Moving to Denver this June with my girlfriend and I'm scared anxious about this long distance drive from Tennessee, getting a hitch for my car and hauling my stuff to Denver. Never done this before so I'm just wondering what I should expect on the road.
What size did you get? I drove Isuzu NPR/NQR tilt cab dumps for a few years and they're about the same size as the 15/17 footer uhauls (but way easier to drive because the Japanese fucking rule at engineering) so I'll pass on a few things I learned. A lot of it is just general road safety but you do have to be more vigilant and focused.
- assume everyone around you is a moron and drive defensively.
- before you leave its not a bad idea to stop by a mall parking lot and spend 5 minutes just getting a general feel for the truck.. Turn in either direction and pay attention to the radius, see how sensitive the brakes are, familiarize yourself with the cab layout and figure out what switch is where etc.
- this is a big one - take the time to really adjust your mirrors.. you won't have a rear view so make it a point to get used to monitoring your side mirrors and keeping track of the people around you. If you keep losing them don't be afraid to pull over and adjust.
- leave twice as much room around you in any direction as you think you need....youve got a lot more momentum than usual and it takes a lot longer to stop, in addition to not having as much maneuverability. If it's wet out then triple the distance or even more.
- use your newfound height to see further down the road for hazards or hazardous drivers, but also be aware of how tall you are... Pay attention to clearance signs and especially around intersections be careful about clipping road signs and trees that you'd normally just go under in a car.
- Stick to highways, and get used to people passing you. Just hang out in the slow lanes and pop on a podcast. It's usually less stressful and you'll save some money on gas to boot.
- Focus on the road, not the clock. Going too slow means you're late, going too fast means people die.
- Keep an eye on your mirrors and gauges but other than that use your copilot or a voice assistant for things like changing music navigating.
- Look for parking that you can pull straight into and out of. If you're making a pit stop at a gas station or rest area its not a bad idea to keep one person near the truck in case people unwittingly park in your escape route then disappear. Basically you want to travel in straight lines and avoid sharp turns as much as possible, so keep that in mind when planning your general route as well.
- once you feel comfortable with the basics if your truck has overdrive controls then read the manual and use as instructed to make things easier on the truck
And the biggest one of all - enjoy the adventure dude.