Okay---I'm steeling my courage only because in the "What would you have done differently thread" some of you mentioned not buying certain rigs.

Here we are two months into fulltiming and....and....I hate our Suburban. How this pains me to admit!

I have a horrid back and the ride in this beast is crippling me. Just the thought of climbing back into it...

Other considerations that have become much bigger now that we're experiencing this for real...Having a pull behind. With a family of five using water (we don't even use the shower and the toilet very little since there's bathhouses wherever we go) we still need to dump more often than we want. Hooking up the rig to go dump is such a pain.

Because we spend so little time in the rig, I think a C class would have been a better move. (Oh hindsight is brilliant, isn't it?)

I know this is a very subjective but I would welcome your feedback. Do we cut our losses and try to sell this or buy some cushions and try make it work? Right now the thought of heading out west, as were our plans, just doesn't even seem plausible, because I limp out of the truck even after a short drive!

Just bringing up this topic makes me ill; Oh the money!

A Surburban pulling a TT I assume. Other than big Class A's or HDT's pulling a 5th or the TT, you're not going to get a much better ride.

A class C won't ride as well as the suburban.

In your position, I'd look at getting a good air ride passenger seat into the suburban. Probably the cheapest option at this point.

The second thing I'd look at is changing the Suburban out for a Volvo 610 toter set up for your TT. The ride of an HDT is the best by far of any RV you might consider. A full equipped 610 will have about the same footprint as a suburban, cost about $25,000 before modifications, and cost about $15,000 to modify. Modification consists of making a seating section in the sleeper for the rest of the family, adding a recevier hitch and flat deck to the back of the 610 and singling it out short. You might need to add an air recevier hitch to smooth out the ride for your trailer.

It will get 11mpg and run for 250,000 miles or so.

FWIW...

This won't help with the Suburban ride, but as far as dumping goes, you need to get a tote tank. Thetfords are sold at Camping World and you may still be able to get a blue boy from someone. These are an absolute must if you are camping where you don't have sewer, and they are not that hard to deal with. I say that easily since that is a "Blue job" and my husband always dumps the tank.

One thought came to mind....is the Suburban seating bothering you ALL the time or just on longer trips. If on the trips, then maybe you aren't stopping often enough to get out and stretch. When my arthritis/fibromyalgia were at their worst, I had to stop every hour to help alleviate the pain. Now I can go 2-3 but prefer to stop every 2.

Other than that have to agree that a Class C isn't going to help your ride...it's a truck with a ride like a truck (and sometimes worse in my case because it's older).

Good luck!!!

Anything other than looking for replacement seats is going to cost a lot of money, and replacement seats may not be inexpensive either. Does your Suburban have a bench front seat or buckets? You may be able to find replacements at a junk yard, or more likely be able to order some custom aftermarket bucket seats. The other obvious fixes which you have probably already tried include pillows and aftermarket backrests.

Choosing a different kind of RV is not necessarily going to improve the seating issue. You could have the same problem in any rig.

Sounds like me problem is.....ME!

Anywhere I can get a new body?

Seriously, this is a good reality check. I can recall test driving class C's and remember the stiff rides. Getting something with a decent ride was a strong consideration because of my lousy back. (History of broken vertebrae/herniated disks. Such fun.)

I think I'll go shopping for some memory foam something or other and see if I can jury rig a more comfortable situation that won't be too bulky.

Waaaaaaaaaah.

BTW-Thanks for the reminder about getting a blue boy. We had that on our list but spaced it off. So many new things to learn, so few brain cells left....

Theresa, I have to agree with you. Make smaller inexpensive changes and work from there. In the RV world it is easy to get real expensive very quickly. I'd talk to some folks in the medical field to determine exactly what will help. Perhaps a PT or OT type of person. Certainly there must be some people on the forum who have similar conditions and have addressed them. Perhaps they could make recommendations.
Seems like the dump issue has been addressed. Good luck with this, see you on the road.
Phil

Gosh! This surprises me. I have had surburbans in the past and always considered them a great ride.

What exactly is it that is causing he problem, possibly the sway from the TT, or what?

