Why all the long beds?

I was in a similar boat to your father...I wouldn't have purchased anything smaller than the 8ft bed. In 2024, options were limited to Ram 1500+, Chevy 2500+, Ford F-250+, and Tundra unicorns.

What I learned about Tundra: the 8ft bed option was significantly more common in the Southern US. If you're in other parts of the US, good luck. My "local" dealer lied to me and told me they had one, so when I drove the 30ish miles to test drive it and it wasn't there I wasn't happy. They ran a ground search and only found 2 in Ohio (1 sold before it even hit the lot), one in Eastern KY, and the next closest one was in Missouri. I drove ultimately drove 3 hours to buy the 2nd one in Ohio...it was only on the lot 2 days by the time I got to it.

 

I don't own a third gen, but if I were to buy one it would need to be the longer bed since I use it to carry the ATV in for service and I don't want the weight of it on the tailgate! I am sure there are many reasons why people would want the longer bed, but that is mine.