6.5 bed or 8' bed ?

Roktman

Member
Hey Guys, time for a new truck. This one will be for play mostly with a pop-up truck camper either a "tune M-1or a hiatus. An 8 foot bed would be perfect but I want half ton and I think only Toyota offers a double cab with an 8 foot bed in the half ton. never had one all I hear is good truck ,garbage mileage. Everybody else won't give you what you want less you go to HD 3/4 ton or no cab 1:2 ton ,don't want either Occasionally ill be towing a 7x12 self built out cargo trailer, 300 pound tongue weight 3000 pounds Overall, I guess my question is I wonder if it 8 foot bed supercab and a half ton would be hard to sell if I decided not to go with the pop up truck camper eventually and how hard would it be to sell the truck camper itself at 8 feet, I don't know I could get a better deal on the one sitting in the lot at 6.5 feet and get exactly what I want but it would sure be nice to have that 8 foot bed, any thoughts, thanks guys
 

carterd

Active member
Some random thoughts:
- An 8 foot bed would in theory give you more stability, but for the lightweight camper options you are pursuing and relatively light trailer this isn't really an issue
- An 8 foot bed will have a longer wheelbase, and thus worse turning radius and ramp breakover angle
- You don't see too many 8 foot bed Tundras. 8 foot beds are usually on 3/4 ton or larger trucks, and probably more often on heavy duty platforms (Ram, Ford, Chevy). It would probably be harder to sell, but with patience you would find a taker
- Depending on the length of your camper, with a 6.5 foot bed you may need to remove the tailgate with the Hiatus option. With an 8 foot bed you may be able to keep the tailgate and close it (which provides added security as the Hiatus campers has rear entry doors). For the Tune M1 it doesn't matter.
- I would carefully add up the weight of the camper, all occupants, gear, accessories, trailer tongue weight, etc. and make sure you fit withing the payload envelope of the Tundra. The typical Tundra will have a 1,600 pound payload capacity. A general rule of thumb is to only operate at 80% of max payload, so call this 1,280 pounds. A 500 pound camper, 2-3 occupants, gear, accessories, and 300 pound tongue weight will exceed this very quickly. 3/4 ton trucks were made for this type of application, although there are drawbacks.
 

driveby

Active member
Why not a 2500? Generally speaking the $$ aren't that different but the hardware you get is. On a rainy weekend that extra space will be huge. Regardless the turning radius/break over etc is a huge concern if you go on tight roads. My vote is a 2500 with 8' and call it a day. But it's not my money nor my driveway that'll it'll be parked in.
 

AbleGuy

Officious Intermeddler
I went from an 8’ ex-cab half ton 4x4 to a 6 3/4’ ex-cab 3/4 ton 4x4 and absolutely loved the switch. I hated, hated, hated the turning radius of the 8’. And loved, loved, loved the extra carrying capacity of the 3/4 ton.

Simple as that…
 
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Marine359

Member
Think about why you would want to put a Tune on an 8ft bed. Only one person I’m aware of has an 8 footer ordered, because they’re doing a mobile office. Two reasons not to do it. Overlanding on trails or passes will be very difficult due to long wheelbase, unless you sink some serious money into underside mods. If you’re gonna buy a Tune, it’s really the only brand that has a cabover sleeping area that is queen size without needing a bed extension. This feature allows you to use the entire bed length as living space. I traded my midsize for a F150 Supercab. 6.5ft bed is long enough for me, a tall guy, to sleep in without popping the top (stealth camping). my Tune install is in mid-July I’ve started my build out and it will feature livability features that you can’t put into a bed Under 6ft. If those are not good enough reasons, think about what will happen if you ever want to sell it. There’s a lot of 5.7ft, 6ft and 6.5ft bed truck owners out there, but not too many 8 footers, which tend to be 3/4 and one ton trucks used with slide-in campers.
 

GeorgeHayduke

Active member
Couple other options for you: F150 can be had in extended cab 8' bed configuration, and I believe Go Fast Campers offers their camper for 8' beds if you're interested in considering others.

I would also question why you want the larger space of an 8' bed but not the additional payload of a 2500/3500. It's easy enough to fill up a 6.5' bed with enough stuff to max out a 1500 payload, and even moreso with the 8' bed. Loaded with camper and trailer the trucks will all get roughly the same mileage too.
 

rruff

Explorer
Toyota offers a double cab with an 8 foot bed in the half ton. never had one all I hear is good truck ,garbage mileage.
Mileage is fine for a NA big V8 that is lacking modern MPG enhancing tech. So far on 3 long trips, I've gotten 16.0, 14.1, and 14.3 MPG with the camper on, driving 70-75 on the freeway and whatever made sense on secondary roads. That's with fat 35s, 2" front lift.

The turning radius is better than any comparable full size, and way better than the 3/4-1 tons.

You'd have to buy a 2021 or earlier. The F150s used to have an extended cab with an 8' bed, too. The back seat is a little smaller but it's close.
 

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