What is the Anatomy of a Pickup Truck?

I have spent time around pickup trucks from as young as I can remember so I take for granted knowing the different parts of what make up a pickup truck. I realized, however, that clearly identifying the parts of a pickup can help to better understand the words being thrown around to describe them.

What is the anatomy of a pickup truck? The main sections of a pickup include the bed, the cab, and the front end that all sit on the chassis. Each of these sections all contain many more parts that make up the pickup’s anatomy.

Although every pickup truck year, make, and model will have differences, lets take a closer look at the common parts that make up the main sections on most pickup trucks.

The Pickup Bed – Begin With the End in Mind

When it comes to what makes a pickup truck, well, a pickup, the big open cargo box or hauling surface that sits on the back of the truck behind the cab is the number one thing that makes it a pickup. Although the exact origins of the word “pickup” are not known, it is very fitting as the bed of a pickup allow you to “pick up” and haul cargo of just about any sort, shape, and size (well almost). This is where the work takes place.

There are three main pickup truck bed types, the regular box like bed with sides walls & a tailgate, flatbeds that are a flat surface with no walls on any side, and utility beds. Of course there are many variations of all of these types of beds, but for the sake of simplicity, just think about it as the standard pickup box, the flatbed, and the utility bed.

All pickup beds, regardless of the type, will contain a set of tail lights at the rear corners. Each of these lights will contain a brake light, turn signals or blinkers, reverse lights, and tail lights that turn on when the parking lights or headlights are turned on.

There will also be a rear bumper under the back of pickup beds, unless removed, that is attached to the pickup frame or chassis.

Standard Pickup Box Bed

A standard pickup box has a flat floor (except for humps for the wheel wells) with walls all the way around, making it like a box with an open top. The top of the sidewalls have reinforced railing known as bed rails that can support weight to install many different accessories like caps & covers to close in the box bed (See my article on keeping things dry in the bed of your truck here), racks for hauling larger & longer items, etc.

The walls of a pickup box bed help contain the cargo within so it doesn’t just fall off onto the road. The standard box bed also has a tailgate for the back wall of the bed that is hinged at the bottom to fold down and provide access into the pickup bed. When closed, it latches shut and many can be locked to keep your bed secure when it has a camper shell or tonneau cover installed on top. The front wall next to the cab is often called a bulkhead.

Most newer pickup box beds have solid round loops for tie down points in the corners to attach rope or ratchet straps to. This allows you to tie down and secure the cargo you haul in the pickup bed whether it be a motorcycle, ATV, your refrigerator during your move, or your load of lumber for your next project. You get the picture.

The inside of pickup box beds often come from the factory with just a painted surface. As you can imagine, when the bed gets used, this paint can get scratched up pretty good so many beds will have a bed liner added to them. A bed liner protect the bed from being dinged or scratched up and keeps it looking nice for years to come. See my article on how to protect the bed of a truck here.

The Pickup Truck Flatbed

Some pickup truck owners will replace their standard pickup box bed with a flatbed. A flatbed is just that, a completely flat surface with no humps for wheel wells and with no bulkhead, bed walls, or tailgate. This allows for cargo to be easily loaded from the sides or back with a forklift or other equipment without bed walls getting in the way.

Flatbeds are very popular for commercial workers as well as farmers and ranchers. Commercial workers will often mount welders and other equipment on their flatbed. Farmers & Ranchers like to haul large bales of hay for feeding their livestock.

The Pickup Truck Utility Bed

Pickup truck utility beds are custom beds that contain an assortment of lockable storage boxes on either side of the bed. These boxes usually take up a lot of space on either side of the bed and leave a skinny flat space in the middle for hauling miscellaneous items.

Utility beds are used a lot by commercial contractors and construction workers as they can haul their tools around with them in an organized manner. They can also keep their tools secured in the lockable storage boxes.

The Pickup Truck Cabin or Cab

Just in front of the pickup truck bed, is the cabin or cab. This is the portion of the pickup that carries the driver of the pickup and any passengers.

Pickup cabs come in single cab (one full size row of seating), extended cab (2 rows of seating, front row is full size, back row is not full size), and crew cab (2 full size rows of seating) configurations.

A cab consists of a shell, enclosed by a roof and side doors (anywhere from 2 to 4 doors), windows on all 4 sides, and typical vehicle interior parts such as seats, dashboard, instrument cluster, climate controls, driving controls (steering wheel, shifter, pedals, etc.), etc. The cab can be very plain & basic on low trim level pickup’s and very fancy & comfortable on top of the line models.

Pickup trucks usually sit higher than normal cars so they are often equipped with running boards or side steps below the doors. This can make it much easier to get in and out of your pickup truck. See my article on running boards here.

There will also be a set of side view mirrors attached to the front doors. Many pickup trucks will be equipped with over-sized towing mirrors to be able to see around the wide trailers they often tow. See my article on why to use towing mirrors here.

The Pickup Truck Front End

The pickup truck front end is the last section of the truck that is visual and can be seen. The front end is everything you see in front of the base of the windshield past the front of the cab.

A pickup truck front end includes a hood (also known as an engine cover, or in the UK, a bonnet), front quarter panels or fenders, grill, headlights, parking lights, turn signal lights, and front bumper mounted to the frame or chassis.

There are many critical components housed under and within the front end of a pickup truck. Under the hood, you will find the engine, gas or diesel, that is the heart and muscle of any pickup to get the work done. Access to many other components and vital fluids can be found here too such as engine oil, transmission fluid, brake, fluid, power steering fluid, etc.

Behind the grill, you will find the radiator, air conditioning or a/c condensor, turbo intercooler (if equipped), and often the horns.

The front bumper sits under the grill and provides some protection to the front end of the pickup and the components behind the grill. For much better protection, a heavy duty steel custom front bumper can be helpful. See my article on “Why Do I Need a Custom Front Bumper?” found here.

The Pickup Truck Chassis and Running Gear

Under the pickup truck bed, cab, and front end, sits the chassis or frame as well as the running gear (suspension, axles, driveshafts, etc). This is the backbone of a pickup truck and is built more beefy than on a standard car to handle the load and demands that a pickup truck gets thrown at it.

The frame is usually like a ladder made of tow large and heavy rails running the length of the truck and connected with cross members (like the rungs on a ladder). The suspensions components are attached to this frame and the body of the pickup sits on top of this chassis.

Running gear refers to the drive shafts, axles, and springs. The running gear of a pickup truck is usually heavier duty than that of a normal car to handle a heavier load more safely.

Pickup trucks are generally two wheel drive or four wheel drive. In two wheel drive, they typically come in a rear wheel drive configuration. Four wheel drive trucks are usually rear wheel biased, meaning the rear wheels are the main drive wheels and the front wheels are only powered when the four wheel drive is engaged for added traction in snow and off road. Having a rear wheel drive bias is better for towing.

Although there is a lot more detail we could dive into, that gives you a pretty good overview of the anatomy of a pickup truck.