What vehicles can carry a 4' x 8' sheet of plywood?

[Peter Kelly]

Edit to add: strongly consider making an account with a wholesale distributor. I get pretty much any plywood I could want and S4S materials delivered in most instances next day to my garage for a reasonable fee, usually around $20, with no minimums.

Lots of independent lumber yards offer this as well, the ones near me will even deliver same day whether you've got a trade account or not. It isn't always the cheapest option but far less hassle than trying wedge sheet materials into a passenger vehicle. Drivers here will always help you unload unwieldy plywood, just make sure to give them a tip.

 

[Packard]

The Chrysler/Dodge minivans will carry the plywood and I get about 22 mpg. The Chrysler's products have the folding "stow and go" rear seats, so no need to remove the seats. 

But that all goes away if you want the hybrid.  In that case the batteries go in the space that the stow and go seats would otherwise occupy.

In New York many roads are "parkways" or "highways" and towed vehicles are not permitted on those roads.  So not so convenient is you want to pick up lumber 60 miles away.

Seriously? You cannot pull a trailer on the highway? How do semi-trucks get around that?

It's actually just the old Parkways system roads like the Taconic, Cross Island, Saw Mill, FDR, etc. that have low clearance bridges and often times no shoulder. Commercial vehicles are all permitted on the NYS Thruway, Northway and most side roads.

Pretty sure I wouldn't want to be pulling a trailer the way some people drive on the Taconic down in West Chester...

I have seen them pull over a trailer on the Taconic. 

When I lived on Long Island the cops enforced the "no pickup trucks" rule on the parkways, though if you had a cap on the cargo area and a seatbelt bracket and harness back there and passengers plates you complied and were not ticketed.

But trailers have always been banned on parkways in New York. 

If I wanted to pickup at ML Condon, I have to take Route 84 to Route 684.  By car I would normally take the Taconic.

I moved upstate in 2000.  They changed the pickup truck regulations that year.

Under the direction of Governor George E. Pataki, the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles changed its regulations in the year 2000 regarding the procedure for registering light-duty pickup trucks. You can now get passenger class plates for a light-duty pickup truck. Prior to that change, a pickup truck received commercial plates unless you made significant changes to the vehicle. Once registered as a passenger vehicle, these light-duty pickup trucks qualify for using New York State Parkways.

The state website lists 23 highways in the lower Hudson, NY City, Long Island region that are designated "Passenger Cars Only".  I don't think that leaves "trailers" to the discretion of the highway enforcement officers. 

According to my GPS, using roads that allow commercial vehicles would add only about 6 or 7 minutes to my trip.  I  would be reluctant to drive at 65 or 70 mph trailering an unladen trailer.  It would be bouncing all over the place.

 

[semenza]

    Yes, pickups in NY have been registerable as one form or another of non-commercial, as you say , since 2000.  I do not think the cap / cover rule applies anymore either.

    In the last couple decades many pickup owners do not use them as "work trucks" anymore. And all the auto makers have really upped the features and amenities in trucks. To the point that they are very nice vehicles now. Plus the introduction of many models that are only sort of trucks now days.

Seth

 

[semenza]

I have a Honda Ridgeline (unibody pickup) that is both smaller and more fuel efficient than a full-sized pickup. And unlike a full sized pickup, 4x8 sheet goods fit between the wheel wells and lay flat on the bed floor. That said, the bed isn’t 8’ long so part of the sheet will be exposed, even with a tonneau cover.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I may be reading that inversely, but I do not know of any full size pickup (barring an oddball) that doesn't have at least 48" between the wheel wells. 

Seth

 

[Packard]

    Yes, pickups in NY have been registerable as one form or another of non-commercial, as you say , since 2000.  I do not think the cap / cover rule applies anymore either.

    In the last couple decades many pickup owners do not use them as "work trucks" anymore. And all the auto makers have really upped the features and amenities in trucks. To the point that they are very nice vehicles now. Plus the introduction of many models that are only sort of trucks now days.

Seth

They are blaming the shift to pickup trucks for the increase in "front over" accidents.  Those are vehicle/pedestrian accidents that occur when pulling out of a parking space and hitting the pedestrian who is in the front blind spot.

For the last several years backover accidents have been decreasing because of the use of backup cameras on most cars.  But the shift to pickup trucks and SUVs means much larger blind spots in front of the vehicle.  At greatest danger are small children and pets. 

To fourth complicate things, drivers rarely simply get in their cars and drive off.  They, instead, consult their smart phones.  So the observed "clear path" in front of the car that the driver saw when he got in the F-350 pickup might be five minutes old before he drives off. 

My Chrysler has a setting on the surround camera that allows me to shift into reverse on the way to "Drive".  By first stopping at the reverse the camera comes on.  The "delay" setting allows the camera to remain on  for 10 seconds after I shift into drive.  That is sufficient time to check the front blind spot. 

