mkirsch wrote:
Whenever I see a truck driver on an air ride seat they're bouncing up and down like they're trying to saddle break a wild horse. Head's bouncing off the roof of the truck, neck snaps to the side as they hit bottom. How they're not all in the hospital with concussions and whiplash is beyond me. How they can maintain control of the truck is beyond me. How that is better than just dealing with a bump here and there is... beyond me.
I looked at your profile and see you're driving a 2017 Dodge 2500. The ride is too rough for you? What suspension mods have you done to the truck?
Every big truck out there has air-ride seats, air-ride cab and air-ride chassis. Most trailers are also air-ride.
The seats are of varying quality. Some have a greater selection of controls to adjust ride motions. But you sure aren’t paying attention to have made those comments. It takes a road so bad to get those seat motions you and the big truck might be traveling 12-15/mph on upaved washboard roads with oncoming traffic and unavoidable potholes. It’s the guy in the pickup will be the first to come off the seat.
Correct tire pressure is first. Solo, after weighing on the CAT Scale, adjust tire pressure inside the pickup manufacturer range down to the lowest allowed by the Load & Pressure Table FF & RR. (Shocks are good maybe 40k miles; upgrade to better quality).
Ideal tire pressure solves most problems. If I can run (and do) an average of 120k miles on tires where the minimum necessary pressure SOLO doesn’t require change when the truck hits RAWR (and GVWR) after hooking my 35’ TT, then the ride motions come down to the designed suspension.
An empty work truck won’t ever ride well. If a 1T type you need about 1,000-lbs in the bed to get what’s “normal”. A 1/2T, probably 500-lbs.
You bought a pickup that runs around empty while solo, you bought the wrong vehicle.NATIONAL SEAT used to make bases and seats that fit 1T pickups. KELDERMANN, air ride suspensions for same.
FWIW, I use PURPLE brand X-Large seat cushion and separate lumbar cushion to take the cracks out of the road. Couldn’t do my job in a semi without them any longer (age and injury).
But I’d still rather run 550-miles in a KW than 350-miles in my Dodge with its usual 1,100-lbs in the bed. Air-ride seats would be a worthwhile upgrade to that vehicle.
In the meantime, the straighter you sit in the seat and being close to the wheel & pedals (no “reach” to top of wheel), no pressure under seat edge at knees but high as possible otherwise, is best for reduced fatigue. POSTURE is everything.
You need to lose 50-150/lbs, do it. Fat boys ALWAYS fatigue sooner and complain louder. (Fat boy = Mama’s boy no matter his age).
1). Tire Pressure per certified scale values.
2). New shock absorbers
3). Aids to posture (angles & top cushion).
4). Planned stops EVERY two hours for 15”
5). Hour break after four hours drive.
6). No more than 300-mile/day with trailer.
— Plan the driving day in advance. Know EVERY stop and plan the day at 50-mph average as this accounts for rest breaks. EXECUTE as trip legs, since no leg is much more than 100-miles or about 2-hours. Moving along steadily at 62-64/mph is LESS fatiguing and keeps you out of trouble (out of traffic moving faster).
— At these speeds you’ll achieve higher MPG, and be operating FAR closer to what an RV can do in terms of braking & steering control (worst vehicles on the road. Claims of skill being operative make you sound the fool you are).
— Doing the same work in the same region my last big truck at a set speed of 64-mph AVERAGED 58-MPH, while an equally experienced friend in pretty well the same job ran 70-MPH, but — instead of seeing a 6-MPH lower average, consistently was 8-MPH lower for his true average (Qualcomm satellite truck data) over 2500-3500/miles. Traffic volume dictates average speed. And only a damned fool spends time in the left lane.
Running faster IS NOT faster when the AVERAGE is plotted. It’s higher stress ALWAYS. Stress just makes the vehicle ride that much worse again. I daily get passed by the same RVs running 6-MPH or faster than me.
But they don’t cover their 300-miles faster than me.. They compensate with more + longer breaks from the road.
There’s NO significant time savings. (And WHY would that matter? Answer that). There IS a higher stress penalty. AND the rig can’t be effectively maneuvered or braked until speed is down to or below 50-mph given trailer drum brakes and typical hitch rigging.
Ease along. Enjoy the stops. And, if you want to get there sooner . . leave earlier.
All of the above contributes to the body being able to deal with muh bad ride.
With my TT hitched I usually have one stop at a rest area before my mid-day break (which is ALWAYS well before noon). I get fuel at the truckstop — as I’m 200-miles or still about above a half-tank of fuel — then ease along to another rest area closest for the one-hour break. Mapped the night before. After lunch I might have another 100-miles or so. Depending on whether Interstate or US Highways (my rig is 62’, I tend to stay on bigger roads until TT parked) the MPH average drops in going to NON-limited access roadways, so I have a large window of arrival which included time for unknown problems. But the plan is to arrive at no later than 1500.
400-miles is The Wall. Onset of white-line fever. Everyone. None are exempt. Not age or experience or conditions. Not vehicle spec. The body starts to rebel AND THIS IS WHAT MUH BAD RIDE is all about.
Set limits. Write a plan. Execute according to best practice (safety). 300-miles or three o’clock . . as what matters with an RV traveling safely & comfortably — day after day — is no different in 2021 than it was in 1971. I was out there then, and now.
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2004 555 CTD QC LB NV-5600
1990 35’ Silver Streak
