HDT comfort vs pickup

Truckman · December 1, 2023

My opinion is that no more miles than you drive is to stay in a pickup. Having driven several million miles in all types of trucks I have to say with my bad back and neck that there is a lot of comfort available in my pickup.

Do you have 10 way power seats? if not you need to try them since the adjustment is infinite. I have found that raising the rear portion of the seat bottom and dropping the front edge of the seat allows me to put in a full 1000 miles in a day if needed. In our car I am lucky to go a couple hundred miles comfortably.

rpsinc · December 1, 2023

We also have done the same elevation to the HDT. I am a contractor(soon to be retired, I hope) and have driven duallys for a very long time, so it was natural to also do that with a 5er. We stepped up & up from a 19' 5er to our now 42' New Horizons that we tow with a Volvo 730. We moved up to this truck for 2 reasons- 1- SAFETY(even this trailer doesnt push the truck much in panic stops, but still have to be on my toes) 2- Wifes comfort(I get to enjoy this too), she injured her back and at the time we have an MDT, she couldnt take much more than 2 hours in that truck BUT the Volvo she can handle 6-7 hours and still feel OK and multiple driving days can be accomplished.

If you are looking at this from the standpoint of enjoying your full time journey, the HDT is a great fit. My wife wont drive the truck, so we have a Smart, which is my next project, to accomodate the truck to load/unload. Then she can enjoy her chores(keeping me fed) and I can enjoy mine(driving). After nearly 46 years of married life, this is where we have arrived.

Av8r3400 · December 2, 2023

Thanks Rick, I do agree that our truck does ride fantastic.

I would stack our singled Volvo VNL 730, with air ride front suspension and Legacy Pinnacle seats against my wife's Mercedes in ride quality any day. (Rick - you've ridden in both so you can testify)

rickeieio · December 2, 2023

Larry, I'd put both in the category of "land yacht". Very comfy ride.

I will add, there's a lot more to comfort than just the ride. Our Lexus rides smoother than our F-150 or our Kenworth, but the car doesn't have the space to adjust your butt or legs relative to the rest of the vehicle. For instance, our Volvo had my right leg restricted such that my foot aimed straight ahead, and my knee in one spot. Our KW lefts me shift that leg to the right, and actually turn my foot any way I please. For an olde pharte with achy joints, that's a big deal.

Edited December 2, 2023 by rickeieio

DavidP · December 4, 2023

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