If you’re in the market to buy a new truck, there are many options to consider. In addition to choosing your truck color, upholstery, engine, and truck cab size, another important element you’ll have to consider is the size of your truck bed. The bed of a truck will get put through a ton of use, whether you’ll be hauling heavy equipment between job sites, transporting camping equipment to and from the mountains, or just lugging around random items like jumper cables, pool toys, groceries and more.
Before buying a new pickup truck, it’s important to arm yourself with knowledge so you can be informed to make the best decision about which pickup truck bed size will best support your lifestyle needs. We will break down the different types of truck beds and sizes below including the pros and cons of each bed style to help you narrow down the search for the most ideal truck bed for you.
What Are the Different Types of Truck Bed Styles?
Short Bed Truck
Sometimes referred to as a “short box”, a pickup truck with a short bed is a very common type of pickup truck bed style. If you rock a compact truck (for instance a GMC Canyon or Chevy Colorado), your bed is likely around 5 feet long. If you have a full-size pickup, your short bed will be more towards 6.5 feet long. Short beds offer ample space to haul cargo and other items around, but the bed is not too big which makes it easy to drive and park.
- Pros: Short bed trucks are perfect for truck owners that live in or around cities. Because they are easier to pilot, it makes them great options to navigate narrower city roads with more dense traffic. Short beds are also good for truck owners that don’t require a ton of cargo to be transferred to and from on a daily basis, as the bed capacity is more limited compared to other styles.
- Cons: Because the bed space is smaller, a short bed style pickup truck would not be ideal for truck owners that need to transport a lot of heavy equipment and materials frequently. If you need to transfer big items on a day to day basis, you would be better off with a larger style truck bed.
Long Bed Truck
Sometimes referred to as a “long box”, the long bed truck is 1 or 2 feet longer than the short bed, offering significantly more space in comparison. Compact trucks have long beds that range in length of about 7 feet long, while full-size trucks (think Ram 1500 or Chevy Silverado 1500) are about 8 feet long.
- Pros: The long bed truck style is great for truck owners that may use it for job purposes such as construction or farming. Long bed dimensions are known for being spacious enough to hold a slab of 4x8 foot plywood with the tailgate shut, making it incredibly convenient for job demands in construction.
- Cons: Due to its larger oblong style, a long bed pickup would not be a great choice for truck owners living in or near cities. The extra length in the bed can make it cumbersome to drive and navigate along narrow roads and traffic.
Standard Bed or “Fleetside Bed”
A standard truck bed size, also referred to as the “fleetside bed” or the “styleside bed”, is the most common type of truck bed. The standard bed features fender wells on the inside of the truck bed, which allows more cargo volume inside the truck bed because it extends over the wheel wells. This provides a lot more room compared to a short bed or a long bed where the truck bed stops right at the wheel well. On a standard bed, the outside walls of the truck bed are smooth and line up with the edge of the wheel wells, allowing it to maintain great aerodynamic properties while offering more truck bed space.
- Pros: The main obvious benefit to a standard bed is that it allows greater width within the truck bed overall.
- Cons: A standard bed can be a bit pricier than short or long bed style, because of the greater volume it offers.
Stepside Bed or “Flareside Bed”
The stepside bed, also referred to as the “flareside bed” or the “sportside bed”, is similar to the standard bed, but with a few key differences. Stepside beds have a bumper or step that extends from the back of the truck to around the side of the truck bed. Another distinguished characteristic of the stepside bed is that the wheel wells are actually on the outside of these trucks, making it less aerodynamic than the standard bed.
Back in the day, most all pickup trucks were commonly equipped with stepside beds until about 1950s when Ford, Chrysler and General Motors introduced the standard pickup beds as lower production options. Soon after, many other manufacturers switched to this style to offer more interior space in the truck bed.
- Pros: One advantage of the stepside bed is that it offers a perfect rectangular truck bed interior. Because it does not fit over the wheel wells, stepside beds don’t have the awkward space that forms around the tires in the truck bed. This feature is preferable to some truck owners depending on their job and truck needs.
- Cons: The main disadvantage to a stepside bed is that it does not offer as much space as the standard bed does in regard to the space over the wheel well. However the difference is mainly cosmetic and up to the owner’s preference in terms of storage needs and hauling capabilities.
Figure Out Which Truck Bed is Right for You?
Now that you know some of the terminology and basic characteristics of different pickup truck beds, we hope you are more confident to make a well-informed truck purchase. Regardless of which truck bed style you decide, there are so many different truck accessories that will fit your new ride and make it exactly to your preference.
Shop at Radco today to customize your brand-new pickup truck with tonneau covers, fender flares, grills guards, mud flaps and so much more. With so many different interior and exterior truck accessories available to truck owners, we’ve definitely got something to help you personalize your ride exactly to your liking.