Who uses a pickup style 4x4?

[Rockingit]

Am currently giving some serious consideration to buying a Hilux crew cab for work purposes (body on the back, obviously) as an alternative to a mid sized van as I really don't need racking etc and I spend half my summers on muddy festival sites.

I know they're a favourite for fat-walleted builders and scaffolders and I do see the occasional one with a spark's branding on it, wondered if anyone on here has experience of the pro's/con's of using one instead of a van (diesel costs aside!).

 

[littlespark]

Tels got one, hasn’t he?

Big enough for the zimmer frame, half dozen crates of cheap plonk and whatever fell off the back of a lorry this week.

 

[Moley]

Two guys I work with have had Nissan Navaras (I think, Nissan something anyway) . Both have complained of lack of security in the back. Had to get two full length 'tool vault' boxes in the back. Problems with access to stuff stored too. Something you want is near the cab end of the pickup section on top of the tool vaulrs then you have to unload everything to get at it.

 

[James]

I have had 2 Nissan navara since 2005 and done about 350k miles in them
i get about 30mpg when loaded with half a tonne of stuff.

 

[Dave OCD]

I can see the attraction but for mostly domestic electrical work I think a van is much more practical in terms of organising and ease of access to all your tools and materials, especially with sliding doors on both sides.

 

[littlespark]

The 4WD of a pickup is attractive i suppose for tearing across a festival field, but day to day urban driving.... got to think about parking spaces.

 

[Rockingit]

The 4WD of a pickup is attractive i suppose for tearing across a festival field, but day to day urban driving.... got to think about parking spaces.

Ah

The 4WD of a pickup is attractive i suppose for tearing across a festival field, but day to day urban driving.... got to think about parking spaces.

Ah. Should probably add that I do very little ‘urban’ driving in the wilds of Somerset and also that where live is basically only accessible by serious 4x4 anyway (currently turn left out of my drive for a 1’ flood, right for a 2-3’ flood). We have personal 4x4’s anyway, just not a pick-up style.

 

[Rockingit]

I can see the attraction but for mostly domestic electrical work I think a van is much more practical in terms of organising and ease of access to all your tools and materials, especially with sliding doors on both sides.

I don’t really do traditional style sparky work in that way anyway, the closest I get is bespoke commercial stuff where we’d probably be hiring a sprinter or something similar as needed.

 

[Lucien Nunes]

We run a couple of big American pickups for towing plant around, etc., and for that purpose they are hard to beat. But, I loathe working out of them. It is a royal pain to get at anything, I invariably end up clambering into the back and lying on my stomach on top of something else, or as @Moley says, unloading everything. The only time recently when I was really pleased to have the use of the long load bay was when I unexpectedly had to carry an extra 1.5 tonnes of stage weights, which we simply forked into the back on pallets. For bits and bobs that you might have to load and unload individually; not so practical.

 

[nicebutdim]

I've looked at the idea of a pick up with body on a number of occasions, not so much this trade, but could never make the idea work.

The appeal was that a pick up could provide some benefits of a commercial vehicle, but with more refinement than a van. Problem was access, as mentioned above - I think they'd work fine for someone carrying a few tools and transporting random stuff (like a builder), but not for anyone who needs to carry (and regularly access) a comprehensive range of tools and components.

Other than slightly increased load space, I've never managed to make the argument that they're more practical than an estate car.

 

[SparkySy]

I had use of a Mitsubishi L200 crew cab with a company I worked for many years ago. We did a lot of agricultural installation and it was the only way to get on some sites.
It was ok as said above security was the biggest problem, then the everything you wanted was buried in a van vault at the cab end so had to kneel in there routing through stuff.
The other thing is that the rear seats ended up as a store for kit used all the time as it was easier to get at it.
It was also great for towing, half the time you didn't even know it was pulling something.
A couple of mates of mine have 4x4 vans one has a Merc Sprinter the other has a MAN TGE much better for working out of and really good off road but they are getting really awful MPG out of them. My mate with the MAN said at worst he was getting 7mpg in his!

I think if you don't carry much kit then a Hilux or the likes wound be fine!

 

[davesparks]

I had a Mitsubishi L200 'Animal' for a few years.

As others have said getting at anything in the backbox can be a hassle. I'm not exactly short at 6'4" but I still have to clamber into the back of it to get anything.

On the other hand you can get a heck of a lot of weight in the back, I rammed it full of 125A three phase on a festival site and it was barely noticeable.

Security is also a big issue, insurance won't normally cover anything stored in the back regardless of how good the top box/cover is.

You can carry a sensible amount on a roof rack too. I had a 12 rung and a 10 rung zarge strapped on to the roofrack and it seemed quite happy with it.


I did find it to be a bit poor in its offroad performance, but that may have more to do with the fact my previous vehicle was a Landrover defender which set the bar pretty high in that respect.

 

[Lister1987]

Tels got one, hasn’t he?

Big enough for the zimmer frame, half dozen crates of cheap plonk and whatever fell off the back of a lorry this week.

I'm sure he's got a Suzuki Carry, one on them really tiny looking jobbies @telectrix ?

 

[DefyG]

The other thing is that the rear seats ended up as a store for kit used all the time as it was easier to get at it.

As are the ones I mostly see on site, which is also for security too but lose the benefit of the additional seats.

 

[timhoward]

Tels got one, hasn’t he?

Big enough for the zimmer frame, half dozen crates of cheap plonk and whatever fell off the back of a lorry this week.

I have a feeling that Tel is able to read the forum at the moment but not engage, I think he's still in hospital.
If so, Tel, hope you 'pickup' soon (groan) and be assured the one-way ribbing will mercilessly continue.