Safety of extended cab trucks

right, no conclusions can be made from rearward intrusion from a single-cab truck. an extended cab has at least an additional 14 inches of room behind there. but instead of comparing extended cab versus 4-door or non-extended cab, you should also be comparing the year and model of the truck.

for example, the 2004+ ford F150 gets terrific crash ratings--and when you look at the crash pics, the cab remains remarkable intact with practically no rotation or intrusion.

then, when you look at the pre-2004 F150, the crash ratings are horrible, and the pics are *quite* scary. the entire cab crumbles like a soda can.

2004-2007 F150 extended cab:





1997-2003 F150 extended cab:





i can only imagine that older generation pickups fare even worse.

southpawboston said:

right, no conclusions can be made from rearward intrusion from a single-cab truck. an extended cab has at least an additional 14 inches of room behind there. but instead of comparing extended cab versus 4-door or non-extended cab, you should also be comparing the year and model of the truck.

Click to expand...

That is also true for Dodge trucks. The one pictured above appears to be an older model. The crash tests for the '02+ are pretty decent for a big truck. http://www.iihs.org/ratings/ratingsbyseries.aspx?id=401 The '04 was also 5 star rated by NHTSA.

This was also timely for me since I have my dad's '04 Ram Quad cab to drive this week since they took my 4 kids and we left our van with them so they could all safely fit in one vehicle. Technically the Ram seats 6, but I wasn't about to let them put anyone in that front console seat.

southpawboston said:

right, no conclusions can be made from rearward intrusion from a single-cab truck. an extended cab has at least an additional 14 inches of room behind there. but instead of comparing extended cab versus 4-door or non-extended cab, you should also be comparing the year and model of the truck.

for example, the 2004+ ford F150 gets terrific crash ratings--and when you look at the crash pics, the cab remains remarkable intact with practically no rotation or intrusion.

then, when you look at the pre-2004 F150, the crash ratings are horrible, and the pics are *quite* scary. the entire cab crumbles like a soda can.

2004-2007 F150 extended cab:

1997-2003 F150 extended cab:

i can only imagine that older generation pickups fare even worse.

Click to expand...

good. I'm glad that things have changed so much. I'd estimate that the truck in that accident was a 99 or 2000. So much has changed, but if you're shopping for an extended cab pickup in the $4000 range, you're not looking too much newer than 2002.

abckidsmom said:

Here is what would stop me from having my kid in the back of a limited size pickup truck:

This was about a 40-50 mph front-end collision with at least 8-10 inches of intrusion into the passenger compartment. This accident was about 3 years ago, but it struck all of us at the time how the relatively minor impact just folded the truck right up.

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Scratching my head a little -- was it actually 40-50 mph? That's not a 'minor impact' by anyone's standards, is it?

We have a '92 Chevy (not extended cab), and I was scanning this thread because I suspect the thing is probably a death-trap in a significant accident. I guess I should check if I can find any crash ratings. We really only drive it when we need the cargo capacity (and to plow our own 800' driveway in the winter, which is the main reason we need such a vehicle), so I guess we're minimizing exposure at any rate.

Katrin

I have a 2004 Ford F150 Super crew (4 door) that we really love. It's actually roomier than our friends Chevy quad cab and my FIL's 4 door Dodge Ram. I currently have a Husky and Regent installed outboard, and could probably fit an infant seat in the middle!

Oh wow, I just looked at southpaws pics. I'm a little worried about my 95 now. At least the older generation use real metal. The thing I've heard about these older trucks is that there designed for side impact rather than roll over.