Picked up my HDT and drove it 2k+ miles home

[BlueLghtning]

A couple weeks back, an HDT showed up for sale that had caught my attention. It was listed as 2000 Volvo 610 that this gentleman had owned for the past 13 years to haul a horse trailer around CA. It was a great low mileage example of 1st gen Volvo with only 480k miles on it and not all beat up or trashed like you usually find of truck of this age. The truck had been singled short in 2004 when he purchased it and was equipped with a Detroit 12.7L 60 series motor, 10spd manual Eaton Fuller with 3.58 rear end and .74OD. Other than not having an air ride 5th wheel hitch, it had everything I needed and showed up at the perfect time. 

After talking to the owner a couple different times in the same day, we came to an agreement for me to purchase the truck and I would fly out in a week or more to purchase the truck and drive it back to GA. We spoke several times over the next 2 weeks while I organized my flight and he answered all my questions. I purchased my ticket about a week before my depature and I was ready to go. At the last minute, my wife convinced me to fly a friend out to help me on the drive back with me and I'm sure glad I did as that made it so much easier. That's a long drive from CA to GA. 

This past weekend was my flight from GA to CA and subsequent drive home.  After having just found our 5th wheel toy hauler the day before the truck went up for sale, the timing couldn't have worked out better. I flew out on a Thursday evening from ATL to LAX. This was the day after big stroms had created several ground stops in ATL the day before and flights were still a mess on Thursday. Thankfully my flight was still on schedule, although in the end, it was delayed a little over an hour and LAX was just as crazy so we sat on the tarmac for over 45mins waiting on a gate, but other than that it was an uneventful flight. 

About an 1hr 45mins from landing in LA

Looking out over LA

The seller had showed up at the airport right on time for my delayed flight landing time of 8:50pm, but due to my flight sitting on the tarmac after landing for 45mins, he was forced to leave and move on from the loading zone area. The police instructed him to drive down Century Blvd and make a loop back to the airport where he got caught in contsruction and crazy traffic and took him almost 2hrs to get back to the airport. 

I was finally in the loading area and waching for a white Chevrolet dually he said he would be in. I had gotten comfortable on a bench just watching people as Joe told me it was going to take awhile. All of a sudden my ears perked up as I heard the undeniable sound of a big Diesel truck and looked up and saw a Volvo towering over all the cars & SUV's in line at the airport. I was first sitting there in disbelief thinking there is no way he drove the big Volvo right to LAX to come pick me up and then reality hit and I thought, well who else would it be at this time of night? I tell you what, you can get picked up in a limo or what ever you want, but I know every eye was on me wondering who is this guy getting picked up in a big semi truck at LAX!   I walked up to the truck, climbed in, and met Joe and we were on our way around 10:41pm. I wish I would have gotten my camera out and taken a picture as that was a sight to see, but I didn't even think of it at the time. 

Joe was pretty worn out from sitting in traffic for so long and said in the 13 years of ownership, it was the first time the clutch had really got to him. I also found out earlier when he was on his way to the airport, he stopped for a bite to eat and when he was messing with something standing on the top step in the door, he actually lost his balance and fell out of the truck landing on his hip and elbow. He was pretty sore from that too, so that wasn't helping either. We headed out to the 405N and I thought headed straight back to his place in Simi Valley, but he said he wanted to go over to the PCH and give me a chance to drive the truck before tomorrow so I was comfortable with it and make certain I was happy with my purchase. He was straight up seller and made things so easy. 

I didn't get to see much on the PCH since it was night time, but we headed up north of Malibu where Joe pulled over and let me slide into the driver's seat. It was a bit nerve racking jumping into a brand new to me truck and trying to remember shifting one of these from 20 years earlier when I worked as a yard dog at UPS. Thankfully as it was aproaching midnight, traffic was non existant and Joe gave me hints on shifting and pretty soon my shifts were getting smoother and coming back to me. I had a few moments when I would make a turn and get lost in the gear box and have to pull over to stop and start again, but I was getting the hang of it. Joe commented as I got better I was doing way better than he had his first time. We drove through several side streets so I had lots of opportunity to shift and work on more technique. I was going to be on a tight schedule to meet my friend on Friday and there wouldn't be any time to go practice more. 

