LGT to HDT- Amount of time per travel day you drive your HDT

[remoandiris]

For anyone who has moved from an LGT to an HDT, do you drive more hours per day now?

 

HDT are supposed to be comfortable to drive for long hours. Have you found the HDT to be so much more comfy to drive that you are in the seat longer than in your LGT?

[chooseopen]

We are taking our first road trip (1300 miles RT) in our HDT this coming weekend. I can't wait to get a feel for this myself. I would imagine that the excitement of it all will keep me motivated the way there. We shall see how well I do driving back!

[Jack Mayer]

I don't really drive more miles unless I HAVE to. But the 250-300 I drive are certainly easier to handle than with my F550. Now that thing was a beast to ride in. The new Dodge 5500 properly outfitted is a nice ride, though. In relative terms. I do sometimes do a long day in the truck....long for me is 500 miles or so. I avoid that , but sometimes it has to be done. It is not a killer, but not pleasant, either.

 

The HDTs are great, but you are STILL sitting for all that time. We stop every two hours for some exercise and leg stretching.

[sclord2002]

Chooseopen, I still drive the same time/distance per day with my HDT as I did with my LGT.......a whopping 300 miles per day. That takes me about 6 hours. I know i couldn't make a living driving like that but I'm retired and that is what works for us. The time/distance goes by quicker with the HDT though. Be safe, Charlie

[Darryl&Rita]

Younger, and have done 900 mile days, when needed. Just did the same in early March with a Jeep Wrangler. Lot more fuel stops, lot less seat comfort, way worse sleeping accommodation. Not retired, yet.

[Alie&Jim's Carrilite]

We may be the abnormal here, but we have done 500-600 miles in a day. Usually work related, they ask can we relocate to ___ and be ready Monday morning and I usually say yes. With the large fuel tanks, not having to stop or plan stops is easier, having the fridge and microwave means Alie can bring premade meals for us. Easy to find a rest stop, warm up a meal, use the restroom and be back rolling. We bought our truck in Michigan, drove to Sioux Falls to get plates, then drove to south Texas. The leg from Sioux Falls south was done in 1 very long day, and 1 short day. 16-18 hours the first day? Something like that. We were bobtail though so I pushed along at 70+ with the normal traffic.

[billr]

Easier to drive and comfortable. We still try to stay under 6-7 hrs cause we can. Have a few 16hr days in the truck and felt pretty good No way in a pickup. It used to wear me out

 

Weather and other concerns push us sometimes and we feel better in the HDT My back used to kill me in the pickups.

[MrSeas]

Wow I guess I'm in the " minority" 'cuz I like to drive and get where I'm going!

I'm not retired yet so time is important!

600 plus miles is a "short" drive. We do try to stop periodically and take a look at the trailer when we can safely!

With our LGT we stopped often to "uncoil" and stretch out and regroup!

The HDT has given us more "fun" time verses " drive" time.

[Randyretired]

We drive about the same but 10 years ago when bought the HDT we were at a point where our backs needed less wheel time. Now we can still do 4 or 500 if needed. Our old PU is a 99 so the PU rides have also improved. Still we like our 2001 HDT. Still tandem, pretty quiet and comfortable.

[SuiteSuccess]

I'm same 300-350. Have done 600 twice and was tired

[jpar19]

I just got back from a 7 hour round trip in my 630 with no issues at all. (picked up some awesome new polished wheels for the truck) I enjoy driving the truck and any excuse for a trip is welcomed. My other fifth wheel pulling friends use the 3 pm rule. They like to be where they are going to spend the night by 3pm. That way they can set up and be settled for a leisurely dinner and evening. They like the 300 mile per day range as well. My range is limited mostly by my small bladder but I'm not in a big hurry anyway. However, I have driven the truck pretty much straight though from Ohio to Florida pretty comfortably.

[Nuke-E]

You don't want to know my answer. The first day I had mine was Indianapolis to the New Mexico welcome center on I-40. Knoxville to Joplin, Columbus to OKC, Los Alamos to Las Vegas, etc. are all a day's drive for me.