My mini-van has a blind spot in front that is 18 feet long.  A pickup truck, with its longer and taller hood, will have a blind spot of  20 to 25 feet. 

In any event, I've had a pickup truck and I would not want another.  The Chrysler minivan rides and handles like a car and is commendably quiet too.  But expensive to buy.  I get 22 mpg doing mostly highway driving.  I am retiring at the end of this month and my mileage will drop from 38,000 per year to about 5,000 per year.  So gas consumption will still be an "ouch!" but not a major burden.
https://abc3340.com/news/local/fron...for-30-of-fatalities-in-children-14-and-under

It’s the leading cause of death when children are around cars. It's not backing over a child. The danger is the blind spot in the front of your vehicle.

 

[Mike Goetzke]

I also thought the Maverick was pretty slick in the MPG vs utility category:

"The Maverick's bed may only be 4.5 feet long, but that doesn't mean it can't haul larger items like full-size sheets of plywood. Dropping the tailgate down extends the bed floor to a more standard six feet, but that's to be expected from any pickup.

By adjusting support cables on the sides of the tailgate, owners can also set the tailgate to a halfway-open position. That acts as sort of a built-in bed extender and allows owners to haul varying sizes and shapes of cargo more easily. For example, owners can load in up to 18 4x8 sheets of three-quarter-inch plywood by laying them across the half-open tailgate and the rear wheel wells. "

https://www.businessinsider.com/2022-ford-maverick-pickup-customizable-bed-flexbed-features-2021-6

It all depends on how often you're hauling that sort of thing. If you are taking in plywood every week probably not ideal but for once in a while, not a big deal to plan around the weather. I like the idea of a big giant truck but I think the reality of parking one in a city would be a real turn off. I'm in the DC suburbs and the parking spots here are not truck friendly. Every time I see a full size pickup at the store it's at the edge of the lot. That would get old fast.

Matt

Edit to add: strongly consider making an account with a wholesale distributor. I get pretty much any plywood I could want and S4S materials delivered in most instances next day to my garage for a reasonable fee, usually around $20, with no minimums.

OMG, I'm aging myself but when you said Maverick I thought this:

[attachimg=1]

 

[Packard]

I also thought the Maverick was pretty slick in the MPG vs utility category:

"The Maverick's bed may only be 4.5 feet long, but that doesn't mean it can't haul larger items like full-size sheets of plywood. Dropping the tailgate down extends the bed floor to a more standard six feet, but that's to be expected from any pickup.

By adjusting support cables on the sides of the tailgate, owners can also set the tailgate to a halfway-open position. That acts as sort of a built-in bed extender and allows owners to haul varying sizes and shapes of cargo more easily. For example, owners can load in up to 18 4x8 sheets of three-quarter-inch plywood by laying them across the half-open tailgate and the rear wheel wells. "

https://www.businessinsider.com/2022-ford-maverick-pickup-customizable-bed-flexbed-features-2021-6

It all depends on how often you're hauling that sort of thing. If you are taking in plywood every week probably not ideal but for once in a while, not a big deal to plan around the weather. I like the idea of a big giant truck but I think the reality of parking one in a city would be a real turn off. I'm in the DC suburbs and the parking spots here are not truck friendly. Every time I see a full size pickup at the store it's at the edge of the lot. That would get old fast.

Matt

Edit to add: strongly consider making an account with a wholesale distributor. I get pretty much any plywood I could want and S4S materials delivered in most instances next day to my garage for a reasonable fee, usually around $20, with no minimums.

OMG, I'm aging myself but when you said Maverick I thought this:

[attachimg=1]

That was my reaction too.  I understood why they named an electric vehicle after the Mustang.  Afterall, the Mustang is a loved vehicle.  I also understand why they named the electric pickup truck after the Ford Lightning (I had one and it was a very hot pickup truck).

A "Model-T" would have made me happier.

I don't understand why you would name any car after the Maverick, a pedestrian, low performance, ill-handling car of no importance at Ford. 

Name choices can be important.  A local pool hall/restaurant/bar opened (and quickly closed) with the name "Scratch".  Really?  Why not name a football-themed bar "Fumble"?  or a Baseball-themed bar "Error!"  People should think before they name a car (or bar).

 

[rst]

I had a mid seventies Ford Maverick Grabber...much like the 69 Mustang fastback that I got rid of because of bad paint...both now worth big bucks

 

[jeffinsgf]

My guess is Ford has looked at the statistics on how many old geezers who can remember the original Maverick are still around and decided we weren't worth worrying about.