The truck was everything I hoped and I was very happy with how things looked and how it drove. We rolled into Joe's at about quarter to 1am. His wife was waiting up for us and super sweet. I was starving from a long day of traveling so she offered to make a sandwhich as we visited some more and became instant friends. I think we stayed up another hour before I couldn't keep my eyes open as I had been up almost 22-23 hrs with the time change, working a full day and then traveling. Due to some remodeling in their house, Joe offered me a very comfortable bed in their horse trailer in the back yard which had a really nice living area in it. 

Edited April 11, 2017 by BlueLghtning

[GeorgiaHybrid]

Congrats on the new truck but it didn't happen without pictures.

[BlueLghtning]

I went to bed almost too excited to sleep, but exhaustion won out and I was soon asleep. However, my body clock was still back on Eastern time and when a nasty leg cramp/charlie horse set me straight up due to being dehydrated, it woke me up at 5am local time and couldn't fall back to sleep. I decided to get up at 6am and get a shower and wait for the rest of the house to wake up.

This was my accomodations for the night and I gotta say the interior was so much nicer than most 5th wheels. It was all solid oak and so well built! 


The Chevrolet DualIy I was expecting to be picked up in. This has a gas 454 and Joe said they struggled with this for 4 years before finally buying the Volvo. 


The horse corrale and barn that Joe built all himself. It was a very nice setup.


The truck outside the front gate. It's amazing he fits it through here

Joe & Gail were soon up and moving around. They have 2 horses so Gail was doing horse chores while Joe and I ate breakfast and got all the documents ready when the bank opened. We then went and looked the truck over as Joe showed me everything about it.

I got to see the truck in the daylight for the first time.

The gooseneck plate/ball Joe used for his horse trailer

The exhaust was about the only really rough part on the truck and that would come into play later

Joe had cleaned the truck up nicely too

Very nice clean interior. I had already set up my mounts for my phone and GPS for the drive home.

Joe sent me with a set of clean sheets and pillow for the drive home too.

The truck normally was kept in the back yard. I have no idea how he managed to back in the truck/trailer back here. He said he had about 2" to spare on each side! 

 

Edited April 10, 2017 by BlueLghtning

[SuiteSuccess]

Very nice. Congrats. 

[BlueLghtning]

Joe and I headed to the bank to complete the financial part of the transaction and get that squared away. It went as smooth as could be. I asked Joe if we could take a ride in his other toy to the bank and he was happy to show it off!

2007 Porsche GT3. At 6'4", these types of cars don't fit me well, but I still enjoyed the ride!

 

[BlueLghtning]

Once back to Joe's house, it was time for me to hit the road. I needed to drive about 45 mins to Panorama City, CA where I was meeting my friend Scott that was flying in that morning. He had a bright and early 6am flight from Atlanta and was supposed be landing around 9am PT. He would then take Lyft about 45mins north to our meeting spot. I picked out a Walmart parking lot where we could meet. 

I left Joe's and hit the 118 where I would take the 405S to Panorama City. I had had a good drive the night before, but the roads were empty. It was now time to go face LA traffic as I headed East and South a bit. Thankfully it was after rush hour, but is there ever a good time for traffic in LA on a Friday? 

My drive over to Panorama City wasn't too bad on the 118 & 405 and kept moving which was good. Once I got off the interstate though, I found myself on Roscoe Blvd which is 4 lane city streets with only a middle turning lane and what felt like no room between the lanes. I only had about 1.5 miles of city streets, but it felt like an eternity navigating the big truck down the narrow city streets with busses and other trucks. 

Our timing worked out great and Scott had arrived only 10 mins before me. There was a Wendy's in the parking lot, so we grabbed lunch before hitting the road.

Once we left there, I decided to keep driving as I had at least had a chance to familiarize myself with the truck. The GPS took me on quite a few side streets towards Pasadena where we picked up the 210. We ended up hitting several places of stop and go traffic on the 210 up to the 15 so I got a good practice working the gearbox in traffic. I was glad I did though as each time I got better and better. From there we headed up towards Barstow where we got on I-40 and would follow that for over 1600 miles to Memphis. 

With the lack of sleep the night before, I was fading fast as we headed out from Barstow. Scott had driven trucks for a few years about 6 years earlier and had his CDL, but he was rusty too. I found a good place to pull over and let him get behind the wheel for his chance to learn the truck. Pretty soon we were pointed East on I-40 and I was laying down for a nap in the back.

