Do I really need a dually?

[chuckster57]

CCLB dually makes We travel with a dog and cat and most often her sister.

[sonofcy]

4 tires carry more weight than 2 tires. Not double due to weight of wheels etc. Check 25% of trailer fully loaded GVWR and see what fits. I like the stability, bigger brakes, tighter turning radius of my daily driver 17 F450. Because I live in lotus land, I sometimes need to park further away due to small size of parking spaces here but I just consider that a free workout. I am full time and have lots of time to walk the extra distance.

[idcruiserman]

I found no downside to having a dually. Well, when buying tires.

[cookinwitdiesel]

If you are buying a dually and pulling a big trailer with it, odds are a couple more tires every few years aren't breaking the piggy bank

[sonofcy]

My F450 came with Continental 19.5" commercial grade tires. They will age out long before they ever wear out. Warranty is 7 years. Just another advantage of 450 over 350.

[LewisB]

Recommend you add these to your "plus" list for DRW:
> If you are under age 70, your next trailer will likely be bigger!
> If you ever ride in a side X side, you will want one and you will end up with a toy hauler. This is important because it means that your "cargo" weight will jump by 1500-2000 pounds.
> At some point as your trailers get bigger, you will want an auxiliary fuel tank. Ours is 90 gallons which add about 650 pounds cargo weight to your TV.
> If you ever get a low or flat rear tire, you will experience a little loss of stability but will be able to drive to the repair location. Quite different with SRW.
> With DRW, you have to park farther out in the lot which means you will get to walk a bit farther which is good for your health.
> With DRW, the DW is likely not going to want to use it as HER daily driver.

From experience, we started camping off the back of my motorcycle. That grew to tent camping from car, to tent camping with utility trailer, to tent trailer camping, to pull trailer camping, to 5th wheel with SRW pick-up, to 5th wheel pulling cargo trailer (doubles), to our current toy hauler with DRW pick-up. Our current CVWR is almost 28,000. Now, camping is with 3 tv's, 2 bath rooms, a king bed, and a 50" TV. I'd bet there are a lot of forum members who would echo this progression. It has been a wonderful experience through which we raised our kids and have seen a significant amount of this wonderful country called America!

I strongly recommend the DRW - I think at some point you will ultimately wish you would have saved the cost of another new truck by spending just a bit more when buying this one. We love our dually!

[Fuzion315]

At the risk of piling on, we have indeed experienced the same progression as LewisB. I also fully agree with the DRW recommendation. I love the stability the DRW adds to the towing experience. I also like the turning radius of the 2018 RAM versus the old Ford '06 F350 SRW (8' bed). The Ford was awful. The Ram is actually no problem in city traffic in every day driving. We love our 2018 RAM 3500 DRW.

[Hamops]

I have a '06 Chevy 2500HD DMax, and I'm thinking of adding a dually kit. I have no intention of trying to increase my GVWR, but instead distribute the increased weight of my trailer over 4 tires instead of 2. I've had one rear tire blowout and I attribute it too much weight on the single tire. The blowout occurred on a very hot day. I suspect the blowout was caused by both heat and pressure build up in the tire.

[mcomeaux]

Myself I cut the chase after a SRW and acquired a 3500 Dodge DRW 3.73 Aisin Trans and day and night difference in towing. Either make of diesel SRW will pull the weight but it's what you put over the rear wheels. I've also read and heard stories where some have exceeded gross vehicle weight and put themselves in a gray area with insurance when a accident occurs. Operating outside of perimeters....

[BRB Rig]

We did a lot of research, test driving, and brand comparison before we bought our 2016 GMC Sierra 3500HD Turbo Diesel 6.6 Duramax crew cab DRW with 12K miles. It drives like a car and tows like a beast. Since December, we’ve towed our hauler 9K miles and we LOVE the power, comfort, and dependability. We are happy that we didn’t go with an SRW. Our hauler weighs a total of 16.5K lbs. Good luck!

