Today was our last full day of testing for the 2009 Pickup Truck of the Year competition and as we came off the trail after some exceptional days spent in the dirt, I took a quick inventory of what the new '09s look like after being put through thier paces.  

Hampered by low ground clearance, the otherwise exceptional Dodge Ram sustained the most damage, starting with a reshaped front bumper and ending with a bluntly seperated air dam on the very first day of testing. Day 2 brought about some further misalignmnet of the bumper to the rest of the body, and the difficulties of Day 3 showed up as some rock rash on the rocker at the rear of the cab on the passenger side.

The Suzuki Equator had some shocking bed to cab interference, almost resulting in a puncture of the sheet metal. This type of damage is something we have ever seen before on its Nissan counterparts and is very surprising.

Ford's big F-150 and Hummer's purposeful H3T both sustained minimal damage, including a massaged crossmember on the Ford and a popped out fender flare on the H3.

All in all, this is one of the strongest PTOTY fields in years, and as of now a clear winner has yet to emerge.

--Sean P. Holman
Tech Editor - Four Wheeler Magazine