In the early 2000s, America was obsessed with vehicles of gargantuan proportions, perhaps even more so than it is today. Buyers lured by girth could find themselves behind the wheel of the Hummer H2 or a Ford Excursion. For years, the Excursion held the crown of the longest production SUV, now matched exactly in length by the Jeep Grand Wagoneer L. But what if an Excursion is simply too small? Heck, what if an F-250 is too small? In the 2000s, you could buy medium-duty commercial trucks from International, Chevrolet, and a Ford upfitter. All of them are outrageous, excessive, and weirdly…pretty cool. Let’s take a look at the time when manufacturers competed to build the biggest, baddest commercial truck with a pickup bed.
A somewhat common comment among our readers is that we don’t write enough about full-size or even larger trucks. Indeed, recently we fell in love with the cheerful Mahindra Jeeto and one of our co-founders, Beau Boeckmann, has an impressive collection of rare microcars. Fear not, Autopians, because we really do love just about everything that moves. During one of our morning meetings, the subject of really big pickup trucks came up. We aren’t talking about a Ford F-450 that could haul 40,000 pounds here, but bigger, beefier, and a big middle finger to logic. If you were a kid with dreams of driving a big rig, there was a time you could get really close to that without needing to obtain a commercial driver’s license.
America Has Long Loved Big Trucks
It’s hard to pinpoint where this phenomenon started but massive trucks have long been a part of American culture. For example, monster trucks technically have origins dating back to the 1970s. Back then, off-roading was really taking off as a hobby and creative builders modified their rigs to better handle their chosen environments. As Hagerty explains, during the era, off-roading was popular, especially on the West Coast, where hot-rodders created custom vehicles outfitted with tires for Arctic exploration. While off-roading was huge on the West Coast, the rest of America wanted in on it, too. Over in St. Louis, Bob Chandler took a Ford F-250 and over time, built it up into a towering beast — a mammoth car-crushing creation famously known as Bigfoot.
More fuzzy is figuring out when the owners of commercial trucks started slapping pickup beds onto the backs of trucks. Ford didn’t sell its F-7 Big Job with a pickup bed, but a glorious custom Big Job pickup rolled across Bring a Trailer last year.
Likewise, Chevrolet never sold its C-50 as a pickup truck, but custom pickup builds sometimes roll across dealership lots and auctions. You can find trucks like these all over the internet, and the concept has been applied to medium-duty trucks from various decades of truck history. Even less common is the idea of being able to walk into a General Motors brand dealership and drive out in a GMC TopKick with a pickup bed.
For a period in the 2000s, this was something you were able to do with multiple brands.
The Ford F-650 Supertruck
The company that claims to be the original builder of Ford F-650 pickups is Truck Customs by Chris, better known as “Extreme Supertruck.” As the story goes, in 2001 Chris Walker and George Stickler were looking to replace their older trucks with a Ford F-650. The pair were executives of the telecommunications and utility construction company Southeast Utilities of Georgia. On the way home from the dealership, the men decided to use their previous experience in racing and fabrication to convert the commercial truck into a large and “badass” pickup truck.
The company says that immediately after the first Extreme Supertruck was built, someone approached Walker and Stickler and then bought the truck. Since then, the guys turned their custom builds into a business, and its customers range from racers to kings to athlete — and also the sorts of people who manage to kill a F-350 pickup every few years. The company says it’s a registered Ford upfitter, so getting a gargantuan Ford pickup is a turn-key process about as close as you’re going to get to buying a commercial truck pickup right from a dealer.
Of the three manufacturers I’ll be covering today, Extreme Supertruck is the only one still building very large pickup trucks. The company’s website says its cheapest truck is the $118,900 XLT Pickup. It starts off as a Ford F-650 Diesel, which starts at around $77,000 from Ford. The XLT Pickup package includes a pickup truck conversion, two aluminum fuel tanks adding up to a total capacity of 115 gallons, a Class 5 Hitch, 22.5-inch polished aluminum wheels, and more.
If you get the base truck, it’ll be pretty much a work truck inside, but you get that bed on the back. Extreme Supertruck offers a rather incredible options list with multiple categories. You can get stainless steel fuel tanks, front and rear air suspension, and all sorts of stainless steel body parts, and if you have an extra $31,350 on hand, Extreme Supertruck will convert your F-650 into four-wheel-drive with big and chunky tires to match.