 

Today's driving started at 4:30. 250 miles in, I'm finishing up a dinner/propane/walk Milo stop, and will get in another 100 miles or so before the clock hits midnight. Especially when I need to pull in for propane, I find late night travel easier--the Flying J is a lot easier to maneuver with just "pro" drivers wandering around.

[GeorgiaHybrid]

I like to drive so a 11 or 12 hour day is not uncommon to us. Driving to Hutch last year was a 15 hour day (650 miles) on the first leg and was not that tired. That would have been very tough to do in the F350.

[RickS]

I really like driving and have no problem going 10-12hrs a day or more if I have to. I would never do that in my 1-ton dually. The Bose seats in the HDT are by far the best and most comfortable seats I have ever used. Makes the long trips a lot more pleasurable and don't feel beat up at the end of the day.

[phoenix2013]

We used to do 1350 miles in one shot (NH to Oshkosh WI) pulling a fifth with an F-350 (27 hours, swapping drivers). We would walk like two zombies for two days afterwards trying to recover. We used to do 1600 miles in two days (NH to Florida), same setup, more zombie time. We've dome many 18 hour days in the HDT, we take a nap (I get the top bunk) and the next day we are ready to do it again. It's just a different animal, the comfort, the ride, the visibility, the incredible rear view mirrors, the AIR BRAKES, etc., etc.

[CDR]

With my diesel 2 ton 300 miles or so was "it"! With the HDT I have done 1100 mile stints got up the next day and did 980. So to answer your question, much better to drive distance.

Bobtail, I drive it like a car. Set the cruise at 10% over limit and lay down the miles until I need to use the restroom or stop because I'm tired. With the trailer, I keep run time to 3hrs max to check and cool trailer tires. I also set max speed to 67 - 68 mph. Driving these things, it's easy to forget your bed is loaded with toys and your pulling a trailer! As the truck just keeps laying down the miles! To me, my truck is like a space shuttle, I take off in a dark cold wet place. If I want, the next time my door opens I can be in 90 degree desert conditions! Try that in a car! Add to that, we can bring just about everything we want! In my opinion the only other RV that can compete is a diesel pusher, in the "putting down the miles" category.

 

Curt

[CDR]

Sorry 1 ton diesel 2wd.

 

Curt

[Alie&Jim's Carrilite]

We may be the abnormal here, but we have done 500-600 miles in a day. Usually work related, they ask can we relocate to ___ and be ready Monday morning and I usually say yes. With the large fuel tanks, not having to stop or plan stops is easier, having the fridge and microwave means Alie can bring premade meals for us. Easy to find a rest stop, warm up a meal, use the restroom and be back rolling. We bought our truck in Michigan, drove to Sioux Falls to get plates, then drove to south Texas. The leg from Sioux Falls south was done in 1 very long day, and 1 short day. 16-18 hours the first day? Something like that. We were bobtail though so I pushed along at 70+ with the normal traffic.

Funny story here,

After posting this, the phone rang. Need to be in Atlanta a week Monday April 4, but we can't leave here, New Orleans until Saturday the 2nd.

Just another 600 mile stroll down the interstate on Sunday. I get more tired stowing all the crap- hoses, cords, leveling mats, and setting back up than I do driving now.

[Dennis M]

We definitely run longer days. Back before we retired 600 - 700 miles in a day was not unheard-of. Now we shoot for 300 to 350, but quite often we will be getting close to our intended stopover and I'll look at Nancy and ask if she is up for a few more miles and she always says yes. So 400 to 500 is not unusual.

 

One thing I should mention - I NEVER pass a rest area without singing out "Need a stop?" We don't stop for fuel very often but the people still need regular stops!

[CrazyCooter]

Long drive hours was one of the biggest reasons we stepped into the HDT. Not being retired yet, we're always looking to get to the spot ASAP to maximize the relax time and the destinations keep getting farther from home!

