Big city living... specifically LA

[Bdersch]

Heres a fun question to stir some conversation... I currently have a 2016 ram 1500 quad cab with 33" tires on 20x12 rims. So i am going to be travel nursing around the US come this summer. The first stop is Los Angeles. Now ive been to California but when i did i had a rental car and had no issues. So my truck now is PTA to park and i cant park with a car directly behind me in some lots cause i know i wont be able to back out. I am also too tall for 1/2 the parking garages i approach or too long to make the turns. So my girlfriend tossed the idea around of getting a newer cherokee or wrangler that i like and using that until we stop traveling and then i can buy a really nice truck. I am struggling finding a good deal. I really like both the wranglers and the cherokees.
But i wonder if i go back to a smaller and less wide set of tires for my truck and put a backup camera on it how practical itll be to keep it? Any thoughts?
do any of you commute in a ram in the city? How do you manage? Whats the actual practicalness?
I mean i really like my truck and would be sad to go to an SUV. A wrangler would help though...

 

[Ratket]

It’s La - it’s gonna suck no matter what.

 

[Bdersch]

Lol thats true but its what my girlfriend and I want to do.

 

[Ratket]

Ram or Jeep traffic and parking and pricing is going to be horrible.

 

[Ravjay12]

Get a Prius!
You’ll thank me later with all the traffic you’ll be sitting in.

 

[Mr.AK902]

Keep the truck and grab the subway...

 

[Kap1]

It won't be an issue for you as long as you don't make it an issue. When you're parking in the city, it's normal to spend a bit of time looking for parking. It's same as driving a long distance to a major supermarket when you live in suburbs... It's normal.

I work in San Francisco, and drive my 1500 QC without any problems. I do work at offices and businesses, so I drive my truck all around the downtown and other areas of the city. I park around downtown and city several times a day...

Yes, half the times I can't fit into half of the garages around downtown, and most of the time garages will charge you for oversize car but it's not a big deal. I can always park outside on a parking meter or elsewhere.

The only challenge is fitting into the parking garages, I need at least 6-11 height as I have a camper shell with a rack. Parking on meters is plenty of room, and spots where you really need to squeeze in, I get success rate of about 80% so having a QC truck isn't a problem at all.

In San Francisco downtown , I can use all yellow and red parking meters which are for commercial use, and use commercial roads and turns, because all trucks are considered commercial. See if it's the same in LA. It's a huge advantage for having a truck in sf downtown.

Just allow yourself a bit of extra time to drive around and find a good place to park. Mpg is about 13 for me.

You'll loose tons of money on switching between cars and any savings will never pay off.

 

[AzRamLover]

Where in LA do you foresee having to drive and park?

If you're going downtown with a full size truck you're going to have a bad time.

If you're just doing some freeways and out to the burbs (e.g. Irvine, Rowland Heights, etc.), it'll be inconvenient but OK.

More importantly, how long do you plan to be in high density LA? Swapping vehicles is prohibitively expensive and keeps you indebted longer.

It might be cheaper to just rent a little commuter POS in downtown LA for 3 moths compared to selling your truck, buying a jeep, selling the jeep after your stint is over, and then buying another truck.

 

[Addicted2fishing]

Move to Canada. Nurses make almost 100K and you can keep your truck [emoji12]


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[JSVT3]

Tel

Move to Canada. Nurses make almost 100K and you can keep your truck [emoji12]


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Tell me more about this! My wife and I love Canada and we are both nurses.

 

[CanadianNick]

Lol nurses don’t make 100k here

 

[Ratket]

It won't be an issue for you as long as you don't make it an issue. When you're parking in the city, it's normal to spend a bit of time looking for parking. It's same as driving a long distance to a major supermarket when you live in suburbs... It's normal.

I work in San Francisco, and drive my 1500 QC without any problems. I do work at offices and businesses, so I drive my truck all around the downtown and other areas of the city. I park around downtown and city several times a day...

Yes, half the times I can't fit into half of the garages around downtown, and most of the time garages will charge you for oversize car but it's not a big deal. I can always park outside on a parking meter or elsewhere.

The only challenge is fitting into the parking garages, I need at least 6-11 height as I have a camper shell with a rack. Parking on meters is plenty of room, and spots where you really need to squeeze in, I get success rate of about 80% so having a QC truck isn't a problem at all.

In San Francisco downtown , I can use all yellow and red parking meters which are for commercial use, and use commercial roads and turns, because all trucks are considered commercial. See if it's the same in LA. It's a huge advantage for having a truck in sf downtown.

Just allow yourself a bit of extra time to drive around and find a good place to park. Mpg is about 13 for me.

You'll loose tons of money on switching between cars and any savings will never pay off.

^ pretty good info-
I know any truck plated in Cali “ with out a shell” is considered commercial.
OP- word of advise, if you can keep your truck plated for your home state as long as possible. Registration in Cali isn’t cheep, and I believe in LA you have to smog every year.

 

[KSH]

I had a 1500 crew cab, live in LA, never had a problem parking. Now have a 2500 Mega cab with 6.4 bed. Parallel park without an issue. Don't go in some garages. But that 1500 qc wouldn't be a problem anywhere...

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[MarshRam]

Back into your parking spaces, it is much easier getting in and out. Whatever you drive in LA sucks, bottom line, lived that way for 13 years. And word of advice while you are there, don't signal to other drivers that you want to change lanes, they will never let you over as they have figured out that will delay them to their destination by at least 1/10th of a second, which in Cali mentality time is like 3 hours.

 

[Ratket]

^^
This-
I pulled out yesterday from a hospital and a Cali plated Mercedes left the stop sign headed towards me, she should of just had to coast to give me time to get out of her way but since she honked and threw her hands in the air I took my sweet fckn time and just smiled and waived. Not like she is going to hit my truck.

 

[Kap1]

Really if you'll need to commute to a job on a daily basis, you will definitely find a good spot to park. It'll be tough the first couple times, but you'll find a spot or garage or a lot where to park.

 

[Purplert]

Question how long are you gonna actually be in Cali for..


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[Ravjay12]

^^
This-
I pulled out yesterday from a hospital and a Cali plated Mercedes left the stop sign headed towards me, she should of just had to coast to give me time to get out of her way but since she honked and threw her hands in the air I took my sweet fckn time and just smiled and waived. Not like she is going to hit my truck.

Ha ha! 27 years of living in LA I learned one thing commuting there: don’t ever use your signals to change lanes. You’ll never get over. You just have to cut off people if you want to get over.

 

[Addicted2fishing]

Tel

Tell me more about this! My wife and I love Canada and we are both nurses.

I think the nursing school is more intensive in Canada and not sure it carries over. But could be possible. Something to look into if you’re serious.

We have PRN’s Too make about $28 an hour. Nurses make about $40 per hour or more plus over time


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[Kap1]

Ha ha! 27 years of living in LA I learned one thing commuting there: don’t ever use your signals to change lanes. You’ll never get over. You just have to cut off people if you want to get over.

I've drove to LA a few dozen times for work and never had any issues changing lanes politely, slowly and while signaling. Even if they aren't letting me change, then I'll just cut over the next car.