DavidP

Looked at this truck today. No interested in it, but here is the info: 📸 Look at this post on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/share/MHJBW5zxAZEssibb/?mibextid=79PoIi

RPSinc, I think you have summed it up best "If you are looking at this from the standpoint of enjoying your full time journey, the HDT is a great fit. " I don't need an HDT, but I do think it would be more enjoyable. Less stressful from a safety stand point, hopefully able to travel longer than 4-5 hours and not be as painful, more storage space/reduce weight on the RV. Thinking about the issues with using it for a daily driver, we are considering a Smart car. I have not had a car for over 20 years, so it would take getting used to. We will try to find one in our travels to test drive. Assuming with a smart car an HDT would be about 30' long. Is that about right? Thanks, David

Ray,IN I agree and a great suggestion, it would be cheaper to put an air ride seat in my F350 and we are giving that a serious look. Considering the HDT for not only a more comfortable ride, but also for all the other reasons. Safety being top of the list. We recently did our first 8% grade for 4.5 miles at 35 mph. The truck did it. The exhaust brake did most of the work, but I could not help but think what would happen if the trailer brakes had failed. There is no way I could have stopped with just the truck brakes. We plan on spending a lot of time next year out west. Assuming we will see more 8-10% grades and longer. We had to do a sudden stop at an intersection with a light that turned red that we did not know was there until we came around a corner. Got it stopped, but the trailer did push us about 10 feet past the stop line. The additional storage we could have with an HDT would be great to remove some weight from the trailer. We are full time. Sold our house and have a small storage unit. So we most likely carry a little more than someone not full time. We are right at 25% for our pin weight. Had it weighed at a rally and everything is within the limits, just close to max with some. The extended range with larger fuel tanks would also be nice. We are now considering a smart car. If an HDT rode no better or worse than my truck, we would not be considering it. So that was really our first question and everyone has helped us understand it might. With the right truck and new seat, it could be a more comfortable ride. Climbing in and out would not be an issue. We do need to get to a rally and have a lot more to learn. Really appreciate all the help we are getting from everyone on this forum. It really gives us a lot of great information to think about. David

Rickeieio, We are domiciled in Sioux Falls, SD. Will try to attend one or more of the HDT rally's. I do not have a CDL, so how do I go about riding in different HDT's? Assuming a rally might be the only place if someone would be will to take us for a ride. I am the only driver for our dually, so would be the same for the HDT. Mike5511, Thought Smart Cars might start to be hard to find or maintain since it has been a while since new ones were available. Carrying a two door jeep would be great, but a long rig, higher cost and I would need to get a jeep. Thought a mid roof Volvo singled short would be be a good option for us, but really need to attend a rally and learn more.

Thank to everyone. Appreciate all the great information. A lot to think about.

Rod, Great point on the short trips. To some degree it is an issue with our F350 6.7. About how long does it take to warm up if you are not towing? Our F350 seems to get up to operating temps in 15 - 30 mins. Would a block heater help with how long it takes to warm up? My LGT sucks turning - lol. Takes 2 1/2+ lanes for a u-turn. Thank you, this is exactly the feedback I was looking for.

Considering an HDT. A little background… We are full time moving about 4 – 6 hours every 1-3 weeks as we travel across the country. We have a 38’ 5th wheel with a GVWR of 16,500. Loaded it is about 16K with a pin weight of 4,000 lbs. We have a 2022 F350 dually. Considering an HDT for all the safety reasons, although the F350 is well within its limits. No plan to upgrade to a larger 5th wheel. But… I have lower back issues. After 3-4 hours in the F350 it is very painful. Seeing many comments about the HDT being much more comfortable than our F350. That along with all the other benefits of an HDT has us considering it. An HDT would be our daily driver. A short mid roof HDT 2’ – 3’ longer than the pickup would seem like a good fit for us. Are the short wheelbase HDT’s still more comfortable than the pickup? Is the difference in ride comfort in an HDT that much better than an F350?