Seat and Pedal adjustments?

4ducksrus · Feb 25, 2011

I have recently started driving our rig and am having an issue that I'm hoping you guys and gals can help with. My problem is that I'm short (5'0") and while I can bring the seat up far enough to reach the pedals, my feet dangle. I've only drove short distances and so it hasn't been an issue, but I can see my feet falling asleep and I don't think it will be very comfortable in the long run. I've heard about pedal extenders, but my DH is tall (6'3") and so we wouldn't want anything that would be permanent. Is there anyone else out there having this type of issue? I thought about just putting a block of wood on the left side of the post for my left foot to rest on since my right foot is pushing on pedals...? :-\ Thanks in advance....

Dar · Feb 25, 2011

Hi Mikie,

Exact same problem here, I am 5'3" and therefore stole the pedal extenders that we purchased for our truck (which are removeable for the truck), but they do not fit the pedals of our workhorse chassis therefore we had to heavily tape them on. http://www.millerpedalextenders.com/ If I recall the Freightliner pedals well enough they would not even be close. I have heard of people using heavy duty rubberbands for a temporary situation with blocks of wood but we did not trust that setup, plus we both benefited from having the extenders on there. There are always these but they are the more permanent solution that you are not looking for http://www.pedal-extensions.com/index.html?gclid=CIHSksn2o6cCFZ065QodahVWEQ . Can the seat go far enough back for you husband so that he could get comfortable with them to be installed? Sometimes it's hard to be vertically challenged :'(.

We also currently have a wooden box that we made for the left foot in which we both needed for various reasons which works well.

Hopefully someone will come along with better suggestions, unforunately that is all I've got.

Good Luck, Dar

4ducksrus · Feb 25, 2011

Thanks Dar for your input. I think we will try and figure something out. I'm not planning on driving it for very long distances so it probably isn't a major issue but I think I'd like something temporary for when I do. The seat does go down a little more and I need to play with that. I was a little nervous because it was the first time I drove it alone, (taking it to the repair shop

) and I didn't try and lower the seat to see if that would help. When we get it back, I'll try that and see if that will help. As for the block for the left foot, do you have it secured down? I'm thinking a 4x6 block of wood, as long as it doesn't move!!!

Dar · Feb 25, 2011

4ducksrus said:
I didn't try and lower the seat to see if that would help

When I sat in the Meridian I was not able to get the seat down far enough but the front bottom does tilt forward which was extremely helpful for leg reach. Oddly enough the Journey seat was more agreeable and seemed to be the same design, I think it had less stuffing or something. I do the same thing with our current setup, just tilt the bottom front down as far as it will go in addition to dropping the base.

4ducksrus said:
As for the block for the left foot, do you have it secured down? I'm thinking a 4x6 block of wood, as long as it doesn't move!!!

We put it on a non-skid pad (thick shelf liner type) and have a hole drilled to secure it to the base of the chair via small cable. We also have carpeting lodged around/over it, not only can you not see it, it's kinda cramed so it can't move severely. I think all this was easier because we have a drivers door that allowed us easier access to the floor board area but I am sure you can still pull it off.

Good for you for taking the coach out by yourself, that's the way to gain confidence and practice. Next time make sure you make time for the seat, I'm sure you were anxcious enough w/o having the stress of reaching pedals, eeks!

Let us know what you work out!
Dar

Utclmjmpr · Feb 25, 2011

The six way seat in my American Tradition is very handy for DW (5') and I (5'11") by placing a full height firm pillow behind DW she does fine.>>>Dan

bucks2 · Feb 26, 2011

Our seat moves forward, up/down and the pedals move backward to accomodate my 5' wife, but I can't get her to drive. Well, I should say I can't get her to sit in the seat and work the pedals and the wheel. She's much more comfortable driving from the other seat. My experience with short people driving large vehicles is that a good support behind the back to move them forward works better than pedal extensions that might move.

Seat and Pedal adjustments?

4ducksrus

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Dar

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4ducksrus

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