[mlarryeliz]

One more vote for the drw. I tow a 14k# gvwr Sprinter with my f350 drw and it hums along at 65mph. Contrast that to a f150 that I previously owned towing a 6k# flagstaff and the experience was completely different. Drw really “plants” the rear end with excellent stability and unaffected by passing semis and crosswinds. I own a ‘19 f350 outfitted for comfortable highway travel. Travel with the 5er is an absolute pleasure!! Like I said, nothing new here, it’s all been said!!

[rhagfo]

Originally Posted by BRB Rig

We did a lot of research, test driving, and brand comparison before we bought our 2016 GMC Sierra 3500HD Turbo Diesel 6.6 Duramax crew cab DRW with 12K miles. It drives like a car and tows like a beast. Since December, we’ve towed our hauler 9K miles and we LOVE the power, comfort, and dependability. We are happy that we didn’t go with an SRW. Our hauler weighs a total of 16.5K lbs. Good luck!

I find it interesting that you did a bunch of research and bought the DRW with the lowest GVWR and towing capacity.
The GM DRW max out at 13,025# GVWR where both Ford and Ram have 14,000# GVWR, that is about 1,000# less than the other two.

[cookinwitdiesel]

And yet, still more than enough for most use cases. I prefer the GM interior and Allison transmission personally.

[BRB Rig]

Originally Posted by rhagfo

I find it interesting that you did a bunch of research and bought the DRW with the lowest GVWR and towing capacity.
The GM DRW max out at 13,025# GVWR where both Ford and Ram have 14,000# GVWR, that is about 1,000# less than the other two.

Not sure where you are getting your numbers. Our truck is rated by GMC to safely tow up to 23,300 lbs.

[cookinwitdiesel]

Originally Posted by BRB Rig

Not sure where you are getting your numbers. Our truck is rated by GMC to safely tow up to 23,300 lbs.

And the other two are over 30k if I remember right, and their payloads are about 1k higher. BUT, they do not drive as well empty and other preferences such as I stated above (styling, interior, transmission, etc)

[rhagfo]

Originally Posted by BRB Rig

Not sure where you are getting your numbers. Our truck is rated by GMC to safely tow up to 23,300 lbs.

Well once again your research failed you! Not so much what you can pull, you need to be able to carry the pin weight. A 23,300# 5er tandem axle would have about a 4,500# pin, likely more than the listed payload on your yellow sticker.
My 2016 Ram 3500 is rated between 25,000# to 28,000# don’t have the chart right now, but I would be hard pressed to carry the pin of a 28,000# tandem axle 5er, even with a 5,411# payload.

[cookinwitdiesel]

Originally Posted by rhagfo

Well once again your research failed you! Not so much what you can pull, you need to be able to carry the pin weight. A 23,300# 5er tandem axle would have about a 4,500# pin, likely more than the listed payload on your yellow sticker.

My 2016 Ram 3500 is rated between 25,000# to 28,000# don’t have the chart right now, but I would be hard pressed to carry the pin of a 28,000# tandem axle 5er, even with a 5,411# payload.

You would also be very hard pressed to find a 5er that weighs even 23k pounds. Most top out around 17k with triple axle you haulers going up to 20k. Which is why the GM is fine despite it's lower rating.

[Frederick]

I have pulled all my 5th wheels with F-250 then the F-350 6.7 D SRD and have had no problems the DRW dont fit well in some parking areas cant use the car wash just my opinion but I only pull with the Ford brand 6.7 D is the best of the bunch

[Laredo Tugger]

OK Boys,
The "my truck is better" verbiage is not productive.
As far as I am concerned, everyone on here has the perfect TV, why? Because it is theirs and they own every aspect of it's performance. If they are happy,safe and legal that's all that matters. Right?
Not worth it to argue over tow numbers,motor performance or transmissions.
If someone is happy with his rig,great.
How many times have you heard the perfect TV has a Ford suspension, a Chevy transmission (Allison) and a Ram motor (Cummings) ?
So there. We all own one third of a perfect tow vehicle.
BRB Rig congrats on your "new" DRW.
RMc

[notanlines]

I believe it was some guy named Heywood who said “The most deluded people are those who choose to ignore what they already know.”
Telling the owners they haven’t enough truck usually just hurts their little feelings. But some will take it to heart and be safer.