Is a dually needed?

[slowzuki]

I happen to like my srw 1 ton, I'd be happy with that trailer as a 5v'er on my truck, but part of it is the snow here. The only thing worse than an unloaded 2wd pickup in snow is a 2wd dually in snow. In terms of stability, big rims with shorter sidewalls all bring a SRW close to DRW feel but requires you to buy rims and tires.

If you are putting on big miles with little snow, a dually would be the way to go. No question. The length of the truck will cause more problems than the DRW. Our SRW is a long box crew so it doesn't turn tight. Downtown of old cities and tight drive throughs are not always fun. Wife won't drive it for that reason.

 

[EddieWalker]

Back in the 90's I had an 98 F250 powerstroke diesel with the single rear wheel and my brother had a 97 F250 powerstoke diesel dually. They where pretty much identical trucks, both had extra cab and 8 ft beds. He had horses and towed a gooseneck trailer just about every weekend. I rarely towed anything, but when I did, I liked to trade trucks with him because of how much more stable his was over mine. Same thing with a heavy load of gravel. If I wanted a yard of gravel or sand, I found that his truck handled the same with or without the load. Mine got squirrely. Empty, his seemed to have a rougher ride, but he had captains chairs and I had the bench seat. Loaded, his was night and day better then my truck.

Eddie

 

[Diamondpilot]

At what weight range does one normally need to go to a dually vs a single axle HD p/u?
I was looking at Winnebago's new fifth wheel, I think their first, and wondered for 15,500, say 16,000
I'm clearly looking at a diesel, but for safety, stability, and towing ease, is a dually necessary?
Those double tires make the truck challenging to use when not towing...
So maybe I'll ask this another way, can one safely tow, with a little reserve, an 8 ton fifth wheel with
an F350 or GM equiv with single rear tires?

Winnebago Destination — Winnebago Towables

thanks. I never like to run too close to the limit/line...my insurance background. Safety first.

I pulled those weights for 15 years using SRW Ford F250 and F350's along with a 3500 SRW Dmax for a few months. No issues at all. I pull upto 25000# with my current F350, a 2006, and a 1999 I had.

I had a GMC dually and hated it for the reasons you state and a hand full of other reasons.

Chris

 

[Diamondpilot]

2 bags of groceries in the bed Just because duallies LOOK good

Remember "towing" has 2 primary forces - going forward and backward, and then sideways with wind, turns etc.

If your looking at new I'm sure any SRW with the proper tow capacity will WORK when used within guidelines of speed and safety (i.e. don't do 100 around sharp curves).

I've only had (thankfully) one major incident with loss of a wheel (snapped off the axle!) on a U-Haul. It was a car dolly with a Civic. The wheel ended up plowing a 8" deep furrow in the side of the road before I got to a stop. Never once felt a pull on the wheel, just heard a scraping sound. It convinced me that a dually not only looks good to me.

In my case I felt I needed the dually for the payload capacity, on my 2002 F350 a SRW would carry 1,900lbs, a DRW 3,100 lbs.

So for example when I dropped this 1300lb planar in the back
<img src="http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=357738"/>

I had capacity left to load the cab and put my trailer on the back. When I go to put logs in the back 1,000lbs means another 10' log.

And yes they are a pain in parking lots that are painted for Honda fits.

/edit - you didn't mention fuel choice - diesel sounds better.

My 2006 F350 with SRW and the 11,500# gvwr package has 3,900# of payload. It handled 60 bags of Sac Crete just fine.

Chris

 

[daugen]

one thing for sure, it's hard to find a nice fairly priced used dually around here. Very scarce, and with my luck, I'd get the wrong Powerstroke, wasn't one of them a serious problem? But ordering one new is sixty grand...I just can not justify that for my retired use, even if I am about to buy a larger property.
I'd rather buy a bigger tractor...

So realistically I am looking used, and I plugged in forty grand in autotrader.com and surprisingly little came up. and plug in thirty grand and one goes back more than ten years...these DRW trucks must sure hold their value well. Is there a trick for searching for duallys without using dually as a key word? I bet I'm missing trucks...
so I guess I'll have to go through all the diesel trucks to find them.

No matter what, I'm not doing this until the Fall. But i start researching early...and I was going to get a new p/u when I got back from my rv trip anyway.
Maybe it should have six tires on it...
But if I bought E rated Michelins, something really good, and went SRW, and made sure to pump and let down the pressure, I'm still tempted. Our spaces aren't that wide open here...

well, I have plenty of time to think about it, but I will start keeping my eye out for a nice used truck with low miles. My challenge is most of them are either utilitarian or blinged out, nothing in the middle. Actually the fancy ones are the best deal used, their inflated prices should drop the most. But some of them are a little too circus waggony for me. Too much chrome... But if one buys used, one can't be so picky.
Chevy, Ford or Dodge, nothing new here, they all are good, the Chevy likely a little more powerful, but I'm told the Fords really tow well.
bet there would be a few opinions voiced on that...

