SUT's Which do you like best?

fordsporttrac

This is a place to discuss SUT's, Sport Utility
Trucks. A SUT has been defined (by others) as a
light duty pickup with 4 full size doors and a
small bed. Examples are the Nissan CC, Ford ST, or
Dodge Dakota Crew Cab. They are more of an SUV
than a Truck so Nissan coined the phrase SUT.

There are other vehicles with the same style such
as the F150 Crew Cab. But they are not light duty
and do not fit the SUT description.

A current discussion is going on in the Nissan CC
vs Ford ST group but the suggestion was made to
bring other vehicles into the discussion.

So what are your comments about SUT's?

gooba

Good idea.Although if you have been following the current discussions on the other boards you have seen them sort of change and add other vehicles.I personally like this as it gives us an open arena for all the vehicles.
Remember the SUT from Nissan has not come out yet and last I read may have been cancelled.

mahimahi

Hey guys,
I just thought I would come on here and join the group.

I also wanted to discuss some of the things of my crew cab for those maybe considering it. One thing I wish that my crew cab had was a fold down rear seat, the other brands have but the Nissan Crew Cab doesn't, it would be nice for hauling stuff inside and not worring about getting the seats dirty. But I absolutely love it, I drive alot, I have 8600 miles on it and I bought it in March. Nice to hear from you fordsporttrac. Use your boat yet?

fordsporttrac

No towing yet :-( I still haven't had a chance to get the class III hitch installed. If you read the ST topic you'll see I just developed the sun roof drip tube leak that everyone has been talking about on the St thread. So its back to the Ford dealer.

I'm also a little miffed at Edmunds cuz they deleted posts out of the same thread. Someone was posting info about Fords delivery date of Tonneau covers and claimed to work for the manufacturer of the cover. Then one day WAM... all his posts were gone including everything in the archives and most of the posts that people made to him. This bothers me because I WAS trusting Edmunds as an independent. Seems they are under the control of the automobile industry. Makes me question their pricing too!

BTW,
Do you live in that CC or what? I've had my ST just as long as you've had your CC and I only have 1600 miles.

gooba

I got my CC the day before Thanksgiving and have 4800 on mine.Maybe you both live in yours. :-D

keanec

What is the SUT that Nissan is going to cancel? I'm sorry, but since I bought my CC I haven't paid enough attention to what is new.

By the way, Got my SE 4x4 CC at the end of February - got 8000kms (5000miles) so I do put the mileage on (actually my wife does!) but not like Mahimahi. They have been completely trouble free mechanically speaking. I did mention in another post that I found the CC "bottomed out" to easily when I was towing a moderate-heavy trailer over bumpy pavement. I looked at the front suspension and I thought it looked like there wasn't much room between the rubber stop and suspension; ie. the suspension travel is fairly short. I didn't get a chance to look at the rear and I am not sure how this compares to other trucks though. Anybody see any stats on suspension travel?

gooba

Go over to freshalloy.com.They have some stuff on it.I was just there and according to what I read I guess it may still be released.Also,go to trucktrend.com and they have some better pictures.

mahimahi

Hehehehe...you guys should see the microwave I installed!LOL. I probably won't be laughing when I turn the truck in to the lease co., huh?

fordsporttrac, did you find the info on the tonneau cover? I used to follow the st page and remember the discusions a few months ago about it. Somebody was just asking about the same thing you were. if I remember correctly it was lasvegan that said his cover was due in this past weekend, but there were skeptics on the page. I don't know if he got it or not. Sorry you're having problems with the sunroof, I remeber two others having that problem on that page too. I think one of them had the dealer replace the headliner. Speaking of sunroofs, I noticed about two days after I got my truck I pulled the sunshade off of mine, and guess what? I get a beautiful view of my wind deflector!(I already know how gooba feels about the roof rack )So this weekend I think what I'm going to do is find some big thumb screws so I can remove the wind defector easily. That's what I was going to trade you next, my view! I was also going to tell you guys I got to use my 4wd in a real situation this past weekend...It was about 300yds of thick Fla. sugar sand(I didn't have to go through it but, all I needed was an excuse to use it) Very impressive, very impressive I just cruised through it.

