Elon: We can reduce the length 6+ inches

[keeney]

The no wheel wells was one of the first things i noticed when they opened the bed (AWESOME!). It makes me wonder about the width but i would imagine its the same as any other truck just without the protrusions.

Obviously they cannot magically make the wheels go away. The bed has to fit between the wheels, above the wheels, or have wheel well protrusions. In the case of the CT, the bed is between the wheels, but there is more room between the wheels because there is less need for sideways wheel clearance due to the choice of rear suspension. A conventional solid rear truck axle needs room for the wheels to tilt with the axle. A solid axle can also have some side-to-side sway on the springs. In the case of an independent rear suspension like the CT has, the wheels are more precisely constrained to move only vertically by the suspension linkage, so less clearance is needed. They may have widened the wheel track slightly as well.

I have heard the bed of the CT is 57" wide which is a pretty generous distance between the wheels, but the entire bed is that width which is slightly more narrow than conventional trucks are beyond the wheel wells. My conventional Chevy pickup 6.5' box is 50" between the wheels, but 62" at the top rail edges, 60" wide at the tailgate opening, and about 67" inside the bed under the rails.

My original comment about the CT bed being cramped was about the length. In a conventional truck with a 6.5' bed, you can in fact load a cuboid volume box that is 78" long, 48" wide, and 48" high in the truck and close the tailgate because the smallest length of the bed from the inner edge of the front top rail to the tailgate clears 78". In addition, there is another couple of inches of room under the front rail down to the floor of the bed. Also, above the rail there are also a few extra inches of clearance before things hit the back window of the cab.

I fear the nominal 6.5' length of the CT bed is only at the floor of the bed because its cab slopes back over the bed, taking about 6" of usable length away from the cargo bed up at the window. And the back window of the cab is the thing your cargo will be pushing up against if its more than about 18" high (unless its tall enough to hit the roof edge where the roll top turns the corner which overhangs yet another couple of inches).

 

[PJFW8]

The ride height geolocation would be counter productive for me. My driveway requires a high setting (in my X anyway) and the truck in the garage would require a low setting.

Geo locate works both ways. You can have a raise for your driveway. I wanted It lowered for ease of getting in and out

 

[S3XY]

I haul kayaks and had to make a 12 foot long rack to accommodate 17 foot long boats. The 6.5 foot bed is an absolute minimum for anyone who actually needs a truck. I'm not so sure it's accurate to say the 8 foot bed is "rare". I see many people with them, they just have single seat row cabs.

I don't want an 8 foot bed for the same reason I don't want a Tesla truck, they are just too durn big.

Could you close the vault and strap them on top of it? Or would they tend to slide right off?

 

[Ehninger1212]

Obviously they cannot magically make the wheels go away. The bed has to fit between the wheels, above the wheels, or have wheel well protrusions. In the case of the CT, the bed is between the wheels, but there is more room between the wheels because there is less need for sideways wheel clearance due to the choice of rear suspension. A conventional solid rear truck axle needs room for the wheels to tilt with the axle. A solid axle can also have some side-to-side sway on the springs. In the case of an independent rear suspension like the CT has, the wheels are more precisely constrained to move only vertically by the suspension linkage, so less clearance is needed. They may have widened the wheel track slightly as well.

I have heard the bed of the CT is 57" wide which is a pretty generous distance between the wheels, but the entire bed is that width which is slightly more narrow than conventional trucks are beyond the wheel wells. My conventional Chevy pickup 6.5' box is 50" between the wheels, but 62" at the top rail edges, 60" wide at the tailgate opening, and about 67" inside the bed under the rails.

My original comment about the CT bed being cramped was about the length. In a conventional truck with a 6.5' bed, you can in fact load a cuboid volume box that is 78" long, 48" wide, and 48" high in the truck and close the tailgate because the smallest length of the bed from the inner edge of the front top rail to the tailgate clears 78". In addition, there is another couple of inches of room under the front rail down to the floor of the bed. Also, above the rail there are also a few extra inches of clearance before things hit the back window of the cab.

I fear the nominal 6.5' length of the CT bed is only at the floor of the bed because its cab slopes back over the bed, taking about 6" of usable length away from the cargo bed up at the window. And the back window of the cab is the thing your cargo will be pushing up against if its more than about 18" high (unless its tall enough to hit the roof edge where the roll top turns the corner which overhangs yet another couple of inches).

How do you know all these measurements of the cyber truck?

 

[M_D129]

I may be wrong here, but, most people that argue the overhang into the bed, will limit what can be hauled in the bed. At least in terms of flush with the cab.

Isn’t this the case with any truck with a tonneau cover of some kind?

