Yeah, and I'd absolutely buy a smaller truck for what I need, but it's dang near the same price to just by a half ton.....

Yep, that's always the rational counter argument. There's a diminishing return in cost savings from downsizing, because the only real savings is a small quantity of materials. They have all the same features and complexity, just at a smaller scale, so the price difference is small and that leads many to chose the bigger truck, which benefits in pricing from economies of scale of production from a pricing standpoint.

They need to offer a simpler value truck, but then many customers whine that they lack features and comforts.