At CARiD, we’re enthusiasts ourselves who love modifying our cars, trucks, and whatever other vehicles we have at any given time. So we understand truck owners’ desire to pick up some new mods, parts, and accessories. But when it comes to outfitting a pickup, understanding cab and bed sizes is crucial, or else there’s a pretty good chance that something might not fit right.
For everything from floor mats and running boards to tonneau covers and truck caps, knowing the type and size of the cab and bed is necessary. Adding to the complexity, the sizes and styles are not exactly standardized across the industry, with each truck manufacturer having its own unique variations. This guide aims to help make it as easy as possible to understand cab and bed configurations so that finding the right mods is easier.
Understanding Cab Styles and Nomenclature
The cab of a truck is just the interior or the big rectangular box where occupants sit. An easy way to remember this is to just think of the word “cabin”, which is commonly used to refer to a vehicle’s interior. Understanding the different cab styles is essential for finding the right parts for a specific truck, but it’s not as intimidating as it may seem since there are only five cab types to consider.
Regular Cab
The most basic style is the regular cab, sometimes called the standard cab. Trucks with this type of cab have just two doors, a single row of seating, and overall limited interior space. Regular cabs are most commonly found in work trucks where bed space is more important than interior room, and they’re not exactly conducive for a family road trip across the country. Due to their small cabin with limited seating capacity and storage space, trucks with a standard cab are almost always the most affordable option.
Extended Cab
Next up is the extended cab, which is exactly what it sounds like. Extended cab trucks offer a slightly larger cabin that usually comes with cramped second-row seating and some additional storage space behind the front seats. Most extended cab trucks also come with a set of small rear doors that are hinged at the back, relying on the front doors being opened first. These trucks may provide the best value for some, adding a back seat without paying for a full-size pickup.
This cab style may have a different name depending on the make and model. Toyota calls it an Access Cab or XtraCab, Nissan calls it the King Cab, and Ford uses the SuperCab moniker.
Double Cab
Not seen or talked about as much as the other options, the next step up is a double cab, which is the first option that comes with four doors (often smaller ones in the rear) and second-row seating. People often conflate double cabs with crew cabs, and some manufacturers even do as well, but double cabs are typically seen as a slightly smaller version of a crew cab with a bit less space.
Crew Cab
As the name suggests, crew cabs are designed to carry the whole crew, meaning they come with four full-size doors, bigger back seats, and plenty of storage space. These trucks are a bit bigger than double cabs, and they’re commonly used by families, work crews, or anyone else who needs to transport multiple passengers. Modern crew cab trucks come with all the luxury and amenities of a new SUV while offering the capabilities and versatility of a full-size pickup truck. That might be why prices have seemingly gotten out of hand in recent years, but I digress.
Extended Crew Cab
Topping the list is the extended crew cab, which is exclusively used by the heavy-duty Ram 2500 and 3500 using the Mega Cab branding. On a Ram Mega Cab, the four doors are roughly the same as a crew cab, but the cabin itself is extended further back, increasing legroom and storage space even more. Due to the long cabins of these trucks, they usually come with shorter bed sizes, otherwise, the length of the truck would really start pushing its drivability limits.
Different Names from Different Manufacturers
The cabs alone are easy enough to understand, but unfortunately, some manufacturers thought it’d be a good idea to give the cabs their own names. Ford, for example, calls its regular cab a regular cab, which is straightforward, but then it opted to call its extended cab the SuperCab and its crew cab the SuperCrew. Toyota has a regular cab, XtraCab, Double Cab, and CrewMax, and it’s offered a shortish four-door Access Cab in the past. Ram has a regular cab, Quad Cab, crew cab, and its exclusive Mega Cab. Nissan, meanwhile, offers regular cab, King Cab, and crew cab bodies. And so on.
It can be tough to keep track of which name refers to which style, but for most manufacturers, it boils down to regular, extended, double, or crew, and knowing which type a truck has makes it easy to buy the right parts and mods.
Understanding Bed Lengths and Styles
Cabs are just half the equation when it comes to truly understanding the style and size of a truck, with the other variable being the bed. The bed of a truck determines its overall cargo capacity, and it is a big factor in the truck’s overall functionality. Thankfully, I think they’re a bit easier to understand and remember than cabs because there are really only three common types.
