Carefree Trip to IKEA Thanks to the Bedliner - 2014 Ram 1500 EcoDiesel Long-Term Road Test

Edmunds.com

Carefree Trip to IKEA Thanks to the Bedliner - 2014 Ram 1500 EcoDiesel Long-Term Road Test

A trip to IKEA is understandably no problem in our long-term 2014 Ram 1500 EcoDiesel, but thanks to the new spray-in bedliner, you also don't have to worry about packages sliding around in the cargo bed.

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handbrake

The next time you get a truck for a long term test, please get a full sized bed. These short bed things are not trucks. They are SUVs with the roof peeled back.

seppoboy

handbrake, have you ever tried to manhandle a crew cab full sized pickup with a full sized bed? You need LOTS of space, it's fine in the wide open heartland of America, but miserable in tight quarters and almost anywhere in metro areas, those things are huge. A buddy finally wore out his old F-150 but chose to get an SUV replacement, the latest generation trucks are just too enormous for his intended use. By all means, get the spray-in bedliner, trucks are so much more ready-to-use with them.

stever

Kudos to the hubby!

ebeaudoin

Oh my goodness, don't let your insurance provider see these pics. That loaded truck bed looks like a disaster waiting to happen!

sofaonasock

Were the IKEA employees wearing their uniforms?

7driver

handbrake said:

The next time you get a truck for a long term test, please get a full sized bed. These short bed things are not trucks. They are SUVs with the roof peeled back.

SUV's don't have bed extenders.

jstrauch81

handbrake said:

The next time you get a truck for a long term test, please get a full sized bed. These short bed things are not trucks. They are SUVs with the roof peeled back.

I suppose... I would probably have preferred to get the 6.5 ft bed (aside from the looks) over the 5.5 ft bed I did get, that said, chances are if I'm hauling something larger than the bed I will put it on a trailer anyway.

gmdodgeboy

Wow. Eventful trip to Ikea. I hope the baby did well. Your spouse is a hero! I have a 2014 Ram 1500 Crew Cab and love the truck. Never have had any problems with it and the spray in bed liner is always a great option for any truck. I hauled a double bed back from WI to the UP of MI in mid January and used tie downs as I was going to be in excess of 70 mph for several hours.

stever

All that IKEA stuff would have fit in my Grand Caravan with room for 2, maybe 3 passengers (plus the driver).

Moved two loads in it from the UP to NM, but didn't move the beds this time. Ordinarily they'd go on my canoe racks though.

C'mon down @gmdodgeboy, the weather's fine. (I was a four year temp Yooper over toward the Porkies area).

actualsize

handbrake said:

The next time you get a truck for a long term test, please get a full sized bed. These short bed things are not trucks. They are SUVs with the roof peeled back.

I get that, but three things: 1) the IKEA underground parking garage in the picture is a reality around here. Our own office is built atop one. And you should see the predominance of outdoor "compact" parking spots in LA county. It is social engineering at its most basic level. They have made it so a long-wheelbase truck isn't practical. If we'd bought the 6.5-foot Crew Cab we'd just be unnecessarily hating on its turning circle and parking limitations because of where we're based.

2) These days the Crew Cab is far and away the best selling cab of all three of the Detroit three truckmakers. And of those, the vast majority have the 5.5-foot bed on this wheelbase instead of the 6.5-foot bed on a longer wheelbase. This combination serves the highest number of potential truck shoppers doing research here at Edmunds--in the 1500/150 class, anyway.

3) We tend to think that photos of our 5.5-foot bed with a load of cargo underscores its limitations as much as its capabilities, which may make the case for a 6.5 or 8-foot bed better than owning one would. If someone says "too short for me," then we've helped them, too. Besides, anyone who has ever owned a mid- or long-bed pickup already knows the benefits. I would say we don't need to rehash the fact that plywood and drywall sheets fit in an 8-foot bed with the tailgate closed.

Mainly, the bed is irrelevant for this kind of test. Aside from new lighting, power locking and tie-down features--which any bed length can demonstrate--the bed part of the truck hasn't changed for 50 years. Its the rest of the truck that's new and interesting from generation to generation.