10 Gift Ideas for Pickup Truck Owners
By Bob Carpenter
Picking out a holiday gift for your pickup-truck-loving spouse, sibling or friend can be a daunting task. How do you choose something for someone who is so selective about their ride? The trick is to get something that isn't too expensive or complicated like a 4-inch suspension lift kit. Here's some advice: get things like floormats, cab organizers or a belt buckle. Our money is definitely on the belt buckle. No matter what your preference, we want to help. That's why we've put together some simple ideas to help with the decision-making process. Good luck and happy holidays.
1. Pow, Pow, Power Wheels!
The highly anticipated 2015 Ford F-150 is poised to win over a lot of shoppers. Now even the littlest truck lovers can have a new F-150. Ford and Fisher-Price have designed a ride-on toy inspired by the new F-150. This is the third generation of ride-on F-150 toys and surely the best ever. And we know it's strong. Get one for a truck-lover's kid and you will be a hero.
2. Cool It, Warm it
Every pickup owner that takes a long road trip knows what a pain an ice chest is for storing cold sodas and sandwiches. Ditch the ice bucket and go with a 12-volt cooler/warmer from RoadPro. This one, model RPAT-788, holds nine 12-ounce soda cans at 25 degrees below ambient temperature (or warms your stuff to 50 degrees above ambient temperature).
3. No Mud Here
If your gift recipient has a penchant for getting the truck into the mud once in awhile, these WeatherBeater floormats from Husky Liners would be a perfect gift. They're laser designed, so they fit perfectly, stay put, won't crack and get the mud off your shoes and keep it off the carpet. The material is also resistant to chemicals.
4. Ornamental Orientation
Putting a custom hood ornament on your Ram pickup would certainly set you apart, right? So, giving a ram's head ornament from Gem Collectibles seems like a really good idea to us! You can get the ram's head in either silver or gold, and you even have the option of one with lighted eyes. Even if they don't put it on their truck, there's no doubt they'll find someplace for it.
5. Tailgate Assist
You know how awkward it is to control the massive tailgates on pickup trucks, so why not give a DeeZee Tailgate Assist as a gift? The Tailgate Assist is a shock that safely controls the drop of the truck's tailgate. You can open the tailgate with a single feature and avoid the bone-jarring thud as it slams down. It works in conjunction with factory cables; no drilling required and all hardware is included.
6. Honk If You …
You've seen (or more likely heard) those train horns that all the big heavy-duty truck owners have, right? Well, there's a lot of wiring, hoses and money involved with those things. Here's a clever alternative: The Bad Boy horn from Wolo is a self-contained unit (no separate air compressor or tanks required) that can blow a whopping 118 decibels. This will make a truck owner happy that everyone can hear them.
7. Dress For Success
The Buckles of Estes belt buckle store in Estes, Colo., also has a website where you can find a belt buckle for any pickup lover. There's Chevy, Ford and Ram buckles in a variety of designs. Plus, there are belts made with seat belt buckles and designs that have state flags, guns, wildlife and more. You're sure to find something for the "truck guy."
8. Detail Oriented
Detailing a pickup truck can be quite personal for some truck owners, and the products they use, in some cases, are chosen out of habit. That's why you should give your pickup owner a new Mothers California Gold Clay Bar system. Professional detailers understand how a clay bar removes all the bad stuff (like tree sap, overspray, embedded grains of metal and more) without being too aggressive or hurting the paint. Why not shake things up a bit for your truck lover?
9. Safety First
Let's face it, the typical pickup owner isn't going to take the time or spend the money to get a top-rate first-aid kit for their truck. That's where you come in. Every truck should have a first-aid kit, and once you get one for the pickup owner in your life, they'll appreciate your concern and thoughtfulness. You can choose from a wide variety at Wal-Mart, Target, Cabela's and CVS Pharmacy.
10. Heated Blanket
If you are the kind of passenger that is always cold on road trips, here's a gift idea: Get a 12-volt heated blanket for the pickup lover in your life and tell them it's an emergency blanket. Then you can use it all you want. It's pretty sneaky, but who wants to be cold all the time? You can get 12-volt heated blankets at any number of retail or web outlets like Macy's, Amazon or J.C. Whitney.
Comments
None of those would beat being given a brand new pickup!
Gas card. Tires. Brush Guard, Winch, etc..
Love the new Ford Plug In Hybrid F-150!
