Pickup Truck Types Of Pickups Compact Pickups North American

The design details of such vehicles vary significantly, and different nationalities seem to specialise in different style and size of vehicles. For instance, North American pickups come both in full-size, large, heavy vehicles with big V6 or V8 engines, and compact, smaller trucks with Inline 4 or V6 engines. In the rest of the world, only compact pickups are available. In some countries, such as Australia, car-truck hybrids are common. Two rams on a market in the Faroe Islands and "picked up" by a pickup truck.

1 Types of pickups

1.1 Compact pickups

The compact pickup (or simply pickup, without qualifier) is the most widely spread form of pickup truck. It is built like a mini version of a two-axle heavy truck, with a frame providing structure, a conventional cab, a leaf spring suspension on the rear wheels and a small I4, I6 or V6 engine, generally using gasoline. Examples include the Toyota Tacoma, the Ford Ranger and the Nissan Frontier.

1.2 North American Full-Size pickups

A full-size pickup is a large truck suitable for hauling heavy loads and performing other functions. Most full-size trucks can carry at least 1,000 lbs in the rear bed, with some capable of twice that much. Most are front-engine and rear wheel drive with four wheel drive optional, and most use a live axleSolid axle and Panhard rod on a 2002 Mazda MPV A live-axle (also called solid-axle beam or dead-axle suspension is an automobile suspension that uses a single-piece axle to connect the front or rear wheels, side-to-side. This contrasts with an independent with leaf springA leaf spring is a simple form of spring, commonly used for the suspension in wheeled vehicles. It is also one of the oldest forms of springing, dating back to medieval times. Sometimes referred to as a semi- elliptical spring or cart spring it takes thes in the rear.

Until recently, only the big three American automakers ( FordThis article is about the Ford Motor Company . For other uses of this word, see Ford (disambiguation). The Ford Motor Company (sometimes nicknamed Ford's or FoMoCo is an automobile maker founded by Henry Ford in Highland Park, Michigan, and incorporated o, GM and Chrysler) built full-size pick-ups. However, the introduction of the ToyotaToyota Motor Corp. TMC (In Japanese: ) is an automobile manufacturer in Japan, based in Toyota, Aichi. History Origins in Toyota Automatic Loom —1936 The origins of the company are found as an automobile section of Toyoda Automatic Loom, implemented in Se Tundra and NissanNissan is a Japanese automobile maker. From 1932 to 1983, they also used the trademark Datsun''. Their head offices are in the Ginza area of Chuo-ku, Tokyo, Japan. Nissan plans to move their headquarters to Yokohama, Kanagawa by 2010; the headquarters wil Titan marked the entry of Japanese makers in the market. Both these trucks are assembled in North America. As of 2004, five pick-ups are sold as full-size in North America:

1.3 Other pickups

The two Australian-built utilities currently in production are rebodied versions of large passenger cars, as were the now out of production American Ford Ranchero and Chevrolet El Camino. Consequently, they are much lower-slung and more carlike both in appearance and performance than other pickups. Volkswagen and other European manufacturers have also introduced similar designs at one time or another, but they have not been popular and the designs were typically dropped after a few years. Currently the Subaru Baja is the only car-based pickup sold in North America.

2 Pickup body styles

Pickup trucks have been produced with a number of different configurations or body styles.

2.1 Standard cab

A standard cab pickup has a single row of seats and a single set of doors, one on each side. Most pickups have a front bench seat that can be used by three people.

2.2 Extended cab

Extended or super cab pickups add an extra space behind the main seat. This is normally accessed by reclining the front bench back, but recent extended cab pickups have featured reverse-hinged doors on one or both sides for access. The original extended cab trucks used simple side-facing "jump seats" that could fold into the walls, but modern super cab trucks usually have a full bench in back.

Ford introduced the SuperCab on their 1974 F-100.

2.3 Crew cab

A true four-door pickup is a crew cab. It features seating for up to six people on two full benches and full-size front-hinged doors on both sides. Most crew cab pickups have a shorter bed or box to reduce their overall length.

Ford introduced the crew cab on their 1969 F-100, and Chevrolet followed with their 1973 C/K.

3 The cultural significance of the pickup

3.1 The Pickup in American Culture

Americans have a special fondness for the pickup truck, and it has developed a mythos that is similar to that of the horse in the American Old West. In the United States, pickups are deliberately marketed as symbols of male virility. They figure prominently in " tough guy " and neo-Western motion pictures, such as Hud, Urban Cowboy, and Every Which Way But Loose . They are also a fixture in American politics, as in the famous campaign speech by Fred Thompson, who explained his opponent's shortcomings by saying "He hasn't spent enough time in a pickup truck."

3.2 The Australian Ute

In Australia, two common forms of ute exist. The normal type of ute which is popular with farmers, etc is usually a Japanese or Australian built pickup, such as the Holden Rodeo, Toyota Hilux, etc. These are popular in a variety of forms - two and four wheel drive, single or dual cab, integrated tray or flatbed. There is an extensive industry in rural areas building a huge variety of different ute backs and trays to fit standard chassis.

The other type of vehicle commonly referred to as a ute is quite different, and possibly unique to Australia - a 2-seater sporty version of typical saloon cars, featuring a ute-type integrated tray back. A typical example would be the Holden Commodore SS ute. Construction is semi-monocoque, with the front end sharing the unitary construction of the saloon car on which they are based, but featuring a more conventional chassis at the rear. Such vehicles are often customised and are popular with young drivers; however, their use as genuine utility vehicles is somewhat questionable as most feature very low ground clearance, wide road tyres and so forth. Also, many owners would likely be unwilling to scratch the paintwork on anything so utilitarian as carrying a useful load.

4 Miscellaneous

Since about 2001 hybrid SUV/pickups have appeared, which are similar to an SUV except that the 3rd row of seats (or enclosed cargo area) is replaced by a short open truck bed.

Whilst pickups are commonly used by tradespeople the world over, they are popular as personal transport in Australia, the United States, and Canada, where they share some of the image of the SUV and are commonly criticised on similar grounds.

Many pickup trucks have four wheel drive, aggressively-treaded tyres and high ground clearance, and thus have all-terrain capabilities similar to SUVs. SUVs developed from pickups with permanently attached cabs.

Pickup trucks have been used as troop carriers in many parts of the world, most notably in Somalia, Chad, and by the Taliban and Northern Alliance forces in Afghanistan. Pickup trucks have also been used as fighting vehicles: see Technical.

5 See also

6 External link

Photos of an early Austin Pickup Truck

Road transport

<Hide>

Home > Pickup truck