Tools of the Trade: Tool Tests and Reviews

Tools Up Close: Erecta-Rack Drying Rack

Fri, 25 Jan 2013 12:15:15 EST

Erecta-Rack consists of 40-inch steel cross bars that snap into plastic support blocks, which stack and snap together like Lego blocks. As the rack goes up, the individual sections begin to resemble ladders, with towers of blocks for the sides and cross bars for the rungs. It's designed to be assembled as you go: Set up one level of the rack, fill it with freshly painted material, add another level, and so on.

Truck Report 2010

Thu, 10 Jan 2013 03:50:15 EST

To say 2009 was a tough year for auto-makers would be something of an understatement. But you could also say it was a very good year for truck buyers who managed to stay in the market. When the construction industry went into a skid, prices for pickups and other work vehicles plummeted, and nearly all vehicle sales came to a dead stop at the deepest point of the recession. Pickup buyers could just about name their price as dealers desperate to move inventory advertised sales up to half off.

2010 Editor's Choice: Ford Transit Connect Work Van

Tue, 15 Jan 2013 12:37:45 EST

Ford introduced a welcome sense of practicality to the industry when it brought the Transit Connect work van to the U.S. from Europe, where it has been popular since 2002.

Truckin' Around: Electric GEMs

Mon, 14 Jan 2013 12:13:48 EST

Global Electric Motorcars, or GEM vehicles (a Chrysler company), are finding buyers among builders because they offer a low-cost, low-maintenance, electric-powered alternative to conventional pickup trucks. These DC-powered vehicles plug into standard AC outlets, charge in less than eight hours, and have a range of up to 30 miles at maximum speed.

Stretch Pickups

Tue, 15 Jan 2013 10:24:11 EST

Since the dawn of crew cab pickups, manufacturers have created ever larger, more luxurious passenger compartments. Now an aftermarket upfitter has topped them all with its own 6-door, 9-passenger custom stretch pickup trucks.

Transit Connect from Ford

Tue, 15 Jan 2013 10:24:08 EST

The Ford Motor Co. finally has taken the wraps off the Transit Connect, its much-anticipated import tradesman/delivery van. The carlike van, built in Turkey and sold throughout Europe as a commercial vehicle, will be marketed here as a more compact, economical alternative to the manufacturer's E-Series vans.

2009 Editors' Choice: Muck-Truck Mini Dumper

Tue, 15 Jan 2013 09:45:00 EST

Packing the utility of a dump truck into a compact size suitable for the jobsite, the Muck-truck is a pink slip for your wobbly wheelbarrow.

2009 Editors' Choice: Base Mate Ladder Stabilizer

Tue, 15 Jan 2013 09:44:48 EST

Say goodbye to unstable ladders teetering on uneven terrain.

2009 Editors' Choice: Ridge Runner Truss Platform

Tue, 15 Jan 2013 09:44:35 EST

Being a ridge man on a truss crew is the framer's equivalent of a spacewalk.

No Rust, No Worries, Mate

Tue, 5 Feb 2013 01:43:04 EST

In Australia, a Ute is a pickup truck, but they don't look like our pickups,' says Randy Cryer, who lived there for a time and discovered that most Australians drive trucks with shiny, all-aluminum aftermarket pickup beds instead of 'factory tubs.'