And those are just a handful of the exterior options. Other bits include train horns, custom paint, powered steps, winches, lights, tall exhaust stacks, and more. Inside, Extreme Supertruck is willing to give you a dash with wood, carbon fiber, or painted colors plus power leather seats and even a rear seat that turns into a bed. On the technology front, you can get an upgraded stereo, a 17-inch flip-down monitor, a video game console, satellite radio, and several cameras.
Power comes from a 6.7-liter Power Stroke diesel V8 rated at 330 HP and 850 lb-ft of torque, transmitted through a ten-speed automatic. Extreme Supertruck sells a bunch of different variations of this truck. The $142,290 F-650 Hauler replaces the pickup bed with a CM Truck Beds service body. This one is less a giant pickup and more the ultimate hauler for your heavy trailers. From there is the $148,900 F-650 Extreme, which is the standard pickup conversion but with a lot of the option boxes (upgraded stereo, window tint, train horn, leather, and more) already checked.
The top Ford trucks offered by Extreme Supertruck are the $197,845 Extreme Six-Door, which is the Extreme but with two more doors, and the $195,845 F-650 Extreme 4×4, which is the Extreme plus the Fabco four-wheel-drive kit. Don’t worry, Extreme Supertruck leaves plenty of options on the table so you can shoot that price past $200,000.
If Ford isn’t your jam, Extreme Supertruck also builds pickup trucks based on International, Chevrolet, and Freightliner commercial trucks. Those follow a similar upgrade path but come with two engine options. The base engine is a 6.7-liter Cummins straight six diesel making 325 HP and 750 lb-ft of torque but you can upgrade to a Cummins L9 8.9-liter straight six diesel making 350 HP and 1,000 lb-ft torque.
Of course, these trucks were made for real heavy work. For example, the Ford F-650 Diesel Straight Frame has a gross vehicle weight rating that starts at 31,000 pounds and can be capped off at 50,000 pounds. Many states limit a standard driver’s license to 26,000 pounds and some states, like Illinois, further limit you down to 16,000 pounds. Ford also sells these trucks in Pro Loader form (a lower frame, good for rollbacks, box trucks, U-Hauls, etc) which brings the max weight to a more legal 26,000 pounds max, but that’s still a ton of truck for sure.
In other words, have you ever wanted to own a real live Tonka truck? Well, if you have well over $100,000 burning a hole in your pocket, Extreme Supertruck can make it happen. And we’re still not done yet.
GMC TopKick C4500 by Monroe Truck Equipment
Supertruck claims to be the first, but the customizer started getting competition from truck manufacturers themselves.
For decades, the GMC TopKick and Chevrolet Kodiak served commercial operators all over America. If you, like me, were a kid in the 1990s, perhaps you rode aboard a school bus with that familiar GMC hood and badge up front. Until recent years, if you rented the biggest U-Hauls you got to command one of these for yourself. U-Haul’s JH rental truck (26-foot box) rode on the GMC C5500, which had a GVWR that topped out at 26,000 pounds, allowing Grandma to rent one. In states like mine, lawmakers allowed an exception to driver’s license weight limits for rental trucks.
In the 2003 model year, General Motors released the third and final generation of the GMC TopKick and Chevy Kodiak. The medium-duty truck space was hot at the time with Freightliner’s M2 and International’s DuraStar putting up fierce competition. Ford was still in the game, too, with its medium-duty F-Series trucks, which were developed jointly with Navistar. GM’s designs got a fresh and modern face.
If you read the March 6, 2002, press release from General Motors, you would have had no idea these trucks would be the last of the Kodiak and TopKick workhorses:
So many market-driven design innovations have been engineered into GM’s new conventional-cab line of Class 4-5 trucks that it’s safe to say the medium-duty segment will never be the same again. In fact, the launch of the new 2003 Chevrolet Kodiak / GMC TopKick C4500/C5500 Series trucks has set lofty new standards for best-in-class vehicle capability, durability and performance.
These new models are the most-researched and technically advanced line of commercial vehicles ever developed by General Motors. In addition to their unparalleled maneuverability and visibility, these new trucks sport improved powertrains; stronger, more-versatile frames; a fresh, aerodynamic exterior design and safer, more comfortable interiors. Plus, there’s a wide range of vehicle configurations to suit nearly every medium-duty application. The C4500 Series carries a Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR) of 16,000 pounds, and the C5500 is available in 18,000- and 19,500-lb GVWRs.
