How to Select the Right Length of a Truck Bed

A pickup truck can make your life so much easier given its practicality, and it can be even a great addition to your lifestyle. However, choosing the right truck can be overwhelming, because of the large number of brands, models, drivetrains, and cab configurations. 

The cab size then affects the length of a truck bed and can significantly impact how practical and usable your truck is. So, what size of the truck bed should you go for? Read along and learn about all truck bed sizes and their ideal use-case scenarios.

Truck Bed Sizes

The bed sizes can be divided into four main categories, ranging from extra-short beds up to long beds found on trucks such as the Ford F350 and Ram 3500. With plenty of cab and bed configurations to choose from, a pickup truck will be able to fit almost any use scenario.

How Truck Bed Sizes are Measured

The bed sizes are measured by their volume, width, and most importantly, length. Length is the most important aspect, not only because it is the easiest to visualize but also because length gives you the most added practicality compared to conventional vehicles.

The length of a truck bed is measured from the back of the cab to the inside of the tailgate. When measuring the width, manufacturers take the widest part of the truck bed. This is important to know, as you should also account for the wheel wells, which protrude into the bed. 

Some manufacturers may even use tailgates with a flip-up tab, which can further increase the bed length by approximately one extra foot, as is the case with the GMC’s Multi-Pro Tailgate. Because of this, it is important to know how the bed dimensions of your desired truck have been measured, in order to compare it to the competition and ensure that it actually has enough space for your use.

Extra-Short Bed

Beds that measure under 5 feet (60 inches) are categorized as extra-short. Such short beds are offered by only a few models and their popularity is not too high. To be honest, the extra short beds obscure the otherwise great practicality of pickup trucks, where the bed plays a major role in their usability.

On the other hand, a pickup truck with an extra-short bed might be the ideal solution in a few niche scenarios. For this reason, Hyundai has recently started selling the Santa Cruz. Around the same time, Ford also decided to enter this segment and launched the Ford Maverick. These are likely the only two trucks with an extra-short bed currently available on the market, and they are great if you often have to drive your truck in the city, where their smaller dimensions might come in handy.

That said, you will still be able to benefit from better practicality than that of a traditional sedan or a hatchback, and loading up bicycles or large boxes will be no problem. Furthermore, a small truck like the Santa Cruz can be an ideal candidate if you like the idea of a pickup truck, but your area isn’t suitable for massive vehicles.

The two aforementioned models are built on a chassis identical to regular cars, instead of the body-on-frame chassis, which is typical for larger trucks. This ensures a more comfortable ride. If you want a pickup mainly because of its image, and the length of a truck bed isn’t really your concern, the extra-short bed is perfect.

Short Bed

Moving up in the length of a truck bed, the short beds are generally 5 to 6 feet long (60 – 72 inches). They are much more common than the extra-short category and are featured in plenty of trucks including the Ford Ranger, Toyota Tacoma, Nissan Frontier, and Honda Ridgeline. 

This size is usually combined with crew cabs, or extended crew cabs, which have four doors and the second row of full-size seats. These cabs are larger and thus take away some of the space which would otherwise be taken up by the bed. This is why most midsize pickups only feature these shorter beds, as the cabin takes up a large part of the truck’s footprint.

The practicality of these trucks is better than that of those with extra-short cabs, but it is still rather limited. On the other hand, you will likely have the benefit of a crew cab, which improves the practicality slightly. If you need to use the bed for transporting larger items only occasionally, this might be a good compromise.

Standard Bed

The standard beds are typically those with a length between 6 and 6.5 feet (72 – 78 inches). In some cases, however, it might refer to beds even a few inches longer. With this size, you get the best of both worlds, and it is ideal for most people. 

This size is typical for full-size trucks such as the Ford F150, Ram 1500, Chevrolet Silverado, and Toyota Tundra. Besides the length of a truck bed, another advantage of full-size pickup trucks is their engines. Unlike the midsize category, this one is full of V6 and V8 engines, which have greater pulling power and are perfect for towing.

The length of a truck bed is usable for anything from transporting bicycles, and smaller motorcycles to heavy boxes and lumber. Of course, you can also carry items with the tailgate dropped, increasing the practicality even further. 

Moreover, standard bed trucks have the ideal wheelbase length. Not only do they look the most proportional, but the shorter wheelbase also improves the driving characteristics and Off-road abilities, whereas long truck wheelbases with long beds are certainly not ideal.

If you are looking to go camping with your pickup truck, this bed length is optimal. At 6 ft – 6.5 ft, most people will be able to lie down comfortably. You can fit the bed with a camping topper and enjoy great adventures.

Long Bed

If you want the most space possible, the long bed will be your choice. Most usually 8 feet long (96 inches), it is the perfect size for doing serious work. The long beds can be configured on trucks such as the Ford F-Series (F150 long bed, F250, F350, and F450). Chevrolet offers this size on 2500, 3500, and 4500 models, and you’ll also find this size in models made by Ram and Dodge.

When you look at a long-bed pickup truck from the side, it will look somewhat disproportional, having an extremely long wheelbase and rear overhang. However, this allows manufacturers to combine the long bed with large crew cabs as well. With so much space, they are perfect for construction workers and contractors. Whether it is wood, piping, windows, drywall, or bricks, it will all fit in the long bed.

In order to be able to haul such heavy loads, these large trucks come with adequate drivetrains. Most are usually equipped with a V8 with extremely high torque and power availability from low RPM, so there is almost nothing the truck could not do. The powerful engines and high towing capacities make it perfect for towing caravans and trailers.

While all of this looks appealing, you will be better off with one of the shorter beds if you do not have a serious need for so much space and power. For conventional use case scenarios, a smaller truck will be more maneuverable, and comfortable, and achieve better fuel economy. 

Length of a Truck Bed – the Key to Practicality

Buying a pickup truck can be extremely overwhelming due to the sheer amount of possible configurations. If you take into account the drivetrains, trims, cabs, and bed sizes of each model, the combinations are almost endless. 

However, determining what bed size you actually need will help you to significantly narrow the scope of your selection. How important it is to choose the right size cannot be stressed enough. While the extra-short beds might take away most of the reasons for buying a pickup in the first place, the large beds may be less than ideal for a daily family truck and make driving in the city uncomfortable. With that said, the variety of options means that there is the right combination for almost anyone.