What size cab do you have?
Pickup Truck Cab Sizes: A Complete Guide
By: Jay Ehret
If you’re adding accessories to your truck you need to know your cab. Pickup trucks come in a range of cab sizes tailored to different user requirements, whether it's ample seating space for passengers, additional storage or more bed space for cargo.
Cab sizes also help determine what exact accessory fits your truck. For example, a camper shell; the size of your truck’s cab determines which model of camper shell will fit your truck. Let’s dive in and identify these cab sizes, so you have the info you need when you head to Pickup Outfitters for that new camper shell or bed cover.
In this guide, we’ll help you identify your cab size and explain how they differ across popular makes like Ford, Chevrolet, and Ram. Unfortunately, each of the big truck brand uses different terminology to identify their cabs.
What are the Different Truck Cab Sizes?
When it comes to selecting a pickup, cab size is a critical factor. It's not just about style; it's about functionality and comfort for all those wild adventures on the road. First things first, what exactly are the different cab sizes available for pickup trucks?
It varies from truck size to manufacturer, but you can usually get a clue from the number of doors. Does your truck have just two doors? Four Doors? Maybe two front doors and then some smaller doors for the second row? Let's dive in and sort this out.
Regular Cab
The regular cab is your classic choice—think of it as the vanilla ice cream of the truck world. It usually features a single door on each side with a single row of seating. You don't see this cab much anymore, but it was popular on older model trucks. Now, it's usually found on work trucks or on trucks driven by guys without kids.
Extended Cab
Next up, we have the extended cab. This is a tricky one. The image here is the traditional extended cab; with two front doors, and then a half, swing-out door in the rear. But Chevy and Ram had to make things complicated by making their extended cabs with regular doors, only a little bit shorter than the front doors.
Chevy's is called a "Double Cab" and Ram's is called a "Quad Cab. More detailed information and images are below.
Crew Cab
And then there's the crew cab. With four full-sized doors and ample back-seat space and plenty of leg room, you can bring the whole crew along. The crew cab is the most popular cab on new trucks.
Typically, but not always, the crew cab will come with a shorter bed, especially on smaller trucks like the Tacoma, Frontier and Ranger.
How Cab Sizes Differ by Make
Now that we’ve tackled the basics, let's get into the nitty-gritty. Cab sizes vary significantly across different pickup truck brands. Let's explore the offerings from the big names like Ford, Chevrolet, and Ram. Buckle up!
Ford Trucks
It seems each manufacturer has to have their own unique name for their cabs. For Ford, a regular cab is still a regular cab but Ford calls the extended cab a "SuperCab", and the Ford crew cab is called "SuperCrew." The SuperCab offers rear-hinged doors, while the SuperCrew boasts four, full-sized doors and a roomy rear bench. If you're considering the F-150, F-250, 350 or 450 be aware of the cab you have when you are buying accessories for your truck. As mentioned earlier, cab size often dictates bed size.
Chevy/GMC Trucks
The Silverado and Sierra 1500 and some HD's comes in regular, Double cab (Chevy's name for extended cab), and crew cabs. Double cabs are tricky, because they look like regular doors, but they are slightly smaller by about a foot. The easy way to tell, is to just sit in the back seat where the legroom will be cramped. Or see it next to a truck with the crew cab. The crew cab has four, full-sized doors, with plenty of legroom in the back seat.
The Canyon and Colorado (pictured here) almost always come with a crew cab on current models.
Ram Trucks
The two-door Ram regular cab is straightforward, while the Quad Cab, Ram's name for the extended cab (pictured here) adds extra room with rear doors, that, like the Chevy, are smaller than the crew cab doors. Again, legroom will be cramped in the back seat, and often the Quad Cab door handles will look different. The Crew Cab, like the other brands, is the Big Daddy—four, full-sized doors, spacious enough for comfort on long hauls or off-road excursions.
Which Cab Size Do I Have?
Check the Doors
Start with the obvious—count the number of doors. Two doors typically mean a regular cab, while four denote an extended or crew cab. Check if the rear doors are slightly smaller than the front doors. In older model trucks, the rear doors of an extended cab my be front-hinged and 'swing out' rather than open like normal doors. Four full-size doors, with a rear seat that has comfortable leg room, is most likely a crew cab.
If you are still wondering what size cab you have, swing by Pickup Outfitters, 4535 W. Waco Drive in Waco and we will identify it for you.
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