Pickup Truck as Ski and Adventure Vehicle

[pete]

picked up my poor old truck long ago when my Nissan King Cab was rusting away and had and infant and toddler and needed room and a bit more safety for them.

At that time crew cabs were just ramping up in popularity and with discounts, the Chevy Silverado I nabbed was only ~$2K more than 2-3 yr used.

Anyhow, got 150K miles on it now, had minor issues, worst of which was a transfer case motor dying. oddly this truck seems to kill off 3 O2 sensors, last one I decided I'd do it myself for the $20 cost.

Otherwise (knock on wood) had no issue and it hauls all the crap needed for long vacation for 5 with pretty decent comfort.

Personally I like sitting up higher than a sedan and seating wise pretty nice with heated seats and such. Gonna do some camping with it this year and while the topper doesn't quite match (blue verses silver) a few color matched bombs will do fine given the topper has pillars and was being dumped for $75 bucks at a dealer.It appears few folks want em and the truck it came off of wasn't selling simply due to the topper.

 

[pete]

Oh yes! Short bed was not an option! With the long bed i get GS skis and Speed skis (210) in without any issues. And when there is usually 6-10 pair in the truck that is important.!
The 3,5 Twin turbo ecoboost is a great motor, gobs of torque even on a high axle ratio. Of course it is either Eco or Boost, not both!

Yes 36 gal tank, I had it on my 14 and would not consider the standard 23 gal (when you live in the mountains and make full use of the power it gets thru gas quickly ) Ford replaced my 14 under the lemon law (an electrical drain they could not trace) so I went a bit overboard on the options list when i ordered the 16. Probably my favorite option though is the auto running boards. I had never even thought about them but when I was testing one of them had them and my dog just went straight in so I was sold. They come down to a better height than the fixed ones - about half way between the floor and the pavement - whereas the fixed ones are a bit higher. Perfect for my Bernese.

A few mods to it, rear Bilsteins and ARB, slotted/drilled rotors, Raptor steering wheel and front Bilsteins waiting to go on...

Amp footboards? almost picked up a pair after seeing em in Ca years ago. very nice add and very cool when they drop down from "no-where"

 

[Ken_R]

This is pretty Bad A$$ :
...and this:

 

[ScotsSkier]

Amp footboards? almost picked up a pair after seeing em in Ca years ago. very nice add and very cool when they drop down from "no-where"

Yes, they are made by AMP I believe, OEM fitting.

 

[DoryBreaux]

Its not my ski mobile, its my freaking house. HA!

9k feet in the White Mountains last summer.

SELFIE!!!!

 

[Michael Kane]

cue Tim Allan

 

[ScotsSkier]

Its kind of funny! Our resident Photo and Video guy has not been able to post his pics!!!

Sorry Dory! Couldn't resist!

 

[François Pugh]

If I could afford the gas I would have one,4x4 quad cab full size.

 

[DoryBreaux]

Its kind of funny! Our resident Photo and Video guy has not been able to post his pics!!!

Sorry Dory! Couldn't resist!

Eh? What happened?

 

[kimmyt]

We used to have a Tacoma Access Cab with a cap and a plywood platform in the back to sleep on. Could fit as many skis or buckets of climbing gear under the platform as we wanted, and a hitch mount for bikes. We got rid of it last year for something more family friendly. But man, I miss that thing!

 

[ScotsSkier]

Eh? What happened?

Your pictures are not showing Dory

 

[DoryBreaux]

Lets try this again then... 9k in the White Mountains at the Grandview Campground. Not a ski related pic.

 

[surfsnowgirl]

Nice pic..... I think a rough and rugged looking pickup with a crew cab would be pretty awesome. Would just need to make sure the bed is long enough to fit all the skis. I do like the height of my Jeep so it's hard to get away from that but if I had a sh!t ton of money and could afford 2 rigs than sure......................

 

[DoryBreaux]

Nice pic..... I think a rough and rugged looking pickup with a crew cab would be pretty awesome. Would just need to make sure the bed is long enough to fit all the skis. I do like the height of my Jeep so it's hard to get away from that but if I had a sh!t ton of money and could afford 2 rigs than sure......................

I can fit everything except my other halfs XC skis. But those dont matter because theyre XC skis.

 

[Johnny V.]

Nothin' fancy for me-2010 F-150 4X4 regular cab with 8' bed and Extang flip up tonneau. Plenty of room for skis and mountain bikes under the tonneau and they're out of sight for casual thieves. There's room behind the seat for ski bag/boots/guitar etc.although the newer Ford regular cabs don't have the behind the seat room. Mine is the stripper version with rubber mats (hey, it's a TRUCK), but it has air, cruise and the tow package for hauling my wooden Chris Crafts. Not sure what I'll replace it with when it's time................

 

[ScotsSkier]

Chris crafts? Nice!

 

[x10003q]

My first ski vehicle I purchased (1985) was a 1979 Dodge Club Cab Power Wagon 4 x 4 with an 8 foot bed. The previous owner cut all the pollution equipment off the engine so it ran on leaded gas (cheaper) and put a 3 inch lift kit on it. It had a 318 v8 that got about 10-12 miles to the gallon and a 4 speed with 1st as a tractor gear. I put a cap on the bed. While it was incredibly useful, it wandered all over the highway, it was loud, the seats sucked, there was no A/C, the rear brakes locked up all the time and I was filling the 22 gallon tank every 200 miles. I also realized that 95 percent of my driving was on wet or dry highways meaning the pickup was overkill for my needs. It was popular when 20+ inch snowstorms hit at Killington and my truck was the only thing moving in our neighborhood. One time I had 5 people in the cab and 12 people in the bed.
It was nothing like today's pickups.

 

[SpikeDog]

My ski vehicle is a 2001 F-150 4x4 extended cab with a Leer cap on it. It holds the golf clubs in the summer and the skis in the winter. Can't beat the cargo capacity on those long ski trips when I can pack the whole quiver, plus tuning tools, plus everybody else's gear. I've had it for 15 years, and usually run BFG AT KO's. I put a new set on last fall, then acquired a set of new studded snow tires that I put on last winter. Outfoxing the snow jinx a new set of snow tires usually produces, this winter I really needed that extra traction. I don't have to fool with the TPMS stuff, either. I put a sturdy brush guard on a few years ago after getting through a massive herd of deer in the dark on the way home from Jackson Hole. How I managed to pick my way through a stream of deer at 70 mph I don't know, but I figure a RanchHand brush guard will help with that in the future.

Pete - old Nissan pickup and 'rusty' in the same sentence - not unheard of.

 

[MattSmith]

Hello all you Truck People out there. It seems I may be joining your number. A quick back story - I'm living in central Vermont this winter. I'd already resigned to giving up my A4 Quattro for a more rugged vehicle. Naturally I was lined up for the state car of VT, a Subbie! More than likely a Forester or Outback. I was committed to this purchase so I went ahead and snagged a Yamika Skybox Lo on sale. I figured I'll pick up the mounts and cross bars once I found the right car.
An unfortunate set of circumstances (my Dad passed away) has left me with a 2015 F-150 Lariat 4x4 Crew Cab with a short bed covered by a Rhinoshield liner. It's far from my ideal set up, but I am certain it's a capable winter vehicle when I add a good set of snow tires (thanks for the snow tire sizing thread! ...I'm planning to size down)

I'm looking for advice and insight into carrying my gear. The short bed is problematic. My 185s will not fit end-to-end. They'd need to go in diagonally. On top of that, how to secure the gear once tossed in the bed? Lots of options there, but none that are particularly appealing. I could put a cap on it. I could put a lockable, roll up bed cover. I could run a lock and chain through mounts in the bed. Meh... The most appealing option is probably a cap.

Since I've already invested in the cargo box, I'm wondering if anyone has an opinion or experience with mounting the cargo box to a "Bed Rack". Specifically, I'm looking at the Yamika BedRock with XL cross bars. It seems pretty reasonable to mount the box on top of the cross bars and leave the bed open for additional cargo. I am certain the box will extend over the end of the bed / tailgate. I don't want the box mounted on a rack above the roof. I'd certainly smash it into a low hanging parking garage and it seems difficult to get to.

Insight and experience is appreciated. Any other tips and tricks you can offer a new truck owner are also appreciated. I'll obviously need some time to adjust to the size. I've been piloting A4s since '99 so this is going to be a big jump. I have two, 250 lb sand bags ready to go in the back. Now we just need it to snow!

 

[ScotsSkier]

Welcome to the club Matt... Yeah the short (5.5) bed is not quite as ideal as the 6.5 for skis. With the 6.5 I can get 210 speed skis in as well. No personal experience but I have seen a few trucks at our local mountain with a cargo box mounted on the bed for skis so it definitely works. It does tend to restrict the bed access a bit though. Personally I think the cap/topper is the way to go for ski gear. Keeps everything (relatively) secure and out of the elements. You could also go with a fold up or roll up Tonneau cover as a cheer option but with less available space.

I would not bother with the sandbags. I also have the crew cab Lariat and, with the cap and a load of skis in the back never needed them. That is pretty much the standard practice if you read the F150 forums as well. With the 4x4 and snow tires no need for extra weight, it is more a throwback for the 2wd versions.
Alos with the lariat you have the Auto 4WD transfer case (not available on the lower trim models) as well as 4H. The Auto setting is good when you just want to set it and forget it and it will vary power to the front wheels as necessary, perfect for variable conditions. When it starts to get a lot of snow around i personally prefer to switch to 4H which locks up the F/R diff setting and (IMHO) definitely tightens things up - in a good way! - just like the original Turbo uRquattro before they started fitting Torsen diffs. WRT snow tire size, depends what size wheels the truck currently has. Most of the lariats came with 20s rather than 18s. I have actually found that the 275/55-20 snow tires work better than the 18 inch size I downsized to on my previous F150. YMMV.

Oh and BTW, i would not worry too much about "downgrading" from the Audi. I had a couple of fully specced Q7 sports prior to my trucks and I dont feel shortchanged ...