Piaggio. I guess riding an Italian motor scooter is sorta the opposite of “rolling coal” in a big ol’ honkin’ 4wd crew cab truck. Perhaps I’m under-compensating...

[Perazzimx14]

How's your local fuel prices John?  Mine are nudging towards US $5 per gallon here in the Antipodes.  Making even moderately thirsty vehicles not just an indulgence, but an unpatriotic extravagance (70% of fuel oils are imported).

I'm assuming local USA prices are less, but would this affect your vehicular decisions if or when prices double?

Fuel where I am is in the $2.89 range and creeping up. Both my wife and I commute to work putting on an average of 600 miles per week each in vehicle that get in the 18 to 22 mpg range. On paper we should both be driving Prius's or riding Ninja 250's but it's not all about fuel economy or the cost of fuel.

Fuel cost have been on the rise and we recently bought a new poser mobile for my wife. It gets 30% less fuel economy and she still travels the same amount so fuel costs do play a small part its not a significant one.   
 

[rocker59]

   we are overdue for a meteor anyway 

  Dusty

and if it hits China, maybe Knuckle Dragger's outlook on the future will improve.   

[rocker59]

Here's my contribution:

GMC 3500 gasser.  12mpg highway, empty.  8-9mpg pulling the trailer, loaded.  Only driven once every week, or two, but gets about 10,000 miles per year pulling.



Oh, the joy of drinking the Arab's milkshake...   

[Guzzistajohn]

F-150?    Pffffft.   Please.   The ante STARTS at F250
And, Deadhead stickers are for Cadilllacs .
 
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You funny dude Kevin! My 150 IS my Cadillac 
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[kballowe]

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Sad, but true.
Some people never haul a single thing with their pickup trucks.
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[rocker59]

Sad, but true.
Some people never haul a single thing with their pickup trucks.
 

The awesome thing about 'murica is that we don't have to.  We don't have to justify Our choices, and man, it's a great way to live.

[kballowe]

The awesome thing about 'murica is that we don't have to.  We don't have to justify Our choices, and man, it's a great way to live.

Exactly.

[bad Chad]

Don’t get on a high horse. There are lots of nations worldwide with the same freedom.

[rocker59]

Don’t get on a high horse. There are lots of nations worldwide with the same freedom.

I'm already on a high horse, and don't plan on getting down.