Okay, here’s my blog post about measuring a pickup truck, written in the style of a seasoned blogger sharing their practical experience:
So, the other day, I needed to figure out if this HUGE load of mulch I wanted would actually fit in my truck bed. I mean, really fit, not just kinda-sorta-maybe fit. I’ve been burned before, you know? Show up somewhere, and bam, you’re making two trips. No thanks.
First thing I did was grab my trusty tape measure. The old-school kind, none of that fancy laser stuff. I’m a simple man.
I started with the bed length. Easy enough, right? I stretched that tape from the inside of the bulkhead (that’s the front wall of the bed, closest to the cab) all the way to the inside of the tailgate. I made sure the tailgate was down, of course. Wrote that number down – gotta keep track!
Bed Width: A Little Trickier
Next up, bed width. Now, this can be a little tricky because of the wheel wells. Those things always get in the way. I measured the width at the narrowest point, which is usually between those wheel wells. Again, pen and paper time.
- I got the bed width at its narrowest point. Check.
Bed Height is not just sides
Then, I tackled the bed height. I measured from the floor of the bed up to the top of the bed rails. I measured that height at the front and at the rear of the bed. I jotted those down. No problems yet.
Tailgate and overall
Now, some folks might want the tailgate width, too. I didn’t need it for this mulch situation, but it’s good to have. I just measured across the top of the tailgate, simple as that.
I needed a way to calculate the cubic feet and wrote down all of my measuremeents for the length, width, and height.
- Multiply Bed Length x Bed Width x Bed Height
- Example: 8ft x 5ft x 2ft = 80 cu. ft.
Finally, after finding out the amount I wanted came in cubic feet and converting my measurements, I saw I was good to go! All in all, pretty straightforward. Just remember to measure twice (or three times, if you’re like me) and write everything down. You don’t want to be guessing when you’re staring down a mountain of, well, anything you’re hauling!