General Motors boasted greater visibility than previous generations as well as a tighter turning radius of 35.3 feet, better ride comfort, lower noise, lower vibrations, better steering feel, and even the addition of a traction control system for the first time. My favorite part of GM’s release is the part about the truck being engineered to be easier to repair:
Already boasting the least amount of unscheduled downtime in their class, according to J.D. Power, these new medium-duty trucks have been designed to provide even more reliability and durability, and are also easier to service should repairs become necessary. A unique service design, called “Priority Access System”, integrates components into major modules within the engine compartment allowing groups of parts to be removed by a technician either independently or in sequence, depending on how much accessibility is required.
In January of the following year, Wisconsin-based Monroe Truck Equipment announced a partnership with General Motors. In this partnership, C4500 trucks would leave GM’s factory in Michigan and down the road into Monroe Truck Equipment’s factory in Flint.
Monroe then converts the work truck into something a bit more lavish. Monroe’s additions involve thick carpet, faux wood trim, and leather air-ride seats. Monroe finishes the build with a pickup bed that flows perfectly with the TopKick’s lines. And before you ask, the bed is not just borrowed from a GMC Sierra. Monroe says the box itself is steel and the panels are a custom composite. That’s why it looks so good as if the TopKick was meant to be an XXL pickup.
The idea here was to give fleet operators trucks with the capability of a medium-duty commercial vehicle with the versatility of a pickup truck. For regular consumers, the GMC TopKick C4500 by Monroe Truck Equipment was supposed to be the pickup truck for the kinds of people who think a Sierra 3500 just isn’t big enough.
When Car and Driver reviewed one, the magazine quoted the C4500 as being able to tow a 14,300-pound trailer or haul 5,000 pounds in that bed. Like the Extreme Supertruck builds, the options list was expansive and also included bits like a DVD player, exhaust stacks, air-suspension, four-wheel-drive, chrome, aluminum wheels, a bench that converts into a bed, and more.
Back when Car and Driver reviewed one in 2005, the starting price for a TopKick C4500 by Monroe was $70,000, and checking all of the options boxes got you closer to $90,000. The magazine noted that the base TopKick pickup was far cheaper than a Hummer H1 and slightly more expensive than a Hummer H2, which almost made the trucks make sense.
Highlights from the Car and Driver review include the fact that the TopKick pickup just barely fit in parking spaces and the beefy suspension showed no mercy in beating up the truck’s occupants. Of course, no Car and Driver review is complete without a skidpad test and the big rig managed 0.61 g before plowing wide.
The collaboration between General Motors and Monroe reportedly lasted between 2003 and 2009. Reportedly, in 2006 a Chevrolet Kodiak version of the pickup was unveiled at the Chicago Auto Show and a version of the truck went on to become Ironhide in the Transformers movie franchise. I could not find any production numbers for these trucks or the Supertrucks above, but the 2005 Car and Driver report noted that 750 TopKick pickups were getting built a year.
Supertruck and General Motors would have one more player to battle with.
International Extreme Truck Series
This brings us to perhaps the biggest and most ostentatious of the commercial trucks-turned-pickups craze. In 2004, International announced that it too had a commercial truck with a pickup bed on the back and it was going for sheer size. International called it the Extreme Truck Series, or just XT, and the launch truck was the CXT (Commercial Extreme Truck). From MotorTrend:
“The International CXT is a truck for businesses that want to promote themselves as much as perform,” said Rob Swim, director, vehicle center marketing strategy, International Truck and Engine Corporation. “While there is nothing tougher or more extreme on the market than the International CXT, it is as much a statement of success as it is performance. If you brought this truck to the playground, you’d be king of the dirt pile.”
As MotorTrend notes, International first pitched the idea of a monster pickup truck back in 2001, teased what a production model would look like in 2003, then shocked the public and the press alike in 2004. Why? Because International decided to make the biggest production pickup truck yet.
Based on the International 7300 Class 7 truck, the CXT blasts right past the F-650 pickup and makes the Kodiak look like a Silverado. Normally, International 7300s would find work as dump trucks, garbage trucks, cement mixers, snow plows, and tow trucks. The International CXT rocks the same 25,999-pound GVWR as the previous trucks, which means people in most states can drive them without needing a license in a higher weight class.
Still, International said these trucks could carry 11,400 pounds in their beds and tow up to 40,000 pounds. The trucks themselves weigh 14,500 pounds all on their own. Again, here in Illinois, you’re limited to 16,000 pounds before you have to upgrade your license, so buyers in my state couldn’t even haul much with their CXTs. Perhaps it is amusing, then, to learn that these trucks were assembled in Warrenville, Illinois.
