I recently published a review of the 2026 Ford Ranger pickup, which you can find here if interested. What interested me most about the truck – and its rivals – is how large they’ve become.
When the Ranger was last compact-sized back in 2011, it was 189.4 inches long, 66.2 inches high, weighed just over 3,000 lbs. and had a 37.7 foot turning circle. What’s interesting to me about these stats is they align pretty closely with those of a current-year compact-sized sedan such as a 2026 Toyota Corolla. The latter is 182.5 inches long and weighs about 3,000 lbs. and has a slightly tighter (35.6 foot) turning circle.
What this means is that the old Ranger was small enough to fit easily into Corolla-sized spots and agile enough to make U turns without having to drive on the sidewalk or stop, back up up and then complete the turn in the middle of the road, in order to avoid driving on the sidewalk. The old, compact-sized Ranger was, in other words, a car-sized truck that was as easy to drive (and park) as a small car yet it was still a truck. Meaning it had a full perimeter steel frame, which made it much more rugged than a unibody car. It also cme standard with a six foot bed, which enabled it to carry large objects and loads of gravel or mulch that would be awkward to carry in the trunk of a small car.
Now let’s look at the current Ranger’s stats.
It is 210.6 inches long, stands 73.9 inches tall, has a 42.5 foot turning radius and weighs more than two tons.
What’s interesting about those stats is how closely they align with those of full-sized (i.e, half-ton) trucks made through the early 2000s. For example, the 2005 Ford F-150 (before it got super-sized).
It was 211.2 inches long, 73.5 inches tall and weighed about 4,200 lbs. – about the same as the current “mid-sized” Ranger. The ’05 had a tighter (41.8 foot) turning circle. In plain language, the current “mid-sized” Ranger would have qualified as a full-sized truck back in 2005. The same is true of all the trucks in the Ranger’s class – including the Toyota Tacoma, the Nissan Frontier and the Chevy Colorado/GM Canyon. These formerly compact-sized pickups are now the same size – or close to it – as the full-size trucks of 20 years ago.
And today’s “full-size” trucks? Have a look at their stats.
A 2026 F-150 regular cab (you can still get the F-150 with just two doors; probably not for much longer as the others in the class are now all four door cabs) is 228.1 inches long and has a 46.4 foot turning circle.
Here’s where it gets really interesting!
The current F-150 is about a foot longer than an ’05 F-150 and nearly three and a half-feet longer than a 2011 Ranger – which is almost exactly as long as the ’05 F-150. But the current Ranger has a shorter (five foot) bed than the six foot bed that came standard with the Ranger when it was still a compact-sized truck.
To put a finer point on it, the old compact-sized Ranger was in many ways the more practical truck – by “truck” standards. If you go by bed size, which is a measure of how much you can carry – which used to be the primary way a truck was measured.
Now, it is true the current Ranger can pull a lot more. It comes standard with a tow rating of 7,500 lbs. The maximum the old, compact-sized Ranger and its fellows could pull was 5,000 lbs. – and that was only if they were ordered with their optional V6 engines. The 2026 Ranger pulls more with its standard four cylinder engine, which is impressive. But its five foot bed seems incongruous relative to the size of the rest of the thing. The current Ranger’s mini-bed is not long enough to carry items that would fit inside the bed of the old Ranger – with its tailgate up.
But it’s the upsizing of the price that’s perhaps the most interesting thing of all.
The 2026 Range’s base price – for the 2WD version – is $33,350. If you want 4WD, the price goes up to $36,850. That’ll be $500 per month for the next six years, plus tax (as Elvis used to say).
Back in 2011 – only fifteen years ago – a new Ranger listed for $18,160; with 4WD, it stickered for just over $20k. The difference in base price – then vs. now – is $15,190 or just $3k shy of the base price of the ’11 Ranger itself.
Granted, it has been fifteen years – and granted “inflation,” the term people use to describe the waning buying power of the dollar caused by the banking cartel that bleeds its buying power by pumping more dollars into the economy.
The thing is, “inflation” would not be impoverishing if people were earning more dollars to offset the waning buying power of more dollars. But – as almost everyone understands – this is not the case. Most people are not earning more dollars; at least, not enough of them to offset “inflation” – and what that means is that a truck such as the 2026 Ranger is much less affordable than the 2011 Ranger was.
Yes, you do get more. Literally, as we’ve been exploring. But what good is more if it costs so much more you can’t afford to by it?
And wouldn’t it be nice if you could still buy a truck that wasn’t a monster truck that came standard with monster payments?
Of such things dreams are made.
. . .