Scott Driving somewhere out west on I-40

I crawled in the bunk in the back and went to sleep

 

Edited April 10, 2017 by BlueLghtning

[BlueLghtning]

I-40 out of CA wasn't too bad and I hated that I was missing some great scenery, but I needed to sleep. We had a long drive and this wasn't the sight seeing tour this time. Somewhere in AZ, I-40 turns to absolute crap. I know this because I woke up from a deep sleep and I swear I was catching air in the bunk in the back and only the netting was holding me in. 

We left CA with maybe a little over half a tank and Joe had told me the truck read empty pretty early, but we decided to stop for fuel fill up just East of Flagstaff instead of pushing it. I didn't know how much the truck would take (200 gal capacity) and they required an exact amount, so I just did 100 gals. Later I would find out if you over estimate, they'll put the rest back on your card, I should have estimated higher. Although, it was about $2.79/gal and we probably could have done better price wise, but we had stopped and decided to fill up. 

Of course I had failed to alert any of my cards I would be traveling so the first card got an automatic decline and started a fraud alert on my account. Thankfully my BOA account had no trouble with it and that worked.

Right at 481k on the first fill-up

It was also about this time we noticed the exhaust had failed. Scott said he thought he heard a change in the exhaust and sure enough the bottom of the muffler had rotted out and basically fallen out although still wedged in between the exhaust shield and exhaust bracket. Not much we could do at this time and surprisingly the truck really wasn't that loud even like this, so we continued on. This would be on my list to fix when I got home. 

 

Edited April 10, 2017 by BlueLghtning

[Big5er]

Great story...and congrats on the new truck

[CHIEFWAHO]

Nice!  Congrats, looks like a great truck.

When I saw it listed I knew it would not last long!

[BlueLghtning]

Scott continued driving through AZ and the roads continued to be crap in some places. Before the trip, Scott and I discussed about scales. I had seen where some say they just skip them but we decided being bobtail and not carrying a 5th wheel we would just stop. We figured that was easier than being chased down and dealing with an angry DOT/LEO on the side of the road, plus we had the registration we needed to prove we weren't commerical. Scott hit 2 open scales in AZ. Both were ones where you drive right up to a window and both asked to see our registration that showed we were private. They said they wanted to verify the truck wasn't owned by an LLC. Joe had let me keep his CA plates with his current private registration on the truck and I had his registration and my insurance card. We asked at the first one if we should continue to stop at scales in AZ and she suggested that was probably the best practice since the "RV not for hire" signs had no lawful meaning and we were bobtail. 

I went back to sleep for another rest as I wanted to be alert driving on my next shift. I think Scott pushed on well into the night before he said it was time for him to sleep. At our next stop, we ended up stopping at a gas station in the middle of nowhere AZ just to get a break and change drivers. As I was getting out of the truck, I noticed our next minor issue. We had lost the little plastic grill on the passenger side of the hood. No idea where that had flown off since it was dark. I guess those crappy AZ roads were making sure anything that could break did. I had slept pretty darn good so I got behind the wheel a little before daybreak and pressed on into NM & TX. Thankfully the roads were much better and we didn't lose any more parts. 

I guess with age, the glue just let go and the bouncy roads didn't help.

Somewhere along there Scott discovered that the truck actually had MPG & Instant MPG in the menu options. We were both probably running about 68-70mph which kept us right under 1600 RPM's. From AZ through TX we were able to push the avg mpg up to 12mpg which I thought was pretty good. 

We passed this unique Toyota van. I'm not sure what it is, but pretty sure we don't get it in the states. It looked like maybe it had Mexico plates on it. 

Scott woke up Sat morning feeling like crap. He said he noticed when he landed in LA, his left ear had stopped up and then things just went downhill. I could tell he was definitely not feeling well, so I pushed on through the day on Sat into OK and let him rest. In OK we found ourselves dealing with a pretty good cross wind. I was amazed at seeing how much the campers and trucks leaned into the wind that were coming at us. Even though it wasn't a direct head wind at us, it still dropped our MPG into the low 11mpg range. 

Me enjoying the drive

One of our stops in the fading sun. 

We stopped for gas again in OK as I saw a station that was selling Diesel for 2.14/gal. It was a Love's, but quite small and didn't have dedicated truck pumps. It also didn't have the aux pump on the passenger side, so we had to fill up one tank, then flip the truck and fill up the other. I tried to put in another 100 gals, but it only took about 80 this time to fill it completely and that got us the rest of the way home. 