Once again, like the previous trucks, International filled the interior with leather, wood, DVD players, and a bench that turns into a bed. For $100,000 (or $130,000 kitted out with options), you got your CXT with International’s famous DT466 7.6-liter straight-six diesel.
That punched out 220 HP and 540 lb-ft torque. Later, the engine would get upgraded to 300 HP and 620 lb-ft torque. It’s not as powerful as the other trucks on this list, but schools and government road departments alike can tell you that the DT466 is pretty much a bulletproof engine. Even the DT466 in my former school bus ran like a top after over 23 years of service.
But Wait, There’s More!
International didn’t stop there. In 2005 at the Chicago Auto Show, it came out with the $70,000 RXT (Recreational Extreme Truck). This one was a little bit smaller, designed to look more pleasing to the eye, and was targeted at those towing large RVs, horse trailers, and large boats. The RXT was based on the International 4000 medium-duty truck with a 20,500-pound GVWR. Even with the reduced weights, International advertised some heavy hauling capabilities with a 10,000-pound payload and up to 24,000 pounds towing. The RXT weighed 10,900 pounds on its own.
Power in the RXT comes from the VT365 6.0-liter V8 turbodiesel making 230 HP and 540 lb-ft torque. You might know this engine better as the infamous 6.0-liter Power Stroke engine used in Ford trucks in the mid-2000s. Like the CXT, the RXT’s powertrain is backed by an Allison automatic transmission. A later model saw the power bump up to 310 HP and 950 lb-ft of torque.
At the same 2005 Chicago Auto Show, International came out with a third XT truck variant.
The International MXT (which means Military or Most Extreme Truck depending on the application) features a cab shared with the CXT, a face shared with the International DuraStar, and a purpose-built frame. As you could probably tell from its looks, the MXT was designed to be an off-roading brute. The military version, the MXT-MV infantry mobility vehicle, was developed alongside the civilian MXT.
Once again, the MXT was like the other variants and could be had with leather, DVD players, videogame consoles, beds, and upgraded stereos. Only now, you could take your huge beast places where perhaps a CXT might get stranded. The off-road capability did seem to come at a cost. At launch, International advertised an 18,000-pound GVWR, a 10,500-pound curb weight, a puny 4,000-pound payload, and 15,500 towing capacity. It’s also powered by the same VT365 as the base RXT, but makes 300 HP and 530 lb-ft torque.
What you gave up in hauling capabilities you got back in off-roading capabilities. You got 20-inch alloy wheels, Pro Comp 40-inch tires, scooped fenders, and available four-wheel-drive. Remember, this is basically the civilian version of the military truck, so it’s not just posing as an off-roader. Of course, it’s still a medium-duty truck, so you better make sure those trails aren’t tight. The MXT stickered at $89,500.
What Happened To These Trucks?
So, if you had six figures in your pocket and a love for all things huge, a number of manufacturers and customizers were willing to sell you a commercial truck dressed up like a Cadillac Escalade. Unfortunately, for those who want to live out their childhood dreams of driving a big rig, the OEM efforts didn’t last too long.
As I said before, GM was quoted as saying 750 TopKick and Kodiak pickups left the factory each year. International said it targeted 200 to 300 CXTs in its first year of production. I couldn’t find total production for either line of pickups, but if those production numbers hold true, there aren’t many International XTs or TopKick/Kodiak pickups out there. If you’re wondering what a review of one of these was like, read this from the Boston Globe:
As Jay Leno explained in a Popular Mechanics column describing his time behind the wheel: From his perch, Hummers looked like Mini Coopers. At the end of his drive, he took the CXT home, only to discover it would not fit in his driveway. So he went to his mother-in-law’s house down the street and, ”as I pulled into her driveway, I said to myself, ‘Oh look, there’s a ball on the roof of her house.'”
Driving it is not difficult. It rides like a truck, with air seats that bounce softly, absorbing the thumping road feel (which, interestingly, is not transmitted through the steering wheel). Bodacious mirrors provide excellent views all around; a backup camera, displayed in the rearview mirror, reveals the little Honda Civic that may have crept up behind you.
You need to leave a little extra room in sharp cornering for the outside rear wheel (there are two on each side). Only the air brake took some getting used to. There is virtually no pedal travel, so jarring stops are common in early going
Leno ended his review by joking that sometimes you’ll find a crushed Prius in the wheel wells. I also have to wonder about just how practical those trucks’ beds were. How do you load something into a truck bed that sits feet off of the ground?
