Rented a truck today from U-Haul, drove 12 miles around town moving some furniture to the storage unit. Was going to rent a van, but was concerned it wouldn't clear going into the underground storage unit facility entrance (7' 6")

Driving impressions--smooth, quiet around town. 1st time I've driven a full size pickup in years. Plenty of space in the bed.

Forgot that Ford did away w/ the quarter windows and rear-opening doors on the regular cab w/ the last restyle. Huge C-pillars, slight blind spot in backing up.

The tailgate when open must be 3 feet off the ground, had to use a stepladder when getting in and out of the bed loading sofas, coffee tables, etc.

Ultra basic in the XL trim level--manual seat, manual windows, fixed side mirrors, manual door locks, rubber floor mat. Haven't driven something this basic in many years. Quaint. The dash design (rock hard plastics) is pretty unpleasant to look at--lots of rectangles and circles, in about 5 shades of gray w/ lots of cut lines and separate pieces. I'm sure it would look better in Lariat or King Ranch trim, but it's a very busy design. I think the current GM and Dodge dash designs are nicer, even in base form. But it does have a lot of useful cubby holes, incl. something that looks like a built in ashtray below one of the dash vents.

>>"Plenty of space in the bed."<<

Could it be any other way in a long bed ?

Those 'quaint' appointments are far more durable than plush carpet & power doo-dads, and in a 'work' truck, that's what counts. Same goes for the more durable plastics.

I was eyeballing a circa '94 F-150 on the road today- I will likely miss mine (to a degree) for decades to come (same basic XL-Special).

Surprised it was still in good shape...

Surprised it was still in good shape...

Well, it was a 2010 w/ about 2000 miles. No noticable scratches or dents.

Those 'quaint' appointments are far more durable than plush carpet & power doo-dads, and in a 'work' truck, that's what counts. Same goes for the more durable plastics.

I'm sure...I'm just not used to driving something that stripped down. Good thing it had A/C and the mirrors were in usable positions.

Edited May 31, 201015 yr by Cubical-aka-Moltar