In most cases, trucks come with a standard-size bed that is six feet and five inches long. Some models also offer long beds; the usual size for that configuration is eight feet long. These are the two most common lengths of truck bed.
However, some truck models come with a short bed, which is usually between five feet and five inches long and five feet and eight inches long.
The width of a truck bed largely depends on the year, make, and model of your truck. Truck bed widths can vary greatly across brands and models. If you’re unsure how to measure your truck bed, there are some great resources online to help you get started.
Truck Bed Sizes Explained
There are various sizes of truck beds out there, but the two most common are the regular-size bed and the standard long bed. The regular-size or standard-size truck bed is six feet five inches long. The standard long bed size is seven feet.
These sizes are measured from the front of the bed behind the cab to the tailgate. Knowing what size of bed your truck has is important when you shop for tonneau covers, bed mats, truck bed drawers, and other truck bed accessories.
Short Bed Sizes (5’5 – 5’8)
The short bed size is usually between 5’5 and 5’8, which makes it up to one foot shorter than the standard truck bed size. In most cases, this bed size is found on modern midsize pickups like the Toyota Tacoma, Jeep Gladiator, Ford Ranger, and Chevrolet Colorado.
Modern midsize pickups almost exclusively come with crew cabs and four full-size doors. The larger cab translates to a shorter bed size. The bed size was often around six feet three inches in older compact pickups with only two doors.
Despite the shorter bed size of four-door, midsize pickups, you can still carry a lot of different items, including snowboards, off-road gear, and camping equipment. One benefit of pickups with short beds is that they’re easier to maneuver in tight parking situations.
Standard Truck Bed Size (6’5)
The standard truck bed size usually applies to modern full-size pickups with crew cabs. Again, most modern trucks have a four-door layout with four full-size doors. However, some models have a slightly smaller cab layout with one full-size door and a half-size door often called a suicide door.
Full-size trucks with six-foot five-inch beds include the Ram 1500, Toyota Tundra, Ford F-150, and Chevrolet Silverado.
Long Bed Sizes (7’0 and 8’0)
There are two types of long beds available. The standard long bed size is seven feet, but there are also eight-foot beds out there. Trucks offered with long beds are usually HD trucks like the Ford F-250 and F-350, the Ram 2500 and Ram 3500, and the Chevrolet Silverado 2500 and 3500.
These trucks are usually bought by tradespeople who use them for farming, construction, landscaping, and similar industries. Long bed trucks are more difficult to maneuver in tight situations, but they can more easily carry long items like plywood, pipes, and drywall.
Odd Size Truck Beds
Despite all the standard sizes listed above, there are plenty of other sizes out there. For example, the Hyundai Santa Cruz and Ford Maverick feature truck beds that are four feet and four feet five inches respectively.
These trucks are considered compact trucks and smaller than the aforementioned midsize trucks. The Rivian R1T electric truck, which has recently gained some popularity, also features a bed that’s four feet five inches long.
When you go back in time to older truck models, the bed sizes can vary considerably as well. Many older truck models came with single cab layouts or extended cab layouts, both with only two doors.
This changed the bed size as evidenced by the earlier example of a midsize Toyota pickup (the lineup equivalent of today’s Tacoma) with a 6’3 bed.
Why Have Truck Beds Gotten Shorter?
The answer to this is the increased popularity of light-duty crew cab trucks. A huge number of truck buyers are more interested in a four-door cab than a bed that can easily fit a 4′ x 8′ sheet of plywood.
Trucks like the popular Ford F-150 are used as commuter vehicles, off-road trucks, tow rigs, and camping platforms more often than they’re used for hauling long items like sheets of plywood.
That’s why the long bed arena has exclusively moved to the heavy-duty models. It’s also easier to drive and maneuver trucks with shorter beds. In essence, trucks in America have moved in the direction of lifestyle buys versus daily workhorses.
What Truck Bed Size Do You Need?
The size of the truck bed you need depends on how you plan to use your truck. For most people, even the short bed on a midsize pickup is enough to haul most common items. You can always get a truck bed extender for the occasional longer item.
If you don’t need extra cargo space, a standard bed or short bed is usually the best choice. If you need an agile off-road truck, the short bed is generally even better than a standard bed for additional maneuverability.
If you use your truck primarily for work, then you’ll probably want at least a standard bed, and perhaps even one of the long bed sizes.
The main thing to remember is that a long bed significantly cuts down on the maneuverability of a pickup truck, but it’s indispensable if you regularly need to haul long items.
Before loading anything into your truck bed, no matter what size it is, it’s important to protect your factory finish with a truck bed liner from DualLiner. The experts agree. Bed liners from DualLiner are the best in the industry for comprehensive protection and easy installation.