Of course, the demise of the factory big rig pickup can be traced back to the Great Recession. In 2008, International killed off the XT series, citing the high cost of fuel and “market forces.” Meanwhile, in December 2007, GM announced it was attempting to sell parts of its medium-duty truck business. The original idea was to sell to Navistar International in order to leverage the strengths of both companies, but that fell through. GM failed to find a buyer and shut down its medium-duty truck business in 2009. The automaker would be without a medium-duty truck line until 2018, when GM partnered up with Navistar International to create medium-duty trucks.
Today, you can still get new medium-duty trucks with pickup beds, but you’ll have to go through an upfitter like Extreme Supertruck. If you want one of the OEM medium-duty pickups, expect to pay a hefty price. International XTs have asking prices in line with new sticker prices. The GMC TopKick and Chevy Kodiak pickups are much cheaper, but still hold their value quite well.
Admittedly, this is one of those times where I wish I were a bit older. I bet reviewing one of these beasts was unforgettable. As someone who actually enjoys driving large vehicles, these trucks sound like a blast, practicality, fuel economy, and parking be damned!
Here’s another example of the 2000s being awesome for enthusiasts. There truly was something for everyone from tiny cars to roadsters, super fast motorcycles, gargantuan pickup trucks, and all points in between. America lusted over pickup trucks so much that manufacturers were willing to slap beds on commercial trucks. If that’s not madness, I don’t know what is.
(Update: A reader noted that Bob Chandler did not live on the West Coast. That implication was unintentional and that paragraph could have been clearer. It’s been updated; thank you for your eagle eyes!)
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World’s Reportedly Largest Pickup Truck Has 4 Bedrooms, Weighs 50 Tons
This massive copy of Dodge’s 1950 Power Wagon model is 64 times larger.
https://interestingengineering.com/transportation/worlds-reportedly-largest-pickup-truck-has-4-bedrooms-weighs-50-tons
In fairness to International, the manufacturer claimed to build the largest production pickup truck in the world. That said, wow! Now that is gigantic!
While I’m a huge proponent of conserving resources, I remember these from back in the day and I’ve always thought something like this is pretty practical for hauling a huge, heavy camper/rv/trailer–>way more practical than a lot of the underspec’d trucks hauling rvs that I get stuck behind on the highway.
Also, how’d they get the 4 wheeler in the back of the red CXT? An more importantly, how are they getting it out?
In: jumped it off the roof of their house.
Out: just send it.
It’s funny, I was thinking the opposite – they’re showing these with trailers that a bone-stock 3/4T or 1T consumer HD pickup should handle with ease.
If it makes you feel any better, I don’t know nothin about hauling no trailer or what size truck it takes to haul it, but I do drive on the open highway frequently and it seems like I’m regularly stuck behind someone towing a giant trailer/rv with a seriously stressed suspension that can barely make it up the hill.
Edit: also I meant to say that I was thinking about the GMC/Chevy which seems way more practical than the other ones.
My aunt had the GMC version. Just hearing my 5′ tall aunt giggle as she hit the train horn was and still is hilarious to me.
Very wholesome, thank you for sharing <3
Were these ever really popular? I have only seen a handful on the road… I know Ashton Kutcher had one at one point, but they seem rather rare.
Deion Sanders just bought one of these which is hilarious not only because of the culture in Boulder but even physically being able to drive and park it there.
No, they were never really popular in terms of volume, I dont think the builders could have turned out much more than they did, since everything but International was done by a boutique up-fitter. However, they had a following with businesses that wanted to use them for advertising and a tax write off (tattoo parlors, cigarette outlets, driveway paving) and professional athletes, so you certainly saw them around
I think the only time I’ve seen any of them in person was near a boat ramp and private clubhouse at a lake. Good for towing a big powerboat around, but I imagine they’d be absolutely miserable to try to daily-drive no matter how much leather the interior has.
I went to a hockey game in St. Louis and kinda got lost leaving the arena afterwards. I ended up getting out through a loading gate or some other back door that probably wasn’t the right way to go…but it apparently led to the player’s parking area. Because one of those RXT beasts was parked back there…in Blue of course, and holy cow, that thing was HUGE.
I have relevant industry experience to share!
