DRW or SRW?

[Mace Canute]

Does the Arrowcraft kit make a SRW mechanically the same as a factory DRW?

I just had a look at their site and it appears that on the rear, they simply add an extra tire and a fender to cover it . I am not up to date on the newer trucks but I do know the older one ton Chevy dualies had larger brake drums than the single wheel one tons and I am fairly sure that they had heavier wheel bearings also. (According to a Journeynman Mechanic friend who has a one tone duallie it does) Likely heavier springs also and the rear axle load rating was probably correspondingly higher. (I have a 1980 Chevy 4x4 and it has the large 14 bolt corporate rearend in it, full floater and removable pinion support...the one ton SRW rearend).

There is no way the Arrowcraft duallie kit can increase your rear axle capacity beyond what the truck has from the factory. Can it improve stability? Maybe! I think there's a LOT of variables that influence that and I wouldn't be surprised that what works well for one, doesn't work all that well for another. At the least they give the impression you have a dualie.

 

[Diamondpilot]

Does the Arrowcraft kit make a SRW mechanically the same as a factory DRW? Interesting they're located in Michigan, based on this thread I'd have guessed Arizona or Southern California or anywhere but the snow belt.

Most of the 1 tons around here are DRW as are the county and state plow trucks and I've never seen a SRW tractor trailer around here. Never saw one on our drive out to Denver and back in the Fall of 2008. I don't spend much time at the airport in the winter, so I can't say what they use there.

Mike, not sure where you live but I would guess PA. Actaully the first place I saw and got to ride in a SRW plow truck was in PA at the Bradford Airport just about 60 miles south of Buffalo in the snow belt. I could not believe the amount of snow it was moving and with the big wing plow it was truly amazing to me. A few years later I started seeing them show up in Indiana at airports and now in our county. I believe they are made by Oshkosh and have large military type tires like a big 6 wheeled troop transport used in the desert.

As for the SRW tractor trailers they are all converting over around here and the trip I took this weekend was on I70, at least 200 miles of the round trip. I saw tons of them. I think it all has to do with wheel tax, atleast that is what I was told. The tax is so high that a guy can buy all new wide tires and wheels and break even over replacing the duals on a tractor or trailer. After that its money in the bank for the truck operator.

Chris

 

[Bird]

I do know the older one ton Chevy dualies had larger brake drums than the single wheel one tons and I am fairly sure that they had heavier wheel bearings also.

That was true of my 1988 SRW and 1989 DRW Chevys. One of my brothers converted his 1988 Chevy Suburban to a dually to pull a travel trailer, but I don't think that was a particularly good idea. People have been doing things like that about as long as I can remember. My best friend in high school had a couple of older brothers who had converted their half ton pickups to duallys.

As for the blow out issue my fear would be the front tire blowing not the rear.

Chris, in the days before power steering, front tire blowout was a legitimate fear on a lot of vehicles and may still be on big trucks, but on pickup trucks, especially if loaded, rear tire blowout is more dangerous. As far back as 1972, I found a book in the Transportation Library at Northwestern University on a study or survey of camper accidents (slide-in pickup campers) in which they found many, many rollovers from rear tire blowouts, but I don't remember any from front wheel blowouts. So I traded the 10.5' slide-in I had on my 3/4 ton 1971 Chevy for a 24' travel trailer.:laughing:

 

[Diamondpilot]

I can see where a tire blow out could be a issue when you are in a high CG situation like with a slide in camper. I am sure its more prone to happen on the rears due to the load being carried but seems to me there would be the same danger with either a front or rear blowing. It just may be the rears are more common due to the extra weight and if so that is a situation where a dually would be a wise choice.

As for dually conversions about 5-6 years ago I pulled out a Dually Ford Ranger. Yes, a Ranger. The truck had a bed similar to what a dog catcher would have and the guy was in our area doing water samples. It was his work truck. He said they had a fleet of them but it was the first and last I have seen.

He had pulled off the side of the road and got stuck. It was not bad but the harder he tried to get it out the worse it got. I was on my way to work and I saw the truck sitting in the ditch with mud all over the side. I then saw a guy about 1/4 mile down the road walking back to it with 2 5 gallon buckets full of gravel. He was tired. He had walked to a area to get the gravel to try to get out. I am not sure why he just did not call someone to help, maybe he was embarrassed he got stuck. Anyway, I stopped and had him sit down the buckets and get in my F-250 I was driving at the time and we went and pulled him out. Did not take much, another 2 wheel drive Ranger would have gotten him out because I was able to pull from the road.

Chris

 

[Mike Costello]

I have a a 04 F350 SRW crewcab diesel with 4WD. It gets used for just about everything that needs to be pulled. I also have a 31' 5th wheel that comes in at about 12000lbs loaded and the truck does a fine job of hauling it down the road. Uphill or downhill, it doesnt matter--very stable.
As for snow, on Saturday, I made a run home from Kansas City Airport in conditions that only got worse as I got closer to home. I saw many cars and trucks in the freeway medians and in ditches. The guy in front of me driving a 2WD p/u slid sideways twice on me. The last 40 miles--no road surface visable: even the snow plows got off the freeway. Careful driving and 4WD got us home safely.
While DRW's have their place, I wouldn't want one due to the many reasons stated in this thread, all valid. Their great for highway hauling--most of the farmers around here use them as stock haulers, but the stock trailers hardly ever come off the back of those dually's. Mike.

 

[Skyco]

Good point, but..... Let's take this from memory and make a bit of a generalization.

An OEM SRW truck will come with something like a 6000 pound rear axle with tires and springs to match that approximate figure. An OEM DRW truck has a rear axle rating near 7500 pounds with tires and springs to match, usually increasing the GVW or at least the rear GAWR. Therefore, the DRW will have stiffer springs and better roll resistance. The DRW may also come with a rear anti-sway bar that will also enhance roll stability. So an add-on kit isn't worth much.

My SRW truck came with factory sway bars front and rear. Springs were super stiff and I added air bags. No roll at all from suspension give.
As I said I added the duals for safety if a tire blew. No stability was added at all by the dual kit.

And that was my whole point- I don't think dual tires adds any "stability" as the percieved lack of such isn't from tire flex. All the other perceived lack of stabilty can be remedied without going to duals, stiffer springs, air bags, sway bars etc. BTW in 96 the Ford dually trucks had individual tire capacity ratings LESS than the SRW trucks, they were also smaller tires, 215x16 vs 235x16.

 

[jayste]

I bought a DRW F350 for pulling trailers and using around the place. Since then I've sold my 7 1/2' wide X 30' horse trailer and now have only the 6' wide X 20' stock trailer (both gooseneck) and my SRW F250 does just fine. My F250 pulled the old trailer fine but I thought the DRW would give me more stability. I'm thinking the SRW F350 would be the ticket for me.