Okay... Okay.. Okay... don't eat me alive, PLEASE! Just so you know I am a woman that is not "mechanically minded" :)Question.. I see that everyone and I do mean everyone says, dually, dually, dually.. But why? What does a dually do with the same engine that a single rear wheeled truck with the same engine does not?I have a single rear wheel 2012 Duramax 2500 and a 2009 F-550 that is a dually but I just haven't found the information that tells me the difference. I want to pull the toy hauler with the 2012 Duramax but like I said, everyone says dually is the way to go.Please advise...

Obviously, a dually can handle more load; both on the pin and oftentimes behind the truck. 1 ton SRW trucks are commonly rated a couple of thousand lbs. less on the rear axle than a comparable DRW 1 ton truck. That is why we went from an F350 SRW to a dually.Many here will also tell you they like the stability of the dually better. We had an F350 SRW and then bought an F450 dually. Pulling our Cyclone, I never had stability problems with either truck. The SRW truck pulled our big Cyclone through some wicked storms and it was as stable as what I have now. But that's just me.

A dually has 4 wheels/tires on the back axle.

As said, DRW is rated higher in GVWR and sometimes GCWR, both good when towing heavy.If you have a rear tire blow out with 4000lbs of pin weight, I would want 1 extra tire to help control the load until I got pulled over.More stable in the sway department with high winds and when you get passed by a semi doing 75mph.

There are many things that might be different between a SRW and a dually of the same brand.For instance the rear axle, tires, wheels brakes, springs. While some of those things may come from the same parts bins, meaning the same part numbers, some others may not. On your 2500 the wheels are definitely different. Same for the tires. Both of those things alone contribute to the lower rating.I do not own a newer GM product, thankfully. But i did have an earlier version with a GVWR sticker of 9200 pounds. That truck loaded ready to travel scaled at 7500 pounds. Hitching my fiver to it the scaled weight jumped to 10,500 pounds. Pulling and stopping were never an issue. Handling in the mountains was an issue. It felt at times like the trailer was pushing me. Switched to a dually pulling the same fiver and the handling is as different as night and day.Personally there is no way i would consider pulling a large toy hauler, or any large trailer for that matter without my dually.

Bottom line, check the acceptable load weight of your PU and the hitch weight of your toy hauler. If you are within the guidelines you are good to go.A dually will probably give you more of a false sense of security. Last year there was a post and some pictures of a 5ver pulled with a dually on I-80. Dually didn't help a bit. The cross wind ripped the 5ver out of the hitch and down the embankment. The 5ver was scrap. Of course the dually was OK except for tearing the hitch apart.

Difference between single rear wheel and dually rear wheel

Yellermanx
Explorer
May 20, 2013
Maybe I missed it but I didn't even see what size trailer she is towing. Everyone could be recommending pulling a 12 footer with a F-550. And many would.
Oaklevel
Explorer
May 20, 2013
travelmaybe wrote:
Okay... Okay.. Okay... don't eat me alive, PLEASE! Just so you know I am a woman