All The Different Types Of Pickup Truck Cabs [Complete Guide]

Have you ever wondered what all the different types of truck cabs mean? Every manufacturer seems to call them something different, but they all essentially have the same setup, regardless of what they are called.

In the end, trucks will have a regular cab (which is the two door), extended cab (which is 2 doors, plus 2 half doors), and then the crew cab (which is 4 full size doors). Each of these types of door styles cater to a different audience, whether it be families, all the way to being meant for a work truck.

It should also be mentioned, that not every cab variant can be paired with ever bed length, so I will be trying to let you know which cab, can have which bed size.

Regular Cab

This style of pickup truck is called the regular cab. Nowadays you don’t see these style of cabs often, as pickups are more and more becoming a family vehicle, and this doesn’t cater well to that.

The regular cab uses only 2 doors, and is generally paired with a long bed. Because of this configuration, it is perfect to be used as a work truck. You will tend to find these trucks used by construction companies, or service based businesses.

I have found that many of these trucks are bare bones, and tend to not even have four wheel drive.

• Ford – This manufacturer does refer to this cab size as the regular cab as it is commonly known. Due to the size of this cab, you can only have the 6 ½’ bed, and the 9’ bed. The 5 ½’ bed is not available for the regular cab. This is more than likely due to the length of the frame, as well as work trucks tend to need to be longer for usability, so wouldn’t be a popular choice. In the past, Ford has actually included small tiny doors on this variant, however there wasn’t any passenger room in the back, it just allowed for quick access.
• Ram – The newest 5th generation Ram 1500 does not have this 2 door standard cab available at this time.
• Toyota – Due to the lack of popularity, Toyota dropped the regular cab variant of their truck in 2017. It hasn’t come back since, and there isn’t an ETA as to when it will come back.
• Chevrolet/GMC – Much like Ford, Chevy and GMC are able to have this work truck style regular cab variant. However they do follow the standard naming scheme, so this is called the regular cab. It can be purchased with only the long bed however, and that is 98.18” long. 
• Nissan – The Titan does not offer a standard cab design at this time.

Extended Cab

The extended cab variant of pickup trucks add two smaller doors behind the front main doors. This allows for some seats in the back of the truck for passengers to use. Because of the size though, these aren’t great for long road trips (some of them can be though), because the legroom isn’t exactly awesome.

Most of the time, these doors will also open from the rear, instead of the front, and the handle will actually be on the inside of the door. This means the back doors can only be opened when the front doors are as well.

One manufacturer that did this a little bit different, is Dodge. They have an extended cab, that kinda disguises itself as a crew cab.

This type of cab would probably work best for those that want to be able to have people in the back every once in a while, but may not need to have quite as large of a truck. It also could be used as a work truck that may need to take 4 or so people to and from a job size.

• Ford – Ford likes to refer to their extended cab variant as the Super Cab. With this version, you can actually have all three lengths of beds, however the only truck you can have the 5 ½’ bed with is the Raptor. This is because the Raptor needs to have the better approach and departure angles for off-roading.
• Ram – This version of the Ram 1500 is available by being called the quad cab. This used to be the largest version of the cab, until the crew cab that will be talked about later became available. This truck has standard swinging doors in the back, they are just a bit shorter than the crew cab. This version of the cab can only be purchased with the 6’ 4” bed.
• Toyota – For the Toyota Tundra, they called this variant the double cab. It has a door handle on the rear of the door, except it is built into the side, instead of being a standard handle. It is a shorter rear door though, and doesn’t have as much interior room as the Crewmax we will learn about later. The Double Cab can have either a 6.5’ foot bed, or an 8.1’ bed.
• Chevrolet/GMC – The Double cab by Chevy and GMC has shorter, but standard style doors, that you would be hard to notice the difference between this, and the crew cab version. It is able to be purchased in only the standard bed variant that is 79.44” long.
• Nissan – This manufacturer likes to call their extended cab version the King Cab, this has the backwards half doors in the back, and is only available with the 6.5’ bed in the back.

Crew Cab

This is the largest of the 3 different types of cabs. Much like the name would imply, it is meant to carry the whole crew. Now days, this is also what families tend to purchase, that will used as their daily driver, and a replacement for an SUV or sedan.

This will have 4 full size doors, and will generally be paired with a shorter bed, due to it being more specific to carrying people, rather than stuff in the bed.

All 4 doors will open the same, with door handles on the rear, and hinges on the front. They can all open individually like you would expect from a normal car.

• Ford – With this size of cab, which allows for more people, Ford refers to it as their Supercrew Cab. You are able to option your truck with only the 2 smaller bed options (5 ½’, and 6 ½’), due to the frame length the 8’ long bed would be too large.
• Ram – This new 5th generation Ram 1500 is available with the crew cab, this can be purchased with either the 5’ 7” bed, or the longer 6’ 4” bed.
• Toyota – The Toyota Tundra has the Crewmax version of their truck, and this is basically a crew cab. It has 4 full size doors, and the maximum amount of room in the back. This version of the truck can only come with a 5.5′ bed, with no other bed length options. These trucks really tend to hold their value.
• Chevrolet/GMC – As always, this is the largest version of GM trucks size. It has 4 completely full size doors, that all work the same way. It can be purchased with two different bed sizes! The Standard 79.44” bed, and the short bed, which is 69.92” long.
• Nissan – Unlike the King Cab, Nissan has followed the standard naming scheme, and refers to this variant as the crew cab. It is only available with the 5.5’ bed at the moment.

Conclusion

All of these trucks tend to have different combinations of bed length, and cab size. Some can have one, others can have another. However I hope now you know what you can expect when shopping different cabin sizes by each manufacturer!

I have found though, that it seems the Ford F-150 seems to have the most options in this department. I’m sure that is because it is also the most sold vehicle in the USA right now, so they can afford to have the options available, and still make them profitable.
Do you own one of these trucks, and want to make money? Here are some ideas for you.