The hard cover kind, you won’t even be able to go above bed height, and the roll up kind, has a roll at the back of the cab, rolled up to roughly 6” of diameter. Additionally, the roll is at bed height, not cab height as is the case with the Cybertruck.

Seems if you are going to buy a truck, and have a tonneau, this is on par if not better. I’m not a current truck owner, but borrow several buddies’ that have tonneau covers. They always have gotten in the way, and reduced usable storage/cargo space.

 

[keeney]

How do you know all these measurements of the cyber truck?

I only know one that I can source to Tesla - the 6.5' bed length. My conclusion that this length is measured at the floor of the bed is based on the overall length of the truck and the visual proportions of the bed.

The 57" width was quoted from a motortrend article, but I have seen other numbers conjectured. Simple physics puts an upper limit on it. If you start with a 79 inch wide truck, subtract 10 inches off each side for the width of the tires, another inch or two of clearance, and you are down to 55 to 57 inches maximum width that can fit between the wheels.

The overhang is estimated from the photos as I mentioned.

 

[keeney]

I may be wrong here, but, most people that argue the overhang into the bed, will limit what can be hauled in the bed. At least in terms of flush with the cab.

Isn’t this the case with any truck with a tonneau cover of some kind?

The hard cover kind, you won’t even be able to go above bed height, and the roll up kind, has a roll at the back of the cab, rolled up to roughly 6” of diameter. Additionally, the roll is at bed height, not cab height as is the case with the Cybertruck.

Seems if you are going to buy a truck, and have a tonneau, this is on par if not better. I’m not a current truck owner, but borrow several buddies’ that have tonneau covers. They always have gotten in the way, and reduced usable storage/cargo space.

Kind of the point - those covers all reduce the convenient usable space in the truck bed. That is why I choose not to put them on my truck. But on the CT, the cover and cab overhang is not optional. Its built in and not removable. In a pinch, on a conventional truck, you could remove the cover completely if necessary. There are some hard covers that are completely removable as well.

In regards to the overhang of the cab, on the CT, there are two places where the cab overhangs the bed. The first is down low between the floor of the bed and below the window, its angled back out over the bed several inches. Then at the top, there is another couple of inches where the roof edge overhangs. See the Tesla rendering:

Also visible in actual photos at the unveiling (the proportions and angle are subtly different than the rendering):

I guess its bigger than a pure 5.5' bed truck which is kind of the competition they keep holding it up to.

 

[Ehninger1212]

I only know one that I can source to Tesla - the 6.5' bed length. My conclusion that this length is measured at the floor of the bed is based on the overall length of the truck and the visual proportions of the bed.

The 57" width was quoted from a motortrend article, but I have seen other numbers conjectured. Simple physics puts an upper limit on it. If you start with a 79 inch wide truck, subtract 10 inches off each side for the width of the tires, another inch or two of clearance, and you are down to 55 to 57 inches maximum width that can fit between the wheels.

The overhang is estimated from the photos as I mentioned.

Judging by some photos the width of the exterior to interior sheet metal on the bed does not look like 10" on each side. But that's just a guess and not backed by any factual evidence. I will wait for actual dimensions to come out. Either way i believe the dimensions of the bed will be more than adequate for mine and most peoples needs.

 

[keeney]

Judging by some photos the width of the exterior to interior sheet metal on the bed does not look like 10" on each side. But that's just a guess and not backed by any factual evidence. I will wait for actual dimensions to come out. Either way i believe the dimensions of the bed will be more than adequate for mine and most peoples needs.

I agree. Its probably not 10" wide. If it was, I would be seriously bummed at losing all that cargo volume.

The flare around the wheel adds a couple of more inches, though. I was presuming the overall width being quoted at 79 inches wide (79.8 more precisely) was inclusive of the wheels and fenders.

 

[Ehninger1212]

I agree. Its probably not 10" wide. If it was, I would be seriously bummed at losing all that cargo volume.

The flare around the wheel adds a couple of more inches, though. I was presuming the overall width being quoted at 79 inches wide (79.8 more precisely) was inclusive of the wheels and fenders.

Yeah i cant quite figure that out, If it is not including the fender flares that's rather wide.. however i do believe Elon Musk was talking about the body minus the flares. Because the Cybertruck prototype has DOT clearance lamps. Meaning it is 80" wide or more. 79.8" would slide under this rule. I guess we will find out soon enough!

Source - Why Some Trucks Have Five Little Lights On The Roof

Unless the design team just likes the way they look?

 

[Fredneck]

Incorrect answer. Most pickups sold today have larger exterior dimentions than the Cybertruck.

The Cybertruck is all about work. I think Elon Musk doesn't care about all those do-dads in the cab.

