What Happened to Pickup Trucks? | Hacker News Reader

What Happened to Pickup Trucks?

bloomberg.com

24 pointsDLay26 comments

> “Burning fossil fuels can come to function as a knowingly violent experience,” Daggett writes, “a reassertion of white masculine power on an unruly planet that is perceived to be increasingly in need of violent, authoritarian order.”

Except pickup trucks are also very popular among Latino buyers, and increasingly Black buyers as well: https://thecargossip.com/2020/10/17/ford-aims-f-series-push-... ("he F-Series is on pace to displace the Toyota Camry as the No. 1 nameplate among Black buyers this year, up from fourth place in 2019, according to IHS Markit registration data through June.... The Silverado is the second-bestselling vehicle among Hispanics, behind the Honda Civic.")

This brown guy's next vehicle will probably be a pickup truck. Not to impose "violent, authoritarian order" on an "unruly planet," but because I'd rather throw the kids' paddle boards into a truck bed than wrangle them into the interior of our 4Runner.

Yeah, reading into the masculinity worries of truck drivers is telling. It's basically a trope that a huge truck means you're "compensating for something" and this article just kinda dresses that stereotype in fancier language.

The real answer is: trucks are an in-group signal. And because it's not our group, it gets slandered as a masculinity crisis and a moral crime ("look how big and scary the grill is, it'll kill a biker!" "It's authoritarian!")

Is there any truth to these claims about the evils of trucks? Yes, the arguments are laid out well enough. But the real underlying reason this article was written is tribalism.

Like I agree there is a fair point to be made about environmental and safety concerns.

But the article indulges in classism as well as racial stereotyping of Black and Latino. Pickup trucks are popular among middle class white men in suburban, exurban, and rural areas. That makes them a legitimate object of derision for college professors. The fact that they’re also popular among Black and Latino men who live in those areas is an inconvenient fact that needs to be glossed over. They’re erased to preserve the narrative.

That erasure is frustrating because its those places where folks drive pickup trucks (suburban and exurban areas in sunbelt and southern states) that you actually find much of the growing Black and Latino middle class.

Fuel efficiency standards killed the small truck, sadly. They couldn't stay small without hitting car mileage numbers, so they had to get bigger, because aerodynamics and a pickup bed are hard. Nobody liked biggish small trucks, so now we only have big trucks.

This is the best visual comparison I've seen: https://i.imgur.com/HJd9qSn.jpg

Hilarious article...cancel culture at it's finest, using scary words to turn trucks into evil, that must be eradicated...the "too many tall trucks" on the road started in the early 90s, when drivers of cars could no longer see 2 cars ahead (which previously allowed for safer braking).

I see pickups in the parking lot that literally do not fit in the parking spaces.

Many of these are from nearby farms I'm sure. But wow, they're just freakishly large. At a certain point you've got to wonder if they're basically heavy equipment that don't belong where normal autos belong.

I wonder where that line is. Can I build and drive the Canyonero even if it's two lanes wide?

There is a maximum size at which a vehicle must get a perimit to drive (8'6" width; other dimensions vary by state). Vehicles over a certain size are also often banned from parking on the street at the local/municipal level.

As a note, 8'6" is also about the point at which spots are labled "compact cars only" but the requirements for that are extremely varied from state to state, and may include grandfathering clauses (as minimum parking spot ordinances are common, changing what counts as a "spot" could retroactively make a building no longer legally zoned)

Glad that I live somewhere far the hell away from widespread vanity pickup trucks, and more importantly, the people who buy them.

I REALLY REALLY want a hybrid F-150. The concept of a truck that can generate enough electricity to run a welder, worklights, and a stereo!

I known I'll never need it. But golly do I want one.

Could replace a portable generator, if you have a use for one of those. Will be on my list if I need to replace my pickup truck (or my portable generator).

The Honda Ridgeline isn’t a masculinity truck but it checks all the other boxes. They really do need to make some basic pedestrian safety rules in the us and enforce existing laws against aholes Rolling coal. I don’t really care if folks buy trucks but the F-u arms race is forcing me to consider buying one just so that my wife and kids aren’t at risk of getting squashed by one. My wife wants a small electric but having everyone drive a car 2-3x the weight is kind of a problem when you have an accident

Petro-masculinity. A nice turn of phrase...

I think they’re kind of awesome but so absurdly impractical and expensive, I could never justify buying one. I mean I have enough money to do so, but I’ve never spent more than $4500 on a car and ain’t gonna drop 40k or more for a cool car.

