On crew cabs and extended cabs

[Tyrinius]

I have driven an extended cab Tundra for 10+ years with the suicide doors and I am now in the market for a full crew cab. While driving, it is very uncomfortable to have passengers in back behind the driver. Unless they are kids you have to pull the seat almost all the way up to accomodate them. Not the best situation for the driver or passenger even on a short trip. Also, loading anything in the back seat (groceries, etc.) with cars on either side is difficult to accomplish. I'm looking forward to the additional room.

[jdthor]

I have a 2008 F250 Superduty Crew. Within a week I removed the rear seats and installed an elevated plywood floor about a foot above the deck. We have tons of storage under the floor and above as well. It really is like having an extra room behind your front seats. We also added an ARE color-matched cap over the bed of the truck, so we now have "almost" as much storage as we need.

[RBolton]

Originally Posted by Maryw164

We recently got a new to us 2003 Dodge diesel crew cab dually 4x4. There is enough room in the rear seat for our 18 yr old son (6ft tall). Granted I do need to move my front sit up a bit to make him comfortable for longer trips. We love our crew cab! A longer wheel base is always a plus for stability.

Mary

Your 2003 Dodge is not a true crew cab. They were called Quad Cabs and Dodge maintained that they were the roomiest extended cab on the market and that is the segment they competed in. You'll notice that the rear doors are not full size as compared to the front doors.

Dodge then came along with the Mega Cab - bigger even than a crew. In 2009 they finally came with a true crew cab on the 1500 and now on the 2500 and 3500 for 2010.

To answer the original posters question. Yes. If adults are going to ride in the back on a regular basis - go with a crew cab.

Roger

[gsmithii]

We bought our '06 25ss last December. In January we found the TV - our '06 (unintentional but somehow poetic that they are the same year) Chevy Duramax Crew Cab. The plan was to add a cap for the bed after we had a bit more experience with this whole camping thing. Then we took off for some winter camping. Where to put the "stuff"? Ah! In the space we made when we folded down the back seats - and some space it is.

And boy! Did that storage space come in handy. The cap is still in the plan but if we had to do it we could manage with the storage space in the cab. Pretty cool.

[slowmover]

Originally Posted by RBolton

Your 2003 Dodge is not a true crew cab. They were called Quad Cabs and Dodge maintained that they were the roomiest extended cab on the market and that is the segment they competed in. You'll notice that the rear doors are not full size as compared to the front doors.

Dodge then came along with the Mega Cab - bigger even than a crew. In 2009 they finally came with a true crew cab on the 1500 and now on the 2500 and 3500 for 2010.

To answer the original posters question. Yes. If adults are going to ride in the back on a regular basis - go with a crew cab.

Roger

The trade-off was in wheelbase. One could have the Mega-Cab and short bed OR QC with longbed (mine) with 163" wheelbase. The Ferds were up to 172". Dodge finally saw the light.

For a "real" truck, try this one: Mega cab with 8' bed (aftermarket):

Precision Bodyline: MegaCab LongBed Conversions

Wheelbase has got to be pushing 200".

.

[Aviator]

here is another vote for a crew. I have an F150 crew and it replaced an F150 extended. The improvement was huge! I now have plenty of interior room with the rear seat folded up for boxes and stuff, or down for kids and the dog. Everyone is much happier.

[Cracker]

I have both an extended cab '95 Chevy and the crew cab GMC. The Chevy is the work horse of the two (---camp truck, nasty weather truck, daily driver, etc.) and I can't say enough good things about it - with the exception of the extended cab set-up! For the record, the '95 Chevy didn't come with suicide doors, which makes putting groceries and other cargo in the back of the cab a real PITA! The other negative comment I've heard about, relative to the extended cab and suicide doors is that the roof of the truck is a lot weaker (---due to the longer span from front to, back) and more prone to collapse in a rollover. The middle post in the crew cabs apparently makes for a much stronger body.

[Ahab]

Originally Posted by jmtandem

Add me to the side of the ledger under the heading "now have a crew cab, won't go back"

Yes, us too! And the dogs love it.

[dstalzer]

Crew Cab is the only way to go. I have had 86 F150 extended cab w/no extra doors - what a PITA to load and get into. 98 F250 regular cab, long bed, nice tow vehicle but no interior storage. 2002 F250 Super Cab w/suicide doors, long bed - suicide doors difficult to use in a parking lot. 2007 F250 Crew Cab short bed - actually 2" shorter than the 2002 Super Cab, way more convenient to get into and load, also extremely more comfortable for passengers. Added a tall Snug Top cap to the bed which makes for nice covered area for bikes and other gear.

Dennis

[ingrid]

Any opinions out there for Toyota Tundra vs. Dodge or Chevy? We're looking for a new (to us) crew cab to tow a 1975 sovereign.

[Gene]

Why buy an ordinary truck? Tired of your Hummer? How about an MRAP? - Airstream Forums

But if you'd like something more conventional…

We have a Double Cab Tundra (2007). It has 4 independent doors which makes it easier to load things—if you have to open both doors on one side, they are always in the way when you are in a parking lot and trying get groceries out a shopping cart. Our 2002 Tundra had that set up.

The CrewMax is about a foot longer inside and that space comes out of the bed. It's 5.5' and the only option on that one. The Double Cab has a standard 6.5' bed and you can get an 8' one—20.5' of truck. The Crew Cab costs more, less payload, the extra rear seat space seemed unnecessary, and the bed is too small. 6.5' is fine for most uses.

That space behind the front seats is wonderful. Things you want to stay clean while traveling go back there and the bed is for things that can get dirty. We have a tonneau on the bed, but dirt always gets in the back of a pickup because the tailgate doesn't seal like a door. This happens most on dirt and gravel roads. The seats fold up which gives substantially more floor space and allows storage of heavy things down low—that's good place to store tools, compressor and other very heavy stuff between the axles. It's also more secure than the lock on the tonneau, or seems so.

These big trucks are more difficult to park, especially in parking lots. The sonar helps when you can't see that Prius behind you. The size is the trade off to have a powerful enough truck to tow many trailers.

The Tundra has performed very well, though I'll mention the gas pedal recall before someone else does. That's a bummer.

If you want something with more class: http://www.airforums.com/forums/f463...tml#post813688

Gene

[dstalzer]

Buy a Toyota if you want to go really fast!

[Gene]

Originally Posted by dstalzer

Buy a Toyota if you want to go really fast!

I've tethered mine to a post and we just like to watch it circle around and around at 120 mph. Better than watching figure skating and I sure admire all that torque.

Gene