My wife has a similar problem with her body. Some days just hurts. We've had Class A's, C's and now two bus conversions.
Class A's OK. Seats not bad but not great comfort.
Class C marginal OK because of seating position. For the passenger always twisted to the right due to the engine cover.
Bus conversion. First one eliminated most of the problems as she could move from the co pilots seat to the coach, to the dinette. This seemed to fix most of the problems. On the second bus went to a Flexsteel seat, no footrest but reclining back. She is staying upfront most of time with me.
I think the key is the seat and the ability to move about. Even just changing position. For you it means more frequent stops and a walk about.
Good luck
Bill

I have had a real bad back since 1950 and was 14 years old. It really does not make much difference what I ride in. I need to keep moving around or the back just ties up in knots. When it really hurts I just use one of about three muscle relaxants and it gets much better. I can not use a lot of them for several days or you get a drug habit from them. I just back off and quit using them for a few days and tough out the pain. Changing from one of three drugs pretty well does away with any getting hooked problem and none of these relaxants has ever had any bad effects on me or my driving. Just takes away the pain for the most part. Not a solution for a lot of people, but when the pain gets really bad, it works for me.
Carl

Theresa

I am right there with you... I've been wandering around with a dislocated spine since I broke the sucker in '81... went back to Cowboyin' when the army threw me out... too crippled to be a soldier any more(they said)... but still dumb enough to be a Cowboy! :-)

Couple suggestions... do Like Froggi Donna said and try more stops... I can't sit for too long or stand for too long... so I split between both and come out OK...

Do as others have suggested too... look into other seats... if the suburban is a bucket seat style... I'm bettin' you can find an air ride seat that will soften things up quite a bit...

and the last can be a little more difficult... every spring... back on the ranch...after bein' cabin bound a lot by winter weather... I'd go through a bit of hell, gettin' back into some sort of shape. I find the same now... if I'm too sedentary, for too long... and lose some muscle tone... I start doin' my pretzle imitation again. I'd suggest some sort of physical training routine... to strengthen back and abdominal muscles... when the bones are shaky, the only thing holdin' you together are the muscles! stayin' in better 'muscle' condition keeps me a lot more mobile!

enough wind for one post... don't give up... just put your head to work... you WILL find a workable solution!

Brian

You might try one of these combined with the more frequent stops as others have suggested. I can't recommend this particular vendor, but we bought some like this (except MUCH lower price) at the flea markets in Arizona this winter and they make a world of difference! I know we have one camping chair and the seat in our Blazer that KILL my back without the support, but can sit comfortably (at least for awhile) with this.

Brenda

I first thought you were concerned about the TT.

We had to trade my beloved LT Tahoe in for our first FTing TV. I insisted on a Silverado also LT, since it would be easier on my back and neck for the long drives.

I would try some Chevy forum that might help with suspension or modifications first. Much less expensive than trading TV, TT for new RV and toad.

I too have a problem back - herniated disc surgery at L5; L4 is mildly herniated so I have to protect it. Because of these things, the doc has put me on a 25 lb weight limit. When we decided to go FT, we owned a Silverado & a TT, had a "blue boy." BUT my husband was no longer able to do the heavy lifting involved in that, so we switched to a Class A.

As to the seat and your back, here are the things my chiropractor recommended after my surgery: a cushion in the driver's seat (I-Carolyn- do all the driving) that keeps my knees level or lower than my hips; a hand towel rolled up tight and fastened with a couple of hairbands that I put crosswise behind my back in one of two places -- either on the little bumps that are about 3 inches below the top of my hip bones or just below the bottom rib. This helps me a great deal. I also do as Froggi Donna, getting out to stretch and walk at leave every two hours (my husband has diabetes and is supposed to walk every 75 miles), plus we don't drive long days. Fulltiming is about living, not vacationing. I'm never in a hurry to get somewhere if I can help it; I drive at most every 3rd day; I drive no more than 200 miles a day.

The weight limit made a blue boy totally out of the question. I don't know if anyone traveling with you is strong enough to lift one, but even the smallest ones on wheels which hold about 20 gallons, are going to weigh 8 times that much full.

Hang in there, keep exploring your options; I imagine you can make it work.

To combat a pesky back from my Army days, I use an elastic back support about 10" wide. It works quite well some days, some not, those days Tylenol gets me through.