keanec,
I was looking at my truck this weekend when i was washing it and looked at where the 'bump stops' are in the rear. They look like they are kind of big and that they are low. They are located down on the frame close to the springs and they are at an angle because they are on the part of the frame that curves around the axle. It looks like there might be about 4-5 inches of clearance. Now that I look at your current post was the front bottoming out or the rear, I assumed the rear. I towed my demo this weekend and I ended up going over a very bumpy road with pothole from errosion I didn't have a load in the bed and I was traveling about 5-10mph, I didn't bottom out. But after looking at the bump stops I could see how you might bottom out, what i think I'm going to do this weekend it after I hook the boat up to the truck I'm going to measure the distance.

keanec

It was the rear that was bottoming out. I still haven't had a chance to look at the back of my truck yet; my wife kinda of monopolizes it!

I am pulling my tent trailer 3 hours away tommorrow to Manitoulin Island. The roads are very hilly so I am going to put the truck through it's paces. In 2 months I will be pulling my Big travel trailer (4000+lbs) to the same Island which should really answer the CC's pulling prowess. I will let you know!

eharri3

IT's not out quite yet but if it's true to the pre production models it will be the only SUT out there that doesn't signifigantly sacrafice bedlength for the extra doors. An eight foot bed with the rear seat folded, enough to carry 4x8 sheets of plywood or many motorcycles and ATV's witht the tailgate down. Only problem is it seems like to get the full eight feet of bed length the interior of the truck must be opened up and exposed to the elelments. Maybe some sort of canvas divider behind the driver's seat when the bed is completely opened up will do the trick.

fordsporttrac

From the pictures it looks like the rear window and rear cargo divider have to be removed separately. Once removed I question how/where you can store them.

fordsporttrac

Looks like the guys ST showed up WITHOUT the cover. :-( I home they are available by July!

fordsporttrac

I now have the 3 know problems that have been reported by other ST owners.

1. Gas door rubs
2. Sun roof drain tubes leak. (needs clamp)
3. shimmy turning at low speed. (Need new hose)

Items 2 & 3 although more difficult to fix are standard auto design screw ups.

The Gas door is pure crappy workmanship/design. I never would have noticed it until I drove out of state. We're not allowed to pump our own gas in NJ. I curious how there gona fix that.

mahimahi

Sorry you're having problems, I hope your dealer takes care of you. I saw those problems posted too. The one guy, I noticed had the truck back twice for the sunroof leak, last I read he didn't know if it was fixed because it hadn't rained yet.

keanec

Went on a long tow over the weekend. I didn't pack very well so I had a little more wait at the back than usual...but I bottomed out many times at the back. I was pulling my tent trailer..again the roads are very crappy!!.. and I was getting a lot of 'bouncing' after hitting bumps. I checked the space between the rubber stop while the trailer was on and it looked to be about an inch. When I took the trailer off, the trailer hitch rose 1" exactly. I don't think there is 4-5" of play between rubber stop in my truck.

All that being said, it has no problem with power and I think that any light duty (the Dodge quad, and ST inc.)vehicle pulling at 60 mph over the type of roads we have here are going to hit the stops every so often. My Father-in-law pulling his new fifth wheel behind me was saying his ride was really rough.

I am wondering if a helper spring is needed? Problem is I don't like to go to my dealer to find out...They are "BIG TIME" crooks. I had to buy my truck 250miles away.

mahimahi

Hmmm. I hooked my demo to my truck and again I only had a 120 Qt. cooler full of ice and drinks in the bed of the truck. I did measure the space between the bump stops and the springs and I have 4.5 inches. I don't think that the space is that effected because my tongue weight is about 380 lbs. now. You're right I have absolutely no problem pulling my 4600lb demo, I really don't, to be honest with you I was a little skeptical...but no problems. How much weight do you think you have in the bed? How many passengers do you have, weight? Are your bump stops located in front of the axle? I thought about adding a helper spring to my truck, I just believe that any truck tows much better with them, just my opinion. You should check with your local hitch dealer, maybe they sell springs or if you have a truck accessory store..if not I know U-Haul should carry them. Of course you could always order them on-line. I'm with you I certainly won't get mine, if I do get some, at my dealer. My dealer wanted $299.99 for a class III hitch w/o the sleeve or light harness. My local truck accessory/ hitch dealer sold me a Draw-Tite Class III hitch, sleeve w/ 2" ball, light harness, cover insert and labor for $160.13 incl. tax. The dealer was a complete rip-off!