When I was working at the Mack powertrain plant in Hagerstown, we got a cool request from Mack world HQ (at that time still in Allentown, PA). They were building a truck just like these out of a 4 door 2 axle AWD Mack Granite and they wanted a hot-rod MP8 13 liter engine to power it. The design requirements we were given was that it needed enough power to smoke all 4 tires at will. You had me at ‘hello’…
We ended up delivering an MP8 turned up to about 800 horsepower that looked completely stock and even kept the DPF. They named the truck ‘Jack Mack’ and used it to pick up VIP customers from the airport and shuttle them around to the WHQ and Macungie truck assembly plant to give tours. Cool truck. 🙂
https://www.equipmentworld.com/trucks/vocational/article/14965564/meet-jack-macks-800-hp-mega-crew-cab-pickup-truck
Had a coworker with one of these.
Not sure why.
I used to drive him nuts by constantly referring to my Ranger as “My Rig” though. So that was fun.
*Person buys impractical sports car with low mpg, never uses it to full capacity, just likes how it looks and drives*
-Car blog commenters: “Awesome, sweet ride”
*Person buys impractical large truck with low mpg, never uses it to full capacity, just likes how it looks and drives*
-Car blog commenters: “WTF, tiny penis loser!!”
It seriously makes me regret being a part of this community sometimes.
That’s fair. I do love me a stupid-fast sports car, but big trucks just aren’t my cup of tea. I’ll admit that it is hard to check myself sometimes when I see a jacked-up pickup on huge rims with super low profile tires or pristine Jeeps that people name like boats with all manner of stuff bolted to them. I have to remind myself that while I don’t share their taste, they are enthusiasts enjoying their vehicles just like me.
Yeah I don’t personally care for hot hatches or motorcycles, and I sometimes find their drivers annoying, but I can’t say I’ve felt the urge to speculate on those driver’s/rider’s genitalia on a comment thread either. It’s just so odd to me.
We are pro-car here and while there are some things we don’t support:
Street racing
Coal-rolling
We try not to shame people for loving their vehicles. I think everyone in this community can try and remember to try and be less anti-car.
Amen
how does the autopian feel about stancing and the Carolina lift?
*Person buys hybrid car, just likes how it looks and drives*
-Car blog commenters: “What a virtue signalling snooty jerk! And are you dead inside?”
-People in real world: “Here’s my bumper sticker saying that I specifically hate you because of your car. I am going to use an illegal device to blow a smokescreen at you. I might also try to run you off the road.”
*Person buys small pickup truck, comments on how surprisingly capable it is*
-Car blog commenters: “How dare you make fun of my larger truck?”
As an owner and user of an impractical large truck I will never understand how a person could like how it drives when unloaded. So it sits until we need to move more than a half-ton of stuff. It does corner surprisingly well when empty though.
I have to say, you must frequent different blogs than I do, because hybrids and small trucks seem to have a pretty universal appeal here, and even if they don’t, the commentary rarely devolves to the personal level as it always seems to with big trucks.
This (and Jalopnik) is an unusual site. Also, I live in an area with a lot of angrily-worded bumper stickers on aggressively-driven lifted trucks. Since I tinker with an older F250, I read forums frequented by folks who get pretty personal about these things.
It’s a fair point to a limit but the inefficient sports car doesn’t block the driver’s and everyone else’s lines of sight, fits in a single parking spot, and does less damage to the road.
As long as there are commercial vehicles on the road, I don’t buy this as a legit argument.
Seeing a few 650s with pickup beds in traffic makes virtually zero difference in a sea of big rigs, dump trucks, delivery trucks, RVs, etc.
Dump trucks, busses etc are purpose driven in their size. I have to problem with truck bed 150, 250, 350 but I just don’t see the utility of a 650 with the bed sides 10 ft above ground. Genuinely if you can explain their use case to me I am happy to reconsider my opinion but I don’t get what you are supposed to use these trucks for other than be big for the sake of being big.
Also all these commercial vehicles are far less likely to be found on a neighborhood street or parking lot and are much more predictable in their behavior.
This. This this this.
“Commercial vehicles exist so it’s cool to block everyone else’s sightlines with my huge personal truck” feels inconsiderate.
Don’t event try, this dude will not consider any argument that goes against his.
Just not silly ones.
“Seeing a few 650s with pickup beds in traffic makes virtually zero difference in a sea of big rigs, dump trucks, delivery trucks, RVs, etc.”
This is literally perfect logic. Do you get angry when you’re behind a school bus too?