 

The longest I had driven the Ram 3500 towing the 5er was 720 miles or about 12 hours and got out of the truck gimping pretty bad. Did nearly the same route last year 830 miles and 13+ hours in the Pete with less stops (No need for fuel) and got out tired ready for bed but no gimping.

 

Wish we had 300+ gallons of fuel on board though.........I hate getting fuel on the road.

[SeekingMySerenity]

I am a newbie here to all of this as my wife and I preferred tent camping when we first married. Now with 2 dogs and 4 cats it gets more challenging to make any trip where we are not home by the end of the day.

 

I will say that what gets me in passenger vehicles is lack of real room to stretch and adjust during the drive. We have done 750 miles before but even with heated power seats and cruise control in a Subaru Ou back that float over rough roads it really gets tiring.

 

I would think from what I know about Class 8 trucks that once you have an air-ride cab and/or seat for driver and passenger it makes driving so much better. Another thing that tires me out is trying to see using only low beams and dealing with oncoming headlight glare at passenger vehicle seating levels. I much prefer the higher view of a Class 8 seating position for better visual day and night as well as more space between headlights and my eyes in the visual plane.

 

Right now the beat my wife and I can do is 8 to 9 hours and between 500 and 600 miles in a day barring rough driving conditions and terrible traffic.

[Imurphy907]

I have been known to do 12+hr days. But I also did that in my GMC so.....

[Star Dreamer]

Like some of the others that have posted, we are not yet retired so while I try not to make it a long day, there are times when it has to be. An example will be when we leave the ECR rally in a couple of weeks, we will have to do the trip home (900 miles) in about 1-1/2 days. The first day will need to be about 600 miles which will take us 12 hours (we average 50 miles per hour when the trip is over 4 hours, due to stops for lunch and rest breaks). I have a flight for a work trip to take on Sunday afternoon after the rally.

[Dollytrolley]

Distance in a HDT is simply not the same as a LGT.......maybe Einstine died a bit too soon to explain but it's just one of those space vs time thingys......

 

First of all the Dollytrolley is just a slave-rig the the wife's trail-painthorse so all of our trips are zig-zaging all over the "outback sections" of the western U S and of course we never simply cross a mountain range ....oh no.....we have to crawl up and down each range stopping in remote trail heads so that Dolly can get out and stretch her four legs for 10 to 20 miles and then it's back on the one or two lane steep and twisty roads to the next horse camp / trail head.

 

In the LGT days we burned a lot of fuel ( as low as 4 mpg on some pig-trails) out of small tanks so we were often fuel limited so we had to come back to civilization fairly often sometimes on "fumes"........

 

Now with the HDT and +1,700 miles of range we can stay so far out in the boondocks for so long that who knows..........maybe someday we might find out that while were Dolly-boondocking some real estate swindler from NY got himself in the White House and "fixed" everything.......

 

Not having a trailer pushing us around on twisty steep narrow roads and multi-position jake-brake's simply make life sweet..... the Trolley is tandem with a 10 speed road-rager so we get to wiggle the shifter a few times and that gives us something better to do rather than texting........keeping the gears in the sweet spot seems more like.......driving rather than....... being driven.....

 

"Grumps" used to say.........if I don't go out and pile on 600 miles on the KW or Autocar today.......I'd have to go out and....... get a job......

 

Drive on.........(Gee I can't recall how far we went.....today)

[remoandiris]

Thanks for the replies. I am weeks from getting an HDT, though finding insurance in Fla is still problematic.

 

Wife and I are never in a hurry and with my GMC 3500 I like to keep it at less than 5 hr days. I also like to stay in one place at least 2 days. But, I have gotten to the point I am tired of stopping in the same area of Fla (around Live Oak) when leaving and getting back into the state. So, the only option is to travel farther. Not something I want to do in the 3500, simply because 6+ hrs is really uncomfortable. Getting to the ECR will be 3 driving days and it is only about 750 miles.