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Pricing and sizing on the modern Ranger, Tacoma, and Frontier are deliberate.
Papi wants a “man’s” truck, but Mama says “No more than $500/month Papi.”
A new F150 is out, but a clever F&I room can put Papi in his “man” truck with some creative financing on a $40,000 sale price.
I watched the process at work at the local Toyota dealership with three different couples one Saturday morning while I waited for a transmission fluid change. I don’t think any of the potential buyers spoke a word of English.
The previous generation Tacoma still sells in Mexico with the “Hilux” name.
My favorite trucks are 1960s there so cool looking and so easy to fix but today there collector items not user trucks the people today would never want a manual transmission with no ac no power anything those where when a truck was for working not show I looked at a new Tacoma couldn’t give me that fucking thing could not see anything like sitting in a ditch looking over a rock pile like most new cars the old off road SUVs and trucks got it right high seat low hood line who ever designed these new space ships should be fired right away.
This is yuuuuuge:
‘The EPA plans to revoke the 2009 “endangerment finding,” an Obama-era determination that six greenhouse gases “threaten the public health and welfare of current and future generations” and that has anchored federal climate regulation under the Clean Air Act, according to a new Wall Street Journal report.
‘Bloomberg reported that the repeal could be announced as soon as Wednesday, citing an unnamed source.
‘Repealing the Obama-era climate finding would strip away the legal foundation for federal greenhouse gas regulation. “This amounts to the largest act of deregulation in the history of the United States,” EPA head Lee Zeldin said in an interview.’
https://www.zerohedge.com/technology/largest-act-deregulation-us-history-trump-admin-repeal-obama-era-greenhouse-gas-finding
With this repeal, the batshit-insane regulation of CO₂ as a ‘pollutant’ will be over. Take a deep breath, comrades, and then exhale to your heart’s content. It’s not illegal no more. 🙂
that is mega huge! Go Lee Zeldin!
Man I wish he would have been NY’s governor vs that witch.
My take: I’ve never liked small trucks. Always felt that the old-style full-sized half-ton was about as small and light as you could go in a truck while still maintaining functionality, comfort and safety. I think the only reasons a lot of people bought small trucks in the past was because they were cheap [Well, cheapER. Half-tons used to be pretty cheap, but little trucks even more so] and because they got better MPG. In the late 90’s they started downsizing the half-tons to about the size of a Ranger, so if you wanted a full-size truck, you had to move up to a 3/4 ton. And now a huge percentage of 3/4 and 1 tons don’t even have 8′ beds. It’s ridiculous! I’m sure many others feel as I do- and 8′ bed is a necessity. I yearn for the 60’s when at least one of the manufacturers (Dodge, IIRC) was making a pick-up with a 9′ bed!
It’s the american way people all got a fat ass today so they want a bigger car to fit there fat ass .
I guess part of the reason for the ever larger size of American trucks coincides with the expanding size of the average American.
In 1980, the average waist size for men was around 37”. In 2025, it was almost 41”. In 1960, it was around 34”-35”.
Maybe those stats are overkill, but it makes one think.
I’m still the same 34-35. Have been for decades. Met a large Plumber the other day out walking in my neighborhood. Being a retired plumber I couldn’t help wonder, how TF does he do his job? Have no Idea how it would be possible to be that large and run an ice line through the cabinets, change a kitchen faucet, make a repair under a mobile home, run a drain up through the attic. He’s probably unsuited for more than half the things he might need to do.
I’m in the the ‘91 Silverado and a modern truck pulls up next to me. Look to the left, his door handle is nearly eye level – crazy.
Also aerodynamics is long gone. The ‘90s trucks at least made an effort, lower sloped hood lines, rounded front ends, more angle to the windshield. The new stuff? Front end the size of a barn door and about as flat.
It’s also highly useful on rough, rocky unpaved roads to see obstacles approaching the front wheels. In a friend’s Silverado, with a chest-high hood level, I couldn’t see anything closer than 30 feet in front.
That’s another issue, they’re about due for a forward looking camera and display screen to avoid running over stuff blocked by the ginormous hood.
The big red truck is a post WW2 Dodge WM300
it is way to big compared to the trucks underneath
top speed of the WM300 was about 45 mph
the rear differential gear is like 4.89
a real woods crawler, 1st in low range, snails pace
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=red+dodge+wm300+&t=brave&ia=images&iax=images
the original tires were tall skinny army truck tires
it remains as the coolest looking real truck for all time
I think it had a rear PTO also, not sure
note the giant transfer case driven winch which came standard – not an electric winch, it is driven by the truck engine, a flathead 6
I liked the Diamond T trucks too.
