Does bed length matter?
 

Looking for newer F-250 or Chevy 2500 diesel tow vehicle that will be a everyday driver. I need 4 door super cab. I would like to go with the shorter bed. I know the longer the wheelbase the more stable to towing platform is but will the short bed work ok on a 10k boat. I like the looks of the short bed and would prefer the rear of the truck to only hang out 2 ft intead of 3 1/2 ft in the average parking lot.

Short bed is fine on those trucks towing that weight.

10K lbs. total towed load...
or
...just a 10K lbs. boat?
(10K lbs. boat is probably 13-14K lbs. on the trailer with fuel, gear, etc. etc.)
BIG difference!!

You will DEFINITELY notice a difference in towing this kind of load with different wheelbase trucks. Longer is definitely better, but look in the Fountain session and you will see a 47' being towed with the a short-bed/cc/SRW.

A Weight Distributing hitch potentially could be beneficial for your future setup, but it needs to be configured properly. There is no substitute for wheelbase though.

Personally, now having a Long-Bed after having a Short-Bed; I'll never own a Short-Bed for my primary tow vehicle again. When I gear up for a long weekend/road trip I usually have an extra tire or two in the bed, 2 tool boxes, coolers, luggage, maybe a mountain bike, five-gallon buckets for washing, etc. etc. I can pack my 8' bed extremely tight (assuming no cap, just a tonneau cover).

For a daily driver get the short box!!!!!!

I tow 8500 with my short bed Chevy Duramax crew cab. Stable as can be with tons of power.

I`ll agree with Longwayz, until you go from a short wheel base to a long wheel base you can`t really appreciate the difference.
My wife drives our long bed dually , she don`t find the extra length bothersome at all, as a matter of fact she loves my extra length:drink:

Knew you would go down that road good job, rock on Beavis

I drive a single cab long bed dually (short wheel base dually), goosenecks up to 20k (trailer and load) are heavy but within the limit of being safe. A 15k+ tag on the otherhand that starts to yank the truck around more than I like and often wish I hade some extra wheelbase

This one is for you Voododo ROB!
 

So what you`re saying is you wish you had some extra length??

I have had both and they both tow fine, my biggest reason for getting the long bed is on a ford it has a larger fuel tank