I could see getting your kid a truck so if they get in accident they’re less likely to die, but when my oldest starts driving I’m gonna get her a retired police interceptor. Burly and relatively safe, but way cheaper.

Recently upgraded from a mid-size sedan to a Ram 1500, which feels huge compared to your average car. All I’m gonna say is that the auto stop sensors on the front and rear are amazing and so is the 360 cam. All vehicles should have these features. Rear ending and backing into someone should be things of the pastZ “We have the technology.”

Trucks have gotten too tall recently. I’m not sure exactly why. The offroading packages lift the body, so you’d think they could lower the cabs to the old height. Also, fuel economy has been stuck for decades despite most shutting off engine cylinders, and including all sorts of other fuel saving gizmos.

Having said that, modern trucks have much better visibility than other body styles. The rear view mirrors are placed lower, greatly reducing blindspots beside the truck, and the backup cameras are higher off the ground, providing a better angle.

As for parking, fitting an American sports car in a spot is almost as much of a crap shoot as fitting a full sized truck.

As for the masculinity digs, well, it’s my wife’s truck. We’re both extremely concerned about climate change, but there is no reasonable alternative on the market. It’s not like the cybertruck is shipping or dealerships carry smaller engine trucks any more. Heck, they don’t even make small diesel trucks any more, and the EPA was blocking sales of the larger diesels the last time we were shopping. (Small diesel trucks had much lower CO2 emissions than gas trucks, but they have a less popular acceleration curve.)

There’s a lot of ignorant prejudice in this thread.

You may say that it has better visibility, but I’m not so sure. Large SUVs and trucks have terrible close-in visibility, and huge front blind spots. If what you’re looking for isn’t a car, but perhaps a child or a pedestrian, you stand a much better chance of seeing them in a civic or similar, and a much lower chance of killing them.

The most dangerous blindspots for me is the front columns to the side of the windshield. Surprisingly my small-ish Mazda CX-5 has much worse visibility in these blindspots than my Ram 1500 (because they are closer to my face in the Mazda, blocking a larger field of view). Old vehicles didn't have this same danger because we didn't shove airbags into them.

I've rented late model trucks and the visibility is terrible compared to the cargo vans I habitually drive.

Not sure. High truck could roll over completely where civic might smash. Just sayin’

I have to ask, every large pick-up I've had a go at driving has the turning radius of an aircraft-carrier, I know that American roads tend to be wider, but how many 30 point turns do you find yourselves doing in it?

I've never needed to do more than a 3 point turn in my truck. Being aware of exactly how far the front and rear bumpers are is incredibly important for not having to do a bunch of back and forths - which modern sensors make a breeze.

The reason the turning radius is relatively terrible is because the axels are so far apart (good weight distribution).

> I have to ask, every large pick-up I've had a go at driving has the turning radius of an aircraft-carrier

Some of the big trucks have rear wheels that steer too to help with that.

Also, have you driven a Ford C-MAX? It's very narrow for a four-door sedan/hatchback, which is great for getting into tight parking spots, except it has the worst turning radius ever.

I think it’s a bit lazy to dismiss trucks as “petro masculinity”. First off, there’s nothing wrong with masculinity and how people choose to express it - imagine making such a pejorative statement about the other sex or a race. Second, the plain reality is that trucks are a versatile do it all vehicle. It can transport your family, hold your dogs, haul lumber from the hardware store, carry your toys for that destination/road trip, and more. They give the driver a commanding view of the road and are easier to operate than ever, despite their size, because of surround cameras and other tech.

There’s a lot to like about pickup trucks - and I say that as someone who has never owned one. This article just seems very biased and written from the perspective of a city dweller who looks down on all of suburban or rural America. It’s a tired form of self indulgent opinion journalism that we see regularly from urban activist blogs.

My country has plenty of them (albeit we call them utes), but primarily Japanese models (god bless the Hilux), but there are the occasional American models. And they're frigging massive.

And the point of the article isn't "pick-ups suck" but looking at why the American pick-ups hit the 'roids.

Dodge has recently starting promoting the Ram here, and wow, the TV adverts are rather unsubtle about linking a "real truck" to masculinity.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSqMjuMiOIU

Compare that to this one from Toyota for the 21 Hilux:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBEUtjwjbEM

I drive a Mini Cooper - it It definitely worrisome when the bottom of the current round of pickup driver’s windows and bed heights are taller than the roof of my car. I basically always assume drivers of these truck don’t see me.

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