Love reading your stuff, Mercedes, but I have a nit to pick here. Bigfoot wasn’t a west coast creation. Mr. Chandler is local to my hometown of St. Louis, MO which is a big source of pride around here. I still remember visiting Bigfoot 4X4 as a kid when it was located in Hazelwood, MO. Bigfoot 5 (the one referenced with the huge tundra vehicle tires) was always parked outside along with an Aerostar on tracks. That is truly amazing to see in person! An article on the history of Bigfoot would make for a great read all on its own.
For clarification, I didn’t mean to imply that Mr. Chandler was on the west coast, just that off-roading itself was a popular thing on the west coast back then. But, I do see how that paragraph reads now. I apologize for that and will issue an edit!
Must be big truck day, my Google News feed brought up the Grizzly pickup:
https://www.hagerty.com/media/car-profiles/the-rare-mighty-grizzly-truck-is-canadas-unimog/
This week Mullen just announced that they began series production of their big rig EV cab chassis truck. It wouldn’t be hard to kloogie a bed architecture for that. But good luck finding a charger station you can actually park it at.
https://news.mullenusa.com/mullens-first-production-vehicle-rolls-off-assembly-line <- For information…
Back when the market respected the Guy who Owns a Home Building Business and Pays No Taxes. A self-made man who only took a small loan from his father. Who only violates 5-6 employment laws a day. He needed a truck that says I made it with hard work and little to no regard for the legal code. Shame he will have to settle with a TRX/ Raptor R.
That is very specific.
Every suburb in America has one of these guys. Where ever a new suburban development with man made lakes sprouts up, one of these dudes are behind it. They lurk on your local Camber of Commerce board. Parked in front of a Walmart in the tow-away zone. They are above the laws of God and Country. His PPP loan varies in size.
The Rural Gentry’s suburban cousins.
“We don’t do a lot of articles about massive trucks here”
*reads comments section*
….you know maybe it’d be for the best if we kept it that way
Here’s a gentle reminder to be kind to your fellow Autopians. We’re all here to enjoy taking a look at cars, motorcycles, trucks, and planes, no matter their size!
Edit: And with that said, if this comment section veers toward toxicity we will take action. We don’t have a “grays” here because we trust our readers. Let’s keep being one of the greatest places to talk about cars, please!
Seconded. Let’s not turn Autopian into…well…the rest of the world.
Seriously, this is a big country and even bigger world. There is literally no 1 size fits all approach to cars and trucks. These trucks would be stupid in my area, but travel 300 miles west and they start to make sense. Mercedes can a smart car fit in the bed?, I know you’d need something like a 50 ft ramp to get up to the bed height, but these could be great tow rigs when the Smarts stop working.
I will be glad when this action is finally taken.
I think that overall, this forum has been (miraculously) really quite good at regulating itself. But it looks like this thread went a bit off the rails yesterday, which sucks.
Warning received; I would hate for the comment section to have to be regulated with a German lighting site-style system. I never commented there because I didn’t feel like it was worth trying to get out of the grays. Here I probably comment too much, lol.
I have no love for giant vehicles, but hey, this was a great history lesson for me, and I find these sorts of rare bizarro trucks to be sort of fascinating. I think most of us should be able to read this article without slinging feces all over the place.
As a European, this is what a regular F150/Silverado/etc/ looks like on our roads. You’d need a truck drivers license to drive them too.
I see it doesn’t take long for the city dweller EV fanboys to show up. Especially if it’s anything bigger than a small car that might be on the road. Go beat sand with your coal burning battery boxes. Some of us actually have to haul shit around so you can keep charging your go carts.
As a rural EV fanboy who hauls (figurative and literal) shit around a lot, I’m not sure what your deal is here. Horses for courses, tool for the job.
See that’s my issue with these trucks or any jacked up 1500 or 2500 trucks. How do you haul shit? I had a Raptor which clearly was more of an enthusiast choice than a practical choice and I hauled very frequently, I’m taller than average and reaching into that tall bed was a hassle. These trucks are even taller, you need a front loader to get things in there.
As a driver of a 2011 Chevy 2500, it’s a trade-off that’s not ideal. Newer trucks have higher GVW and GCW ratings, meaning they can haul more and tow more. It also means they need more suspension travel, and bigger wheels, brakes, etc. etc.
All of that means that the bed floor has to be higher, which sucks for actually putting things in there. My ’86 chevy 1 ton was probably a foot lower at the tailgate, but it wouldn’t carry or tow half of what my 2011 does.
That’s only part of the reason why the beds are so much taller nowadays than they used to be – a bone-stock newer 4WD F-150 with the factory fancy bigger tires is noticeably taller than my ’93 4WD one-ton turbodiesel GMT400. The F-150 has what, about a 1500-1700lb payload? My old clattering beast has a 4000lb bed capacity and still handles pretty well when using all of it.
