this post was submitted on 16 May 2024
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[–] [email protected] 49 points 5 months ago (8 children)

I mean is it really a truck?

There needs to be a way to validate if something is a truck.

Like, if you can't put a 2x4 in it, is it a truck? Is an el camino a truck?

IF a cybertruck is a truck, is a Pontiac Aztek a truck?

[–] [email protected] 58 points 5 months ago (2 children)

Per the legal US definition, almost every SUV is a "light truck", including my 1999 Subaru Forester...

[–] [email protected] 19 points 5 months ago

And the reason for this is that the "light truck" classification has weaker emissions standards, so they can cheap out on efficiency of the engine which means higher profit margins (and more harmful pollution for us to enjoy inhaling).

[–] [email protected] 12 points 5 months ago (4 children)

iirc, that is bc your Forester is an SUV that uses a truck chassis underneath, whereas the otherwise extremely similar Crosstrek uses the Impreza chassis so is more of a high "car". But that could change over the years and I'm not really a car person so don't quote me or anything!:-P

[–] [email protected] 15 points 5 months ago

The Forester up until 2008 was quite literally an Impreza/Legacy chassis that shares identical drivetrain components except for the body. It is unibody, Macpherson strut, symmetrical AWD and as far from a truck as you can get.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 5 months ago (1 children)

His Forrester is built on a Legacy chassis; it's a four door sedan with a little lift and a bigger body shell on top.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (1 children)

Thanks for the correction. I see now, it's a larger car chassis - so as @[email protected] said, that's not a "truck", light or otherwise, at all!?

I did a search and found this article suggesting that it is a historical (hehe, some might say... "legacy", eh?:-P) naming scheme, based on fuel economy:

The U.S. government uses light-duty trucking as a vehicle class for the regulation of fuel economy by enforcing the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards. The light-duty truck class includes pickup trucks, sport utility vehicles (SUVs), vans, and minivans.

Since light-duty trucks are typically used for utility purposes rather than personal use, they have lower standards for fuel economy than cars do.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 months ago

nope, not a truck in any sense of the word. granted I use it like one, lol, but it is very much a light passenger car chassis.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 5 months ago (1 children)

There are plenty of SUVs with unibodies. Hell every Jeep Cherokee from 1984 on is a unibody.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Yeah I was wrong about that. I mentioned this in another reply:

The U.S. government uses light-duty trucking as a vehicle class for the regulation of fuel economy by enforcing the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards. The light-duty truck class includes pickup trucks, sport utility vehicles (SUVs), vans, and minivans.

Since light-duty trucks are typically used for utility purposes rather than personal use, they have lower standards for fuel economy than cars do.

From this article.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 5 months ago (1 children)

And this is why it is a scam. All of these vehicles are all used as soccer mom mobiles.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Nuh uh! Only 90% are that way... the rest are men who buy into how "sporty" they are.:-)

I did love watching a video of a tiny Subaru Crosstrek able to do as well as a tow truck - it's not just about power, but tire traction grip.

Also people who don't buy into the whole "truck=manly" schtick.

But definitely 90% soccer moms too ofc.:-P

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago (1 children)

I drive a 91 Cherokee and I defend myself because I like Jeeps and cherokees are easy to work on. I would kill for an old 70s military Jeep truck though, hell id commit genocide for one of those old boxed Willy Jeeps they find in the gods forsaken deep storage of places like the Sierra Army Depot.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago (1 children)

I mean, you could probably build one... no need for the genocide at all;-P.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 5 months ago (2 children)

Rebuild one, the few that are still in the boxes are given to museums not psychotic Rednecks. On more realistic levels though I think it'd be neat to get an old willy Jeep body and convert it to electric, theyre light enough that a squad of men can pick them up so I figure they may actually lose weight without an engine depending on the battery type.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 5 months ago

That would actually be pretty cool. Not that a new in box one wouldn't be pretty cool, too.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago

That would be awesome! I love classic Jeeps, especially the Willy's era - if you actually ever manage to do this, I hope you make a video journal and share it somewhere.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 5 months ago (1 children)

don't quote me or anything!

starts singing the best part of Killing In The Name

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago (1 children)

That's the one I should have gone with in the first place btw lol, much less unnecessarily harsh 😆

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago

Fwiw, I did not downvote you, and enjoyed the trip down memory lane!:-P

[–] [email protected] 14 points 5 months ago (1 children)

I heard the cyber truck called the "Incel Camino" and now I can't think of it any other way.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 5 months ago

I mean, the el Camino caught a lot of flak when I was young. I remember my "surfer/ stoner/ slacker/ loser" gen x cousin who was a pool guy used his as a work vehicle and I guarantee that guy was SMASHING with that ride. I'm not saying a cyber truck truck is on that level and but some things take time to catch on.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 5 months ago

If you can't fit a sheet of plywood in the bed, I'd call it a waste of time.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 5 months ago

The El Camino is a mullet.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

Hey a 1961 Ford rancho was my first vehicle. I did a lot of truck things with that. It was even one of one built of the crappy falcon body, which was one of Ford's first unibodies. Boy did that thing flex.

I even parked next to 2005ish Ford F150, with that dumb extra short bed. My 50 year old caruck has a bigger bed on it.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (1 children)

There needs to be a way to validate if something is a truck.

Isn't there already legal definitions such as gross vehicle weight? I know there have been some edge cases where people argue cars as trucks to get special truck access for commercial use. Chevy HHR comes to mind with some contractors.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

USA Light Truck definition: Firstly, the vehicle must have a gross vehicle weight--that's the curb weight plus payload--of no more than 8,500 lbs. Secondly, it has to be designed to transport persons, property, or be fitted with special features allowing its  "off-street or off-highway operation and use".

https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1093696_why-your-car-is-a-truck-under-federal-law-and-what-makes-it-one

[–] [email protected] 0 points 5 months ago

Honestly if the POS that Tesla sells here counts as a truck, my bicycle does...