I actually have rather fond memories of the Maverick. The mother of my best friend in high school bought a two-tone (robin's egg blue and white) Maverick when they first came out. First new car they had ever purchased. Kirk learned to drive in that car. I was with Kirk one day when we drove through some fresh oil. Bonnie gave us a can of gas and a couple rags and we spent the rest of the day cleaning it off.

 

[Bob D.]

I remember the old Maverick too. I was surprised to see the name reappear on a pickup of all things.

A more fitting name to resurrect for the vehicle would have been Ranchero, since that was a mashup of a car and a pickup bed.

I had a 74 El Camino with a 400 small block for a number of years and it was a good car. At the time I also owned a pickup, a full-sized Bronco and a Z28 but often drove the El Camino. I never understood why Ford gave up on the Ranchero other than they couldn't  compete with the El Camino in sales numbers.

Who knows, maybe Edsel and Pinto names will make a comeback too.  [eek]

 

[Packard]

I had a '67 Corvair Monza and I thought that was a pretty good car (and also a 1975 Pinto 2-door station wagon seemed fine too).

I particularly liked my 1975 Toronado, though my girlfriend at that time called it "disgusting" because it used so much gasoline.

If they are doing horses, "palomino" (in addition to "black"), "bay", "buckskin", "grullo", and "perlino".

"Ford Perlino" strikes my fancy. 

A "perlino" is a cream colored horse.

 

[semenza]

Here you go .................................

            Why Maverick

Seth

 

[Packard]

Here you go .................................

            Why Maverick

Seth

It would be interesting to know what the alternatives that were offered as options.

Ford Motor Company Questionaire.

Please choose from the below, which name appeals to you the most for an electric pickup truck.

1.  Doofus
2.  Looser
3.  Idiot
4.  Schmuck
5.  Maverick

 

[Ron B]

I had a '67 Corvair Monza and I thought that was a pretty good car

That took me back.  Remember the Corvair Pickup?  The tailgate was on the passenger side, body was COE style. 

 

[Packard]

I had a '67 Corvair Monza and I thought that was a pretty good car

That took me back.  Remember the Corvair Pickup?  The tailgate was on the passenger side, body was COE style.

I remember the Corvair Greenbriar.  The funeral home near my apartment used an all-black version as a hearse.  It seemed disrespectful of the dead.  [eek]

 

[Ron B]

I had a '67 Corvair Monza and I thought that was a pretty good car

That took me back.  Remember the Corvair Pickup?  The tailgate was on the passenger side, body was COE style.

I remember the Corvair Greenbriar.  The funeral home near my apartment used an all-black version as a hearse.  It seemed disrespectful of the dead.  [eek]

I tried to post a picture, but no luck.  Looking at google, I read that the truck wheelbase was shorter than the car's.  As a kid in the 1060's I remember a Chevrolet dealer in West Union, Il that had a collection of Corvairs.  He had every Corvair style except for a turbo-charged one, had a couple of the pickups. What I especially like was his 1938 Reo and 1941 Studebaker fire engines.  Sorry-I may have gotten slightly off-topic. 

 

[Peter Kelly]

I had a '67 Corvair Monza and I thought that was a pretty good car

That took me back.  Remember the Corvair Pickup?  The tailgate was on the passenger side, body was COE style.

I remember the Corvair Greenbriar.  The funeral home near my apartment used an all-black version as a hearse.  It seemed disrespectful of the dead.  [eek]

Equally disrespectful to cover up that cool 2-tone paint job..

 

[Econoline]

I'm dreaming of the day when the truck and trailer are our power source on-site. We're already commodities brokers when it comes to materials, why not power too. Generate power at home with solar, charge up-up the truck and trailer at night. Work all day and mark-up the electricity we use at the going rate to pay for the infrastructure at home. Airstream is already working on a battery that will double the range of a Tesla that's pulling it. Granted, this is only going to be viable for those of us living and working in the sunny west/southwest. Just wait until Festy starts making the MFV... [attachimg=1]

 

[Packard]

What surprises me about the Maverick is that it is a unibody chassis vehicle. 

The big gripe about the Honda Ridgeline was that it was a unibody "truck" and as such was not really a "truck" but a modified car.

For some reason that complaint went away with the Maverick, which is a pure unibody vehicle.  I am at a loss to explain this change in attitude.  Maybe it is because it is an American manufacturer and not a Japanese manufacturer? 

Maybe they will bring back the Subaru Brat.

 

[Bob D.]

Here you go .................................

            Why Maverick

Seth

When you read between the line of that article you can see that anyone over 40 is not who they are selling to, nor are they likely to care what we want. so if you're over 40 your yesterdays' goods as far as Detroit is concerned. They'll be glad to take your cash; but it will be for something aimed at the younger crowd who now have lots of money to spend since they have been relieved of their college debt obligations and still live at home on Mom and Dad's dime.