It’s not payload, it’s ME BIGGER image shit.
I think this is where my issue with aftermarket lifted trucks comes from. Aesthetics aside, just because I don’t like the look doesn’t mean diddly. I’ve even seen legit used for work trucks lifted and put on low profile tires. At best the actual capability of the truck stays the same but becomes a bigger PITA to use. Seems like the mirror opposite but comparable modification as stance.
I feel vaguely bad for the people who liked these things enough to actually buy one.
I’m just here for the comments from people that can’t see certain vehicles without thinking about penises.
Right?!
I don’t even get that vibe from the Wienermobile.
Dildozer maybe a little…
Man, we LOVED the word ‘extreme’ in the early 2000’s. Even more extreme was the word ‘xtreme’.
You forgot to capitalize, italicize and make the X a 20 point larger font.
A co-worker had one of these to pull his house (huge trailer) to different trailer parks. He drover the thing to work about once a week. Dang thing was huge
How often was he moving his house that he owned one of these things?
Common for oil field workers, specialized trades, etc.
Ah. I was really confused there. Thought maybe he wasn’t paying lot rental and just getting kicked out of a different trailer park every few months
Yep! However in this case, he was/is a fiber cable splicer.
Spent my Sophomore and half of my Junior year in HS living in one of these trailer parks. In this case they were referred to as “tractors”, and are an essential part of trailer owners life.
Our trailers were part of a group of about 30 which were sub-let to my Dad’s employer for their white collar staff. Talk about being a fish out of water! We were not well received. Learned to fight dirty/for keeps much sooner than I would have back in rural Kansas.
Left early to join the Corps! Semper Fi !
small dicked petrosexuals afraid of EVs and liberals will bring these back soon.
Ed Note: We ask readers not to be transphobic, please…
Well, this is awkward. It is unfortunate you view trans people in this manner, doubly so that you think we don’t know how to live.
If anything, his article is proof that we’re just regular people. I’d rock one of these big trucks and do so with a smile a country-mile wide. Maybe I’d park one of my kei cars in the bed just for the laughs.
That would be amazing to see. Imagine all the kids and immature adults it’d bring a smile to! 🙂
nothing for Jim Stock?
You have taught me so much in the past eight months. If you were to go back and review my posts, you might note a sense of tension in my earliest compared to those of the past month. We will continue this journey together, no doubt with you showing the way.
Let’s try to cool it on these kinds of epithets, as you can see below it just engenders more bad feelings.
Hey! You said “gender”. Stop politicizing things! /s
More likely regulations like the Footprint rule will bring these back.
‘Why make smaller pickups when you’re fined for not meeting unrealistic MPG requirements and why make more fuel efficient drivetrains when you can just make the trucks wider and longer and get rewarded with lower MPG requirements because of it?’
If the wimpiest person in the world drives one of these trucks, do they somehow become less wimpy?
No?
Thought so.
Mercedes Streeter? Matt Hardigree?
I remember Beechmont Chevy having a red Kodiak at the front of their lot for a while back in the day. Beechmont Chevy was one of the dealerships closed down durring the Great Recession of ’08 when GM had to close down several dealerships as part of the bailout, it now lives on on Google Streetview from 07. Fuck I feel old now.
I have to admit, whenever I see one of these behemoths I make assumptions about what the driver is compensating for.
My long-held contention is that this says a great deal more about you than about the driver of the truck.
Seems like ALOT of people are worrying about others genitals
Says the guy posting transphobic comments
Oh no… I’ve been wounded! How will I recover?! Maybe still not worrying about what others drive and their penis size……..
Do you by any chance sport a goatee? And maybe wear wrap around sunglasses? Just curious.
Mercedes Streeter? Matt Hardigree?
Did those questions somehow trigger you?
If so, I suggest:
Wrap Around Sunglasses
Beard Wax
Dude stop, your comments are saying a LOT about your “insecurities”. All penis size are ok.
Wow, what an original joke…
I was gonna say they’re compensating for their lack of ability to back into a parking space (but it won’t stop them from trying, and trying, and pulling forward and trying again, and again…)
Man, you guys.
Good save.
Mercedes Streeter? Matt Hardigree?
The Topkicks always looked a bit dorky to me with the Express/Savanna van doors. Like a literal parts bin vehicle.
International definitely understood the styling assignment. Those trucks look good even today.