Lol, like they added the bullet proof sides and windows... well, I guess not the windows... for no reason. Of course Musk is all about the "do-dads". He's the whole reason Teslas are crawling with "do-dads".

 

[Fredneck]

Maybe I'm misreading something here... but why are you on a Tesla truck forum?

If I don't want to buy the truck, I'm not supposed to discuss it? I don't want the S or the 3 either, but I discuss them too.

 

[Fredneck]

Geo locate works both ways. You can have a raise for your driveway. I wanted It lowered for ease of getting in and out

That's my point. You can't have both.

 

[Fredneck]

Could you close the vault and strap them on top of it? Or would they tend to slide right off?

What would you use for tie down points? I don't see anything to hook a strap to. I used to throw my boat on the roof of my old truck. But I got tired of climbing up and down in the bed. I can't see myself trying to hold a kayak in place while I find the spot to hook a tie down. That would take two or three people. No, not practical.

The "vault", lol. Is that what they really call it??? Is someone planning to keep jewelry in it?

 

[keeney]

Judging by some photos the width of the exterior to interior sheet metal on the bed does not look like 10" on each side.

Note that there is subtle taper wider of the bed interior sides just near the tailgate. Its a nice refinement, but it may give a misleading impression of the thickness of the bed sides between the inner bed wall and the exterior of the truck.

Either way i believe the dimensions of the bed will be more than adequate for mine and most peoples needs.

My point is that the CT claims a 6.5' bed, but its impaired in a couple of ways compared to other trucks with the same "nominal" bed size. I can likely get around the limitations, but it will be a compromise for people like me who are accustomed to a conventional 6.5' truck bed. I would say that it will be plenty of room for people who would consider a truck with a 5.5' bed.

 

[Ehninger1212]

Note that there is subtle taper wider of the bed interior sides just near the tailgate. Its a nice refinement, but it may give a misleading impression of the thickness of the bed sides between the inner bed wall and the exterior of the truck.

My point is that the CT claims a 6.5' bed, but its impaired in a couple of ways compared to other trucks with the same "nominal" bed size. I can likely get around the limitations, but it will be a compromise for people like me who are accustomed to a conventional 6.5' truck bed. I would say that it will be plenty of room for people who would consider a truck with a 5.5' bed.

I am very aware of the Taper. I still don't think we are looking at 10" of thickness. That would put the bed sides at almost the same width as the tires and it would be exactly the width of the tread which is 10".

I feel like based on The mission of Tesla and what they are trying to accomplish with the Cybertruck, The Cybertruck is going offer no limitations to a "conventional" pickup truck in the Hauling/cargo capacity area. I don't see why Tesla would go through all the trouble to completely miss the bar.

Either way this discussion is Futile, based on little fact. Other than you think the CT has limitations, compared to conventional trucks. I think the CT is not limited to conventions and therefor exceeds to the competition. Time will tell.

 

[keeney]

Either way this discussion is Futile, based on little fact. Other than you think the CT has limitations, compared to conventional trucks. I think the CT is not limited to conventions and therefor exceeds to the competition. Time will tell.

I think its cool. I just wish the cargo bed was more capable and less compromised.

 

[azjohn]

It is interesting you mentioned Toyota T100. Many people attribute the smaller size as the primary reason why T100 was not a sales success for Toyota. They came back with Tundra (true full size truck) and they did and are doing substantially better.

I currently drive a Tundra and it has not been garaged since I purchased it about 10 years ago. What is the big deal about not fitting in the garage. It has bullet proof body and windows. I personally prefer the full pickup size. I would not mind charging it outside.

I almost bought a T 100 back in the 90s, glad I didn't it had a tinny feel like a Tacoma, bought a F 150 instead

 

[azjohn]

Give me the full six inches!

That's what she said!

 

[Fredneck]

I almost bought a T 100 back in the 90s, glad I didn't it had a tinny feel like a Tacoma, bought a F 150 instead

Wow! I didn't need the bulk of a full size pickup. I also never thought of it as being "tinny". I enjoyed it for 255,000 miles and would still have it but for an accident in which it was rolled. My only real complaint was that it was starting to break from time to time (alternator here, brake cable there) and it is a PITA to find people to work on a vehicle who are good, honest, cheap; pick two... or maybe one. The dealership turned out to be NONE!. I replaced it with a Tunda and every time I drive it I hate the sheer bulk. But it does drive well on the highway, like an old Cadillac.

Before the T100 I had the Toyota "pickup". A solid machine, but small. Not your highway hog for sure. I was waiting for the engine to wear out so I could electrify it, but I had to have something I could drive miles in without breaking my back. So I sold it. The guy who bought it is still driving it, a 1982.