Hey this thing does fit in an actual parking spot!

 

Edited April 10, 2017 by BlueLghtning

[VegasFlyer]

Great story, thanks for sharing and congratulations again. 

[BlueLghtning]

I hit two scales myself while I was driving. I think maybe TX & OK. The first one was the same as the other 2 and just showed the paperwork and passed us through. However the next one we hit was one of those scales with the electronic signs that tells you where to stop and they are sitting in a larger building overlooking it. It seemed like we were sitting on the scale forever not moving and I just knew we were getting flagged and sure enough, the sign popped up instructing us to pull around to the side and bring in our papers. 

I walked inside with my registration and insurance in hand. There was one gentleman sitting behind the desk and he asked for my registration and where I was headed. He spent several minutes typing in info on the computer and then studying it on the screen. He was the first one to ask if I was Joe which was listed on the registration. I said no, I had purchased the truck from Joe, but had my own insurance and it would be registered as an RV back in GA. He spent a few more minutes looking at his computer screen and then said thanks and sent me on my way. As I was walking out, I met another driver who had been flagged and he looks and goes they pulled you in driving bobtail? I was like yeah. they really want to make sure I'm not commercial. 

The rest of the ride home was pretty unevntful and we never hit another open scale again. I was secretly celebrating each time I saw a closed scale sign. Scott was able to give it two more shifts and called it quits around Memphis, TN at dinner time. We stopped for a nice sit down dinner in Memphis for the first time in the trip before the final push home. I knew we'd be rolling in really late, so gave my wife a heads up I'd be home early Sunday morning. When we were leaving Memphis, headed for Birmingham, I was following the GPS down US78 when it unexpectedly routed me off of that onto some side roads. I followed it, but then thought what is it doing as I should be staying on 78 until I run into I-22. I was about to turn to get back onto 78 when I noticed traffic on 78 was at a standstill. I deciced to follow the GPS and it actually routed me around what I suspect was some down power lines and a closed road. I'm glad I wasn't carrying a trailer because those were some small side streets, but it looked like we avoided a long delay on the main highway. Speaking of US 78 & I-22, I don't thnk they are ever going to actually connect I-40 & I-22 around Memphis there? It seems like it's been years like that. At least they have the Birmingham side done where I-22 actually connects to I-59. I always forget how boring of a drive I-22 is, especially at night.

Once passed Birmhingham, we were in familiar territory and that seemed to make the drive easier since I knew we were close. We rolled into Newnan about 4am. We go right by my place on the way to Scotts and he was going to just take one of my cars home, but he was so out of it, I decided to just drive him home in the Volvo. I dropped Scott off around 4:30am and I rolled home about 5am. Total trip time was about 37hrs for us. We wern't rushing, but we tried to keep things moving. Although this was a long trip, one of the nicest things was being able to lay flat in the bed to sleep was way better than trying to sleep as a passenger in a car. It was also really nice to be able to stop and not worry about fuel and had I timed the fuel stops better and/or filled up the truck the first time, I probably would have been fine with just one stop for the entire trip. 

Sunday morning, I was excited to show my wife Sarah the truck. We decided to drive over to my parent's house in Peachtree City to show it to them also and I wanted to get some practice driving it in a more city environment I was used to. My upshifts are coming along great. I'm floating gears with ease upshifting with rarely an issue. I'm still working on downshifts and getting the right gear in a turn, but I'm starting to figure out what gear I need to be in at what speed and making it work. I think with a bit more practice things will be a breeze. I know a lot of people really like the autos but I really do prefer manuals and I'm very happy I got a manual. For me, this was the right choice for sure.

It didn't take Sarah long to find her happy spot in the front seat with her feet propped up

My parent's were quite surprised at the truck. I think as much as I told everyone what I was getting they still didn't really comprehend what an HDT is. 

This is not the type of Volvo you expect in this city of golf carts and soccer moms.

My wife Sarah and I and our my parent's dog Spike photo bombing us.

Sarah giving a size refrence to how big the step up into the truck is

She's all smiles though. She's having 2nd thoughts about learning how to drive it. We'll work slowly into that. 

 

Edited April 10, 2017 by BlueLghtning

[sclord2002]

Congratulations on your new truck and the successful trip.  You can find mufflers for about 60 bucks.....the clamps cost more than the mufflers.