 

[newbury]

My 2006 F350 with SRW and the 11,500# gvwr package has 3,900# of payload. It handled 60 bags of Sac Crete just fine.

Chris

My point was that DRW almost always has a greater payload capacity than SRW.
For example 2014 Ford 250/350 SRW greatest payload capacity 4,930 lbs. DRW 7,260 lbs. 2014 Ford Super Duty | View Payload Specifications | Ford.com

I don't know where to quickly look it up but if you had a 2006 F350 DRW it could probably have a much greater payload capacity than 3,900 lbs.

/edit - at what point do we stop calling them 1 ton trucks when they almost carry 4 tons?

 

[dodge man]

In my area you can pick up a really nice late model dually for 30 to 40k. I wouldn't think you would have to pay much more than that. Do you do any of your own wrenching? If you do, you can pick up something older for a lot less. I bought my truck for about 20k two years ago. Its a 3/4 ton with a Cummins, and had about 100,000 miles on it. I haven't had to mess with the transmission or engine, but have done things like brakes, shocks, and change all the fluids. I wouldn't be afraid to drive anywhere in it.

Its the Ford 6.0 that has earned a bad reputation is some circles.

 

[Fordman1981]

one thing for sure, it's hard to find a nice fairly priced used dually around here. Very scarce, and with my luck, I'd get the wrong Powerstroke, wasn't one of them a serious problem? But ordering one new is sixty grand...I just can not justify that for my retired use, even if I am about to buy a larger property.
I'd rather buy a bigger tractor...

So realistically I am looking used, and I plugged in forty grand in autotrader.com and surprisingly little came up. and plug in thirty grand and one goes back more than ten years...these DRW trucks must sure hold their value well. Is there a trick for searching for duallys without using dually as a key word? I bet I'm missing trucks...
so I guess I'll have to go through all the diesel trucks to find them.

No matter what, I'm not doing this until the Fall. But i start researching early...and I was going to get a new p/u when I got back from my rv trip anyway.
Maybe it should have six tires on it...
But if I bought E rated Michelins, something really good, and went SRW, and made sure to pump and let down the pressure, I'm still tempted. Our spaces aren't that wide open here...

well, I have plenty of time to think about it, but I will start keeping my eye out for a nice used truck with low miles. My challenge is most of them are either utilitarian or blinged out, nothing in the middle. Actually the fancy ones are the best deal used, their inflated prices should drop the most. But some of them are a little too circus waggony for me. Too much chrome... But if one buys used, one can't be so picky.
Chevy, Ford or Dodge, nothing new here, they all are good, the Chevy likely a little more powerful, but I'm told the Fords really tow well.
bet there would be a few opinions voiced on that...

New is not out of the question 88 miles from you zip code 2013 Ram 3500 ST 4x4 For Sale | Port Jervis NY . $37k new and you can probably get it for less than that being the 2014's are on the lots. It's and ST or tradesman but they are nicer than they used to be. Just letting you know if you look and shop well you can find extremely good deals on new ones.

 

[daugen]

Just letting you know if you look and shop well you can find extremely good deals on new ones.[/QUOTE]

thanks Fordman, my default search I think was only 25 miles and that clearly is not going to cut it. Just need to drive a little further to find it.
but I do have to say, I don't want something that looks like a plumber's truck...

 

[Fordman1981]

Just letting you know if you look and shop well you can find extremely good deals on new ones.

thanks Fordman, my default search I think was only 25 miles and that clearly is not going to cut it. Just need to drive a little further to find it.
but I do have to say, I don't want something that looks like a plumber's truck...[/QUOTE]

Confused by this? Does it look like a plumber's truck because it's white? or because it's and ST? My 2012 is and ST level with the chrome appearance group and maybe the convince group. Don't remember right now but I have factory nav, cruise control, power door locks, power windows, very comfortable cloth seats. I had a 2008 for F350 Lariat before my 2012 ram and I have to say I think it ride much better than the 08 ford. I have made several 1000 mile trips with the truck empty and fully loaded it doesn't wear you out driving it.

Just looked a little more there are still some 2012 Dually's left if you want one without the DEF fluid. They are only showing sticker price on them but you know that you can get a heck of a deal on a 2 model year old new truck.