I tried building a new F-150 on the ford site and it wouldn't let me select a 8' bed for a lariat or a Fx4. Whats up with that?

 

Thats the Ford websites way of telling you that you can't have it.

XL and XLT only.

 

There were a few hundred longbed Lariats built in early '04, but they were discontinued because of the ugly 7lug wheels, and to reduce build combinations.

I was sad too.

-ii

 

man that thing looks like its a limo!... never seen one like that before

 

Well that just ruins my day. I was looking at the F250's mainly because you can easily get a long bed in both the supercab and crew cab. It's going to take me a lifetime to find a new body style F150 with a long bed...

 

even with that, Ford's plan is only 17% of all XLs will have the 8' box, and just 6% of XLTs.

 

Is that cause a majority of folks don't really use the bed of their rig much? I sorta fought the same thing. I'll probably do a 250 for the same reasons.

 

I ran into the same problem trying to get a nice standard cab full size truck. With all the different makes, you cannot get a standard cab or an 8' bed in the fancier trims. Dodge stops at the SLT (XLT level), GM only goes one level above the base truck, Nissan doesn't make one at all and for )05, Toyota only makes an 8' bed for their base model (rubber floor mats, etc). I went looking for a long bed standard cab for the wheelbase for towing. I ended up with a short bed Ford XLT because the wheelbase was very close to the GM and Toyota longbed wheelbase.

I remember when a lot of farmers and contractors had Lariets and Silverados (when it was tp of he line) with long beds but I guess they decided there wasn't enough of a market for them.

 

the expectation is that you move to a 250 if you need a real work vehicle without the trimmings (or with if thats your thing)

 

I just built a 1500 Ram Laramie with a 8 ft. bed on the Dodge site. I love Fords, but I really want a 8 ft. bed and don't need the 3/4 ton truck. I'm gonna have to start doing a lot of research on the new Dodges now...

 

Its all about demand.

If Fords (or Dodges or Chevys) research people find that only X % of the people would be interested in a given configuration, odds are it won't get built.

I have never seen (in person on the street or at a dealer) a 2004 with the 8' bed which shows how rare (lack of demand) they were. Lack of demand is the surest way to predict extinction.

Dodge builds a very nice truck if you go that way and need the 8' bed.

To be honest, odds are I think you will continue to see the 8' bed on the half ton Dodge platform because the Dodges are priced lower and you tend to see more of them in fleet/service use where the 8' bed is a lot more desired.

 

I have seen several and the Chevy, Dodge and Ford dealers all keep them in stock. However, they are generally the lower trim lines. Farmers around here need them and don't want to go to 3/4 tons (old school and stubborn).

 

What's wrong with the XLT (other than chrome bumpers)? You can deck it out with just about eveything on the FX4.

 

I went to the dealership yesterday and they said you can order a supercab Lariat with a 8' bed, it's just a "special order" truck. After looking at the options I am looking into the XLT with the 8200 GVW package. All in all it depends on how much I can talk them down on the price, 30k for a new truck is a lot of freaking money when I know that for 25k I can buy a nice used F250 Lariat with a Diesel.

 

EXACTLY! And that's why it's like pulling teeth to get a Lariat with 8'box. Ford doesn't want to sell it.