No, I’m not about to see if six pieces of luggage fit in a pickup bed. Besides the “duh” nature of such a test, there are issues with storing luggage in a pickup bed in the first place. Thieves for one, rain for another. Yes, yes, I know, “What about a tonneau cover?” Sure, you could get one of those, but most folks do not.
As such, let’s see how much fits in the Ranger SuperCrew’s back seat. And please, keep in mind these six-pieces of luggage (and this test in general) amounts to a comparative analog more than me literally finding out if I could bring along my specific six bags on vacation with me.
Here is the SuperCrew’s back seat. Though competitively spacious for a midsize pickup’s cab, there’s a problem: it only folds up in one solid piece. It’s not split as in most other trucks, meaning you can’t have someone sit back there while maximizing cargo space.
I know this from experience. I went to pick up my mother-in-law from the airport once using the Ranger only to discover she’d have to sit with a pair of suitcases looming next to her on the seat. And as we’re in Portland, it was raining, so no bed.
Folding down the seat doesn’t really do anything, either. It too is one solid piece, doesn’t fold flat and is rather unfinished. You’re better off keeping the back rest up and the seat down.
The amount of floor space you have to work with is also reduced due to this raised area, though there are at least these little bins that you could store something in.
OK, let’s keep the seats there and get to the packing. As in every luggage test I do, I use two midsize roller suitcases that would need to be checked in at the airport (26 inches long, 16 wide, 11 deep), two roll-aboard suitcases that just barely fit in the overhead (24L x 15W x 10D), and one smaller roll-aboard that fits easily (23L x 15W x 10D). I also include my wife’s fancy overnight bag just to spruce things up a bit (21L x 12W x 12D).
Everything fit, albeit barely. The driver seat is basically set for my 6-foot-3 self, but I had to scoot the passenger seat forward enough to fit the biggest bag on its belly. The fancy bag is also a bit precarious. But, this is still a lot of stuff in a not-so-big midsize pickup crew cab. Many crossovers can’t fit this much behind their raised back seats while maintaining rear visibility. Many car trunks can’t manage it, either.
Of course, they can still hold more than two people even if a bag or two has to stay behind. Let’s see how much the Ranger can manage if you allow for one person in the back seat.
Not a big difference, actually. All the bags minus the biggest one can fit, and you subtract the fancy bag, you can effectively give your rear passenger a big armrest.
There you have it. Admittedly, this was more of a curious, “Hey, why the hell not?” sort of scenario. It did underline the Ranger’s lack of a split back seat, but it also shows another benefit of getting the SuperCrew rather than the extended SuperCab.