fordsporttrac

I haven't seen any dodge uses post yet. I guess they don't sell allot of Dodges. Or maybe they're just not fanatical like most of us. :-)

iowabigguy

Most of the Dodge traffic is in the Dakota groups. We are probably just as fanatical. Our groups are pretty civil and supportive. Come lurk our groups and see. What kind of input are you looking for. I considered a Sport Trac and a Supercrew before settling on a 2000 Dakota Quad. Great truck, just turned over 2000 miles. No problems, 17.8 to 19.8 MPG, lots of smiles per mile. Rick

fordsporttrac

Looking for input on the New SUTs. SUT is a 4 door light duty pickup. I was hoping to get some feed back from some Dodge Dakota Crew Cab Drivers. I looked at the Dakota but was disappointed at the available options. We currently have Ford ST drivers and Nissan CC drivers here.

iowabigguy

I've owned a 79 and 82 Datsun (Nissan), 87 F150 and a 93 Dakota. All were good vehicles with a fair reliability record. I was going to buy a Nissan Crew cab until I saw the back seat. I need to be able to carry 5 adults. The back seat is only marginally comfortable for pre teens. The Supercrew was closer but I thought it was somewhat overpriced. I looked at the Sport Trac but was put off by the styling, I believe you either love it or hate it.
I bought a 2wd Dodge Quad with a 4.7 v8 and a 5 speed. I have a bench seat in the front and the capability to carry 5 adults comfortably and 6 in a pinch (5 speed gets in the way). The truck is fast and responsive. It gets good mileage when driven gently. I don't need a long bed, if I do need to haul longer items or 4x8 plywood I have a roof rack on my Leer topper for short hauls and a open 4x8 trailer for longer distances. I'm not going to tell you how bad your truck is or why you should buy mine. I'll leave that to trucksrme and the others. In my opinion all the new trucks are good, both US and imports. They meet our needs and all are 1000% better than what was offered 20 years ago. The fact that you like Ford, Nissan, Tundra or the like is what makes us individuals. Rick
PS I love my Quad

keanec

Well said. You had your reasons for wanting and liking the Dodge and you bought it. Even though in the past I have said I am unsure about the quality/reliability of the Fords and Dodges. The reality is the reason I went with the Nissan is because of bottom line price! I personally think the Dodge is the coolest looking and has the most functionality. I thought the ST would grow on me, but it didn't - I just don't like the look too much. If the prices were comparable, I think that the bigger capacity, the extra towing capacity, and the equal gas mileage (?) could possibly have swayed me to the Dodge (and the fact the Dodge service advisor treats me excellent and he makes getting service no problem; I take care of my father's '9+3 Caravan because he is in a wheelchair)but not the ST.

Although, with a matching colour cap, my CC is pretty awesome looking!

fordsporttrac

The one thing I find very impressive is the gas mileage being reported with the 8 cyl.

I didn't like the interior of the Dakota Crew but I test drove the Dakota the RAM, GMC and the Nissan CC before settling on the ST.

The RAM and the GMC were Full size trucks but were not available in 4 doors or they would probably have been my choice.

2drive

I bought the Dakota 4x4 with 4.7L V8 and 5-speed and average 18-20 mpg (depending on type of trips and type of driving attitude!). I only considered the four door because of the seating capacity, other vehicles considered were the F150 and the Durango, actually. I put 400,000 on my previous Chrysler minivan, so had no reservations about durability. I'm most impressed with the Dakota's quiet, smooth ride, responsive handling, comfortable seats and solid build quality. Oh, almost forgot, also impressed with the V8 performance! (It looks good, too!)

meredith

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