I installed the DeeZee tailgate assist on my pickup about a year ago and still works perfect. Best bang for the buck at under $30.
Those are some good suggestions. I almost bought the power wheels f150 for my son, but I went with the 100 dollars less dune buggy model that was just as good. I think some of those aftermarket horns are illegal.
Surprised PUTC is now promoting train horns when just a little bit ago they got mad about at smoke stacks.
@Bob Carpenter, Stop being obnoxious b/c it makes us all look like crap when you blow your train horn. 118 decibels is way over what you need to be safe.
Even at the 110 decibel level, train horns remain quite loud, roughly equivalent to a close crack of thunder or hammering on a steel plate.
And while all the trains measured by The Star remained under that ceiling while 100 feet away — the federal standard — horn volumes increased as the trains got closer. In Parkville, one train horn hit 119 decibels as it passed the meter; the other registered 113 decibels.
“It’s absurd,” said Ted Rueter of a New York-based group called Noise Free America, which wants the railroad administration to reconsider its horn regulations. “They could cut the loudness by a third, by two-thirds, and it would still be plenty loud.”
Some experts say unwanted noise, particularly at night, can cause headaches, loss of productivity, accidents and other problems, although precisely calculating those effects can be difficult.
Health and nuisance concerns continue to prompt residents in dozens of communities to battle train horn noise. Some residents in Shawnee, for example, are locked in a dispute with the city and BNSF about train horn noise at a rural crossing homeowners say has been abandoned.
http://www.noisefree.org/newsroom/nfa-display.php?id=224
Nice list. I want three things on the list. With the Ram's head now on the front of the grill I can mount this Ram ornament on the hood. I need to add those floor mats. Recent trip to the snow left me with shampooing the carpet. Train horn would be good while towing since people think that long on ramp is for observing the flowers on the side of the road. Getting on the highway at 40 MPH right in front of my truck with trailer in tow. Have not tried my P.A. yet. Tried the clay bar. Works real well. Makes the paint real slick. Thanks for the tips. Merry Christmas.
Train horn would be good while towing
Posted by: HEMI V8 | Dec 21, 2014 12:56:55 PM
I agree!
Haha!!! I put hat Ram on my hood of the Powerwagon. And you wouldn't believe how many compliments I got because of it.
The Best of Train Horn Pranks
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icnRMW6P9nc
Actually not a horrible list, though some are silly or just absurd. I'd like to know more about that organizer in the first picture but apparently Power Wheels are more useful. Who needs cab storage when you can run over all your toys on the front lawn instead?
I'd have to put that ram ornament on my toilet. But then again it would just be a constant reminder of that P.O.S ram had had to put up with for 2yrs. Just flush it!!
Wouldn't it be great if Santa could bring 50hp to all the 5.3 GM owners!
Would be great if they had a variable resistor to let you keep it to the noise level needed under different circumstances.
How about any kind of an award for Ford's new F150 so We don't have to hear their fanboys whine about getting beat out by a midsize truck for eternity. Maybe a better looking front grille so it doesn't look so much like the Tundra would be nice too.
That 12 volt cooler is a POS joke that doesn't cool at all,don't get fooled into buying that !
For genuine cooler that freezes stuff see Engel coolers..
still it shouldn't be turned on when your engine isn't running otherwise you'll kill the battery,,
@Rolling Can of Beer--No but a 5 hp Shop Vac with all the attachments should do the job.
Probably the best item listed is the one that's shown but not listed. Anyone--and I do mean anyone--with a standard-cab pickup needs that behind-the-seat rack for carrying 'stuff' in the cab without it getting lost under the seat or rolling out under your feet as you slam on the brakes. Even if your 'stuff' doesn't move around a lot, it still makes storing it much easier and less likely to get lost, forcing you to crawl all around your cab trying to find it.
Something similar for those extended cab drivers could be equally useful, especially if it offers a truly flat lid that's strong enough to let you put heavy objects on top of it (like 90# of bowling balls in their 2- or 3-ball rollers).
@Jim: If anything, train horns need to be louder, not softer. The vast majority of accidents involving cars on the track are due to drivers A: Not hearing the horn due to playing their radio too loud, and B: Ignoring all railroad safety and warning signals, both audible and visual.
It's either that, or do like many emergency services are wanting which is suppressing all automotive audio system volumes when emergency vehicles are nearby with their sirens on.
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