The Other Half here wouldn't even consider a Sport Chassis, saying it was too Big.
So I guess we'll have to settle for the new Chevy High Country.

Just slightly off topic but air traffic control and school superintendent jobs did not lend themselves to OTR truckindriving, but for Christmas one year my secretary arranged for me to drive a Peterbilt 359 Conventional with full sleeper cab for about 15 miles. It was one of the coolest experiences I’ve had and was so comfortable I felt like I could keep driving all the way to Canada.

On topic - my biggest concern would be maintenance costs with a rig like that. Most trucking companies can afford new engines or major work because they are making money with the rig. It might just drain my bank account.

Just slightly off topic but air traffic control and school superintendent jobs did not lend themselves to OTR truckindriving, but for Christmas one year my secretary arranged for me to drive a Peterbilt 359 Conventional with full sleeper cab for about 15 miles. It was one of the coolest experiences I’ve had and was so comfortable I felt like I could keep driving all the way to Canada.

On topic - my biggest concern would be maintenance costs with a rig like that. Most trucking companies can afford new engines or major work because they are making money with the rig. It might just drain my bank account.

Paul, stop by the next time your in PA, I’ll let you make all the deliveries you want.. As long as you can handle a 48’ flatbed behind that big Freightliner !

Don’t tempt me Joe!! Can’t be too much different than hauling a 42’ Redwood!

Greg, I’ll tell you one issue - while at West Yellowstone an HDT/Smart Car/DRV combo came in and the battery on his Smart was dead. He had already unhooked so was blocking the street with ramps down trying to charge his Smart battery with no success. Couldn’t get the Smart in neutral without electric power and the charger was not enough. We worked with him for probably an hour before we finally told him to pack up and move to a parking area where he could troubleshoot. Oh, and diesel idling the entire time. It takes some maneuvering room to get a combo like that unloaded.

x

I haven't researched the Smart cars too much but what it sounds like is that the car has an electric shift transmission? That could be a problem. I'll need to check that out but maybe a Fiat or an older MG Midget would work?

The Smart has a 3 cylinder Mitsubishi engine and an electric auto-manual transmission. Shifts like a manual but it is automatic, and hard to explain until you drive it. We owned a Smart FourTwo for about a year and a half. Bought it after a frustrating drive to Tulsa in my Ram 1500 making 9 mpg on the highway. I kept getting owner satisfaction surveys in the mail, and the longer I drove the Smart the less I liked it. It was fine around town, but on the highway there was no relaxing. I was constantly “driving” the car and any disturbance - wind, passing vehicles, etc - would blow me all over the road. Eventually I rated the car “unsafe” at highway speed. Traded it and the Ram for an Ecoboost F150 which was awesome. Long story to say I would search for a different option than a Smart car, only from my personal experience. Maybe the Fiat, Spark or Fiesta, Mini, but definitely not a Smart.

DW & I talked that in the Texas panhandle that there are tumbleweeds bigger & heavier than Smart Cars. I think they were designed to be strictly commuters, short commutes.

DW & I talked that in the Texas panhandle that there are tumbleweeds bigger & heavier than Smart Cars. I think they were designed to be strictly commuters, short commutes.

Totally agree Danny. We saw them in Rome where they parked two nose-to-curb in the space of one parallel park.

I will say that I got almost as many waves, thumbs up, honks and smiles as I get when driving the Model T. Maybe I just like clown cars???

Another idea regarding parking issues that I'm not hearing is UBER or LYFT. Leave the dually behind and let someone else drive. Works really well in places like New Orleans.

Now regarding New Orleans, OH that Muffuletta Sandwich from Central Grocery!!!

Greg - one other point, I don't know of anyone getting 13 mpg on a HDT. Most everyone in the group on Facebook is in the 7-9 range. Even if not pulling weight , you're still running a 12-13 liter BIG diesel that is thirsty. Having said that, would I consider a Volvo, yes. However it's going to restrict where you take the rig somewhat. Now that we have the Focus with us, I can't see going back. The convenience of having the small car that gets mileage in the 35-40 range is great. Plus not having figure out where to park it.

If I was going to do an HDT I would have the bed built long enough to carry either a Jeep or a Mini lengthwise on the truck bed and just know I was going to be over 70'. A lot of the guys pulling an HDT are way over 70' and haven't had any problem.

Vaughan
Have you had issues with campgrounds that restrict you to "one RV and one other vehicle" yet? Some have "overflow parking", but most do not. That might be a negative to towing another vehicle behind the Redwood.

We're not towing another vehicle, but Ann does follow the RW with her Malibu and we haven't encountered any issues with two vehicles as most CGs seem to allow 1-RV and 2-vehicles and a Colf Cart.
And so far traveling North to South and back haven't stayed anywhere yet that we couldn't fit the car on the site.

Vaughan
Have you had issues with campgrounds that restrict you to "one RV and one other vehicle" yet? Some have "overflow parking", but most do not. That might be a negative to towing another vehicle behind the Redwood.

We tow our Jeep behind our Redwood. In 5 years of full-timing, a couple of times a campground has charged us $5 for the extra vehicle. Some sites are not large enough for the RAM dually, Redwood and Jeep. But in those cases, there has always been a secure place to put either the truck or the Jeep. I always look at Google Earth or satellite view to make sure the entry has a large enough spot to unhook the jeep. Even though campgrounds should expect a MH to have a toad... the unhook space can be shorter than we need.

We did run into that when bringing the boat, especially CO state campgrounds. If we couldn't keep it on the paved portion they would get upset so sometimes we had to park the boat in another open parking lot.

We did run into that when bringing the boat, especially CO state campgrounds. If we couldn't keep it on the paved portion they would get upset so sometimes we had to park the boat in another open parking lot.

I am always afraid of fitting in state parks.

Our home park in Monument told us once any extra vehicles had to be parked in a "Park & Ride" parking lot. He was one of the most firm about not being happy about the HDT on the asphalt roads. Our RW only misses some of the trees up here by inches.