[Buscrusher]

Love a story with such a happy ending! Just the big smile on her face had to be worth it all!

[BlueLghtning]

6 minutes ago, sclord2002 said:

Congratulations on your new truck and the successful trip.  You can find mufflers for about 60 bucks.....the clamps cost more than the mufflers.

That's good to know. I figure something as commen as mufflers shouldn't be that much. 

[Av8r3400]

Looks great!

Hope to follow your example someday soon...

[Chad Heiser]

Congratulations on the purchase.  I know what you mean about I40 through Arizona.  I lost a set of wheel covers along the interstate somewhere in the area last June.

[BlueLghtning]

1 hour ago, Buscrusher said:

Love a story with such a happy ending! Just the big smile on her face had to be worth it all!

Oh yeah it definitely was. I was doing all the research on the HDT's and it took me a bit to convince my wife that this was the way to go. She understood that with the year trucks we were shopping and the size of our toy hauler, a 3500 was not going to work, but she kept pushing maybe a 4500/5500 type truck instead or even a MDT. However, when I started showing her prices of some of those trucks though and how much more truck we could get for the prices we were looking, plus the convenience of having the bed in the back, that really helped. I think now that she has ridden in it and seen it in action, she knows we made the right choice too. Plus she knows I'll be a whole lot happier towing with this setup!   

[SuiteSuccess]

My muffler did the same thing going to the National rally two years ago. Hardest thing was getting the top pipe loose. Watch how it comes off as it sits snug in kind of a slot.  If you don't seat it right the support clamps won't go back around.   Again congrats on the truck. 

[BlueLghtning]

1 hour ago, Av8r3400 said:

Looks great!

Hope to follow your example someday soon...

Thanks.  I had almost decided it was going to take forever to find the HDT that would work for us but it all happened so quickly and I knew this was the one. 

36 minutes ago, Chad Heiser said:

Congratulations on the purchase.  I know what you mean about I40 through Arizona.  I lost a set of wheel covers along the interstate somewhere in the area last June.

Thans Chad. Yeah I could only imagine towing a 5th wheel trailer over some of those crappy roads and how bad they would get beat up. I totally understand the air hitch now on the truck too. GA for the most part has really good interstates. It amazes me when I get to other places and see just how bad they can be sometimes. 

[jkoenig24]

Clean truck, sweet deal, CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!

[Big5er]

On 4/10/2017 at 5:31 PM, BlueLghtning said:

We rolled into Newnan about 4am. We go right by my place on the way to Scotts and he was going to just take one of my cars home

Newnan? Heck, I blew two tires and punched a hole through the floor of my old travel trailer in Newnan. First tire had a major tread seperation and took out the second tire. Together they took out the floor, the drawer under the oven and the furnace located under the refrigerator. We hung out in Hogansville till the insurance adjuster came out a few days later. If ya see the missing cups out of my muffin pan or the lid to my crock pot along I-85 I'd be grateful if you would return them to me.  

Edited June 28, 2019 by Big5er

[MikenRobin]

Congrats on the new ride, We purchased our 730 in November and still can't stop smiling when towing!

Safe travels, Mike

[BlueLghtning]

Just now, Big5er said:

Newnan? Heck, I blew two tires and punched a hole through the floor of my trailer in Newnan. First tire had a major tread seperation and took out the second tire. Together they took out the floor, the drawer under the oven and the furnace located under the refrigerator. We hung out in Hogansville till the insurance adjuster came out a few days later. If ya see the missing cups out of my muffin pan or the lid to my crock pot along I-85 I'd be grateful if you would return them to me.  

Wow, that was crazy and nice job on the muffin tin! That's impressive. So how long ago did this happen? It sounds like this probably happened between exits 41 & 35 if you ended up in Hogansville? They are working on adding a new exit between 41 & 47 at Popular Rd where they put the new hospital in some years. 

It stinks we are leaving soon because this would give us great access to our house where we live now, but we'll be long gone before they finish this. - https://goo.gl/maps/3PB6MSXy42T2

[Big5er]

43 minutes ago, BlueLghtning said:

I think now that she has ridden in it and seen it in action, she knows we made the right choice too.

Well let us know when she drives it

And my trip through there was several years ago. Spent a few hours in the Walmart parking lot looking for tires (Walmart tire center was closed). We back tracked to Hogansville. It wasn't the vacation we planned but we still had a nice time. That is pretty country over there.