Short Bed
A full-size truck’s short bed is typically about 5 feet, 8 inches long (dropping to 5 feet even for midsize pickups), though slight variations can be expected from one manufacturer to another. Their short length makes these beds ideal for maneuverability, making it easier to get around town or through a tight job site. Even though these beds are shorter than other options, they’re still capable of handling most everyday tasks, making short-bed trucks popular for people who just want the utility of a pickup but don’t plan on hauling big loads.
Standard Bed
Standard beds are usually around 6 feet, 5 inches long for full-size trucks, or 6 feet even for mid-sizers, and they are the most common type seen on trucks, especially double and crew cab pickups. These beds strike a balance between cargo and total truck length, providing more capacity than a short bed without sacrificing too much maneuverability. The versatility of a standard bed makes it a popular option for hauling tools, recreational gear, or anything in between.
Long Bed
Long beds are almost always 8 feet in length on big trucks and 7 feet on small ones, offering the most cargo space of any option. Eight feet is such an important number because that’s the standard length of most building materials like 2x4s, sheets of drywall, and more. That’s why regular cab long-bed trucks are often seen on job sites as work trucks since they’re great for hauling materials and tools without paying for the comfort of a larger cab.
That said, there are still extended and crew cab long-bed trucks on the market, but these behemoths can be incredibly difficult to maneuver. In my younger days, I may or may not have been driving a truck like this and took a turn too tight around a building and clipped the corner with the bed. So I can personally attest to how tough these huge trucks can be to drive for someone who isn’t used to it. Another reason why understanding bed size is so important!
Selecting Truck Accessories Based on Cab and Bed Size
Understanding cab and bed styles and sizes makes it easy to find parts that are going to fit and get the job done, and it’s important to know what to look for when shopping. After all, ordering a part for the wrong cab or bed will almost guarantee that it doesn’t fit right, and what’s more deflating than the anticipation of a new truck part getting delivered only to realize it isn’t even close to fitting? Here are a few things to keep in mind while shopping.
When looking at interior accessories like floor mats, seat covers, and storage solutions, the most important thing to know is the cab style. For example, floor mats designed to fit in a crew cab truck likely won’t fit in the second row of an extended cab, while those made for an extended cab won’t cover the entire floor area in a crew cab.
On the exterior, it’s crucial to know both the cab and bed styles, since the gamut of exterior mods is nearly endless. Running boards, for example, must be sized for the specific truck and the cab, or else they’ll be too long or too short. With a tonneau cover or truck cap, knowing the bed size is essential or else they just simply won’t fit. Similarly for a bed liner, if the wrong bed size is used while shopping, it either won’t cover the whole bed or it’ll be way too big.
One last distinction to keep in mind while shopping is the difference between custom fit and universal fit. Many accessory manufacturers make parts that are universal fit, meaning they’re designed to fit multiple models with different cabs and beds. These are often more affordable, but they don’t have the same level of precision and quality as custom-fit mods, which are made to specifically fit one type of truck with a single cab and bed style.
In all cases, it’s important to note that truck manufacturers have slightly different cab and bed sizes from each other. So it’s always recommended to shop by year, make, and model, which CARiD makes easy.
Find All Your Truck Accessories at CARiD
At CARiD, it’s a breeze to find pickup truck parts, mods, and accessories that fit just about any truck, no matter the make and model. Whether custom-fit floor mats, bed liners, tonneau covers, or toolboxes are needed, CARiD has everything to enhance the truck’s functionality and style, and it’s easy to find the right options. Simply visit the website, enter the truck’s year, make, and model, and press “Go”.
After that, the site will only show parts that fit that specific vehicle. This alone doesn’t take care of the cab and bed issues, but CARiD provides all the necessary options before adding anything to your cart. With this TruXedo tonneau cover, for example, the site provides options that are a “Guaranteed Fit” for a given truck, then offers selectable options for different bed lengths. Easy peasy.
By applying what’s in this guide to understand cab and bed sizes and using CARiD’s site to whittle down the options to only those that fit, it’s easy to find the right parts. And as always, CARiD provides 24/7 live chat for this sort of thing, with support staff standing by to make sure the right accessories are bought the first time.
