Pickup Truck Box Configurations

2012 GMC Sierra 2500HD General Motors pickup truck. Isolated on white background with clipping path.
Oleksiy Maksymenko / Getty Images
01
of 08

Toyota Truck Stepside Box

An older style Toyota Tundra Access Cab is shown on this page and the next, but with different box styles. The truck above is fitted with a step side box, which has visible external flares to accommodate the rear wheels. Putting the flares on the exterior of the box allows straight sides along all sides of the truck bed's interior.

02
of 08

Toyota Pickup Truck with Typical Box

The Tundra Access Cab above looks quite a bit different than the truck on the previous page because it has typical straight fenders on the exterior of the rear box. This type of bed has an arched area on each side of the bed, just inside the fender, to accommodate the wheels.

Long items won't fit in front of and behind the arches since the arches take up a portion of the bed's side walls.

03
of 08

Stepside Box on Toyota Tacoma Pickup Truck

Here's another Stepside box, this one on a 2002 Toyota Tacoma.

As you shop for trucks, you'll find that manufacturers often use different names to designate their pickup truck box styles.

04
of 08

Nissan's Version of a Truck Stepside Box

Nissan's version of a step side box, shown here on the full-size Titan pickup truck.

05
of 08

Ford's Pickup Truck Styleside Box

Ford calls its typical truck box with straight fenders a Styleside. The company refers to its step side boxes as Flaresides.

06
of 08

Inside a Typical Truck Bed

You can see one of the arched areas reserved for wheel access on the right side of this photo of a truck with a typical box with straight fenders.

07
of 08

Truck Factory Bedliner & Tie Downs

This Nissan Titan has a factory bed liner and factory tie down system. The curved bars are part of the truck's cargo retainer.

Another thing to consider when you're shopping for a truck is the length of the bed. Pickup trucks are available in a variety of bed lengths, ranging from about 5 ft. to 8 ft. long.

You'll need a long bed truck to haul building supplies or other cargo of significant length. If you haul heavy and bulky items you can get by with a shorter bed, but you'll need a truck that will handle the weight.

08
of 08

SSR's Sporty Stepside Bed

The Chevy SSR roadster pickup has a sporty step side bed topped by a rigid bedcover. Chevy only kept the SSR truck in its lineup for a couple of years.