In the past I have spoken about how there are certain assumptions that people have about rednecks or country folks and one of those things is that just because I am a redneck that I am somehow obligated to own a pickup truck.
I'm going to go ahead and agree with this stereotype and say that for the most part, yes, we do own pickup trucks but not because we feel compelled by some sort of social stigma to do so.
Now before anyone goes too far I'm gonna get out there and say that very few of the people that I know have lift-kits on their trucks and those that do have them are very aware of how impractical and kind of useless they are. I don't know how this trend got started but I suspect monster-truck rallies had something to do with it. These are dangerous and impractical because they do pose a much higher flip risk than standard tires and depending on the size of the engine, having tires like this might actually INCREASE how likely it is you are to get stuck in the mud.
You see, if you put big-ass tires on a standard engine pickup, the engine how has to work twice as hard just to get the thing moving. Put it into a situation wish some off-road stuff like mud, and there is a good chance you are going to break something because the engine simply isn't powerful enough to handle something like that.
Most of the people I know have pickup trucks for very different reasons and I think a lot of this should be obvious.
I work in construction so obviously this was going to be the vehicle of choice for me. But I also know a bunch of people that don't work in a related industry and they also have trucks. The reason being the simplicity of how much stuff you can carry with you.
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Just because it is possible doesn't make it a good idea
When I go and do stuff with friends it is just wonderful to be able to toss everything in the back of the truck and be on my way without any concern of damaging the upholstery. Try doing that in the back of an Escalade! It also makes taking my dogs with me easy as pie. They are so used to riding in the back of the truck that sometimes I will be heading somewhere and one of them hitches a ride without my permission. This never causes problems except on really hot days where I now have to put them in the front with the air con running because it is too hot for them to just sit in the black tray for an hour while I go shopping at Wal-Mart.
Another benefit of pickup trucks is that, according to my friend the mechanic, they are a lot easier to work on than conventional vehicles. They tend to have a lot more space under the hood and unless you opted for it (you fool!) not a lot of the truck's inner workings are controlled by computers.
I suppose if there was one downside to owning a truck it would be the potential for fish-tailing in the snow, ice, or even rain, and also the fact that new tires for them can be expensive. Are they fuel-efficient? Well that kind of depends on which kind you have but for the most part, no, no they are not.
I like my pickup truck and I always have. It was a bit of a thorn in my side when I was in college because I was constantly being asked to help people move to a new apartment. That just comes with the territory I guess and it helped to keep me in reasonable shape.
So do rednecks prefer pickup trucks? Yes we do and we likely always will. I don't see anyone talking about electric pickup trucks and I think we as a people would be really apprehensive to get involved in such a thing. Ya'll can keep that stuff in the city all that you want.
I'll drive a pickup truck until I no longer drive. To me, it just makes sense as a vehicle. So go ahead and call me a redneck if you want to. I wear that badge with pride.