How important is 4WD on a duallie?

[tlbuser]

depends on where you want to go that you probably shouldn't I don't like buying non 4wd, non dually trucks. Towing stability is made better with a wider rear stance. As for mud and snow, loosing traction is, IMO, a weight problem not a drw issue. Throw some weight on the back and it'll go. All else fails, drop two tires and go as a SRW. I'd like to see them other guys do that

When we had some rollback trucks (DRW, 2 WD), a foot of snow was difficult to navigate until you put weight on. Put weight on and they were darn near unstoppable (in a good way). We'd winch other fools out of the mud, we didn't play in it for fun.

 

[JDgreen227]

Nowhere here do I see any inkling of just HOW MUCH anybody, especially OP, drives in or actually uses 4WD!!! We get a lot of snow here, and I drive my Yukon XL in the winter, with the rear locker, and me putting less than 2000 miles a year on it, there are years I never bother to engage 4wd at all. Yet, there have been times that I actually NEEDED 4wd and IMO, having it then made it worth not needing it the other 99% of the time.

I drove commercial straight trucks for 31 years, all were duallies on the rear. In any kind of slippery conditions, the trucks with aggressive rear tires way, way outperformed the trucks with rib tread tires on the back, and gave me a lot more confidence in where I could go. To me, basically, that is the difference in having 4wd vs 2wd. MORE TRACTION.

"Better to have it and not need it, than need it and not have it"

Given your description of your intended uses, GET THE ADDITIONAL TRACTION.

 

[Deere Dude]

Before I bought a truck to tow a fifth wheel camper I asked a friend who had one, along with a Dodge 2WD diesel dually truck and used to go to Colorado for the summers what advice he could give me. I don't remember everything he told me, but I do remember him saying to make sure it is a 4WD, because he got stuck a couple time with his beside the road.
I ended up getting diesel GMC 4WD dually at the time. The diesel didn't have as much power as I wanted but I was and still am sold on the 4WD. I can put it in 4 Wheel low range and back a camper up all day long without getting the transmission hot. I got stuck maybe 6-10 times where I just hit a button and walk out of it.

But they do get stuck. I had a new half to GMC when we had a foot of heavy snow and I felt like playing with it. I drove in 2WD off the road onto a level field with 12" of snow and I wanted to see how far I could get before it stopped. Then I would just put it in 4WD and walk out of it. But it didn't happen like I thought it would. It didn't move an inch and had to take the walk of shame :ashamed:to get my monster truck with the big knobby tires to pull it our. Lesson learned there.

For DRW, I bought it mainly because they look cool and I had an extra thousand to use to look cool. :thumbsup:

Not everybody likes them or needs them, but they sure got popular around Wisconsin since 1990. I got a truck camper that weighed probably approx. 5,000 pounds and I felt a lot more confident with a dually under it on turns and mountain curves and heavy cross winds that with 2 wheels under it.

Now I pull a 37' 17000# fifth wheel with a 3500# hitch weight and the rear hardly squats, but for an inch or two. I can load it up with firewood and hook the trailer up to it and don't worry one bit, and on corners and high side winds, it tracks nice.

In the winter, I would say a dually is probably 10% worse in snow than a 4 wheel truck, but it's still worth it to me.
If I was only going to load it with firewood or pull not a overly huge trailer, I would probably go with 4WD and non-dually.

 

[Diamondpilot]

Maybe the GMC had more torque than your Lightning, or the Civic..This has nothing to do with brand, my GMC will smoke 'em on a concrete driveway going up hill if I'm not careful, just sayin

The Honda would make it because it was front wheel drive and had weight over the Pulling Wheels.

There is no way that 454 had more power than my Lightning. Back in them days the 454 was rated at 230HP and 385 FT TQ if I remember right. I know the 1997 5.4L F-150 I had at the time was about the same power as that truck, granted the 454 made a little more low end grunt.

I think that era 5.4L Ford was 260 HP and 350 FT TQ.

Both the GM and the Ford were regular cab 4x4. Both had 4.10 gears, but the F-150 was a 1/2 ton short bed and the GMC was a Long Bed Dually.

Chris

 

[Turbys_1700]

All good comments here...

I drive a F350 4x4 crew cab duallie...

Positives:
1. Last of the 7.3 diesels...
2. Very stable...
3. Lots of room...

Negatives:
1. Lots of room required to park and turn...
2. Added cost of 6 tires versus 4...

I plan on keeping my truck for a long time...

It's paid for and in great shape...

It is not the easiest thing to drive around town, but I know that it will handle most all towing and hauling situations that I will need currently or in the future...

I like the 4WD better than 2WD for all the reasons listed...

 

[JDgreen227]

All good comments here...

I drive a F350 4x4 crew cab duallie...

Positives:
1. Last of the 7.3 diesels...
2. Very stable...
3. Lots of room...

Negatives:
1. Lots of room required to park and turn...
2. Added cost of 6 tires versus 4...

I plan on keeping my truck for a long time...

It's paid for and in great shape...

It is not the easiest thing to drive around town, but I know that it will handle most all towing and hauling situations that I will need currently or in the future...

I like the 4WD better than 2WD for all the reasons listed...

May be a dumb observation, but if you have 6 tires instead of 4, doesn't that mean each of the 6 will carry less weight (especially the rears) and by regular rotations you will actually get more tire mileage over an identical size and weight truck with 4 tires?

If you think I am wrong, say so...:laughing:

 

[Turbys_1700]

My mileage has been the same for the tires in question...

 

[jeffsw6]

Nowhere here do I see any inkling of just HOW MUCH anybody, especially OP, drives in or actually uses 4WD!!!

I thought I posted this, but maybe I didn't. I work outside a lot during summer and sometimes there is pavement all the way to the stage, sometimes there isn't (at least once a week.) When there isn't I have plenty of equipment that is not meant to be pushed across grass, so I really need to be able to park my trailer as close as possible to where that equipment is being setup, otherwise it will be manual labor pushing heavy things on hard casters across wet grass, and that is really hard to do!

I uploaded a picture of some of it (there's way more not in the picture.) If you click it you see that #7, a case on casters full of amplifiers. That case weighs 300# and it is basically impossible to push it across grass without two guys. Those large subwoofers are on similar casters and weigh about 170#. Plus carrying all those small items a few dozen more feet, it doesn't sound like a lot of work, but try doing it a few times a week for a whole summer, and you too would appreciate the utility of 4WD allowing you to park your truck as close as possible!

I use my 4WD for real work on a routine basis. If you can push a 4000# trailer up a wet, grassy hill in reverse without doing any damage to the customer's grass and without using 4WD, you must have a better truck than me or more skill on the pedals. 4WD saves me time and money!

 

[Duffster]

F550 is 19,500 GVWR

As for CDL, as long as the truck is under CDL (26k) and not a primary use as tow vehicle (set up like a tractor with no bed), you shouldn't have to worry about a CDL. That said, ask 10 different DOT/Transport Police people and you'll likely get 11 different answers...

This is way off base.

Many truck that are otherwise "under CDL" become "over CDL" by hooking a substantial enough trailer to it. Whether or not it has a bed means nothing.

 

[Duffster]

Honestly I have no idea why Dodge rates their truck this way as I was considering one but not any more.

Probably because it doesn't matter to 99% of people. They are either exempt or towing more then the 14k putting them over 26k anyway.