Yes, but very rare sparky, check out this power wagon farm ad
https://ca.pinterest.com/pin/1950-dodge-power-wagon-brochure–148407750213613158/
Yep! Try that with a “pretty” new truck!
Always a fan of these, just flat out states “I mean business!” No fluff.
Engineer I worked with was restoring one what a great project.
My 95 Toyota Celica payed for itself in insurance money when one of these giant trucks pulled forward into my tail light because he couldn’t see me at all. There is the other extreme in trucks which is offered in my town in the form of Daihatsyu and Suzuki mini trucks: https://www.jpnautoimport.com/
The bed to cab ratio heavily favors bed in these little gemstones. Some of the beds are even hydraulic lift. Most or all are manuals.
The problem is that the obese ham planet trucks won’t see you, and collecting insurance does no good when you’re roadkill.
The golden mean applied to this sticky question reveals only one answer for the man that wants utility, humility, thrift and relative safety combined – and that is the old chevy s10s, ford rangers, nissan hardbodies, tacos, etc.
I like petite women and petite trucks.
Both are scarce these days. But if you know where to look … 😉
Brotherman! With ya on both. My antique 49-52 half ton trucks qualify as mini trucks these days. For a real hoot my F6 2 ton is very close in size to a modern crew cab half ton. As to the petite women, definitely have to look for em.
Told the daughter as she grew up:
“Guys don’t make passes
At girls with fat (hindquarters)”
The wife got it from her dad then me “thin is in”.
Zerohedge is reporting that Harley-Davidson’s 4th quarter sales were terrible.
CEO Arturo Pires de Lima… is focused on reducing excess inventory and repairing dealer relationships amid elevated interest rates that have strained consumers.
A brand known for “bigness” is having trouble. How long before the truck makers see the same thing? Bigger always sold to a segment of the population, but the kids these days are downsized. Tiny homes, van life, phones screens vs computer monitors and massive televisions… they’re sold on the Less Is More aesthetic. As the boomers and war babies die off what will replace their mass consumption?
But I wonder how much of this has to do with fixed expenses for these manufacturers? They pay some of the highest labor costs in the world. Selling a cheap car or starter motorcycle isn’t going to get the margins they want. Just jacking up the price isn’t going to work either. So enbigen the body for better brochure numbers, jack up the price to make Wall Street’s expected margins and suddenly a “compact” truck needs a step stool for the wife.
I specifically bought my 18 Colorado with the 6 foot bed so it was actually functional as a truck! lol Had to get the crew cab in order to be able to take more than 2.5 humans along too. My wife refers to it as the big white bus. So just that tells you it’s not your Dad’s S10! 😀
Hi Rob!
I liked the first-gen Colorado; it was a little bigger than the S10 – but not a monstrous thing or monstrously expensive, either.
Americans have gotten too fucking fat to be able to fit into the old Rangers, LOL.
I had a 1989 single-cab with a 2.3 and a stick. No way you’re gonna fit your fat ass into that if you weigh 350 lb.
If you’re fat-assed hambeest wife weighs another 350 you’ve eaten up almost all of your 1/2 ton payload right there, LOL.
That should make them easier for us non plus sized people to find. Still looking for one. Being very selective. I have a long list of what I want in mine.
I have an old excursion, at 230 inches.
The lamestream media called it the Ford Valdez, since it was an ecological and environmental disaster on wheels, for its low MPG and lots of raw materials to make.
In a few years, at the current pace of vehicular “supersizing”, I’ll have it classified as a Kei car, or a compact at least!!!
Don’t think the compact truck like the old ranger is ever coming back. They are now uni-body like the maverick, and favor 4 doors over bed size and towing. A bud can get two dirtbikes and gear in his honda version
It’s kinda like teevees. When the wife and I got married in ’77 we had a 9″ color teevee. The other day at Sam’s Club they had a 100″ flat screen. However, in comparable dollars it was probably not that much more than that 9″. Electronics is the perfect example of an industry that is pretty much free-market. Bill Gates’ EULAs not withstanding.
Hi Mark.
I’m wondering who sued people more; Microsoft or Monsanto? Microsoft sued businesses for having too many computers using the same license key and Monsanto sued farmers for having their patented DNA found in farmers fields that had never bought Monsanto seed that had their own plants contaminated by pollen from fields that used Monsanto seeds. Plants do interesting things with pollen; especially corn and peppers.
New trucks are obnoxiously large. Tho I admit being impressed by those who can wheel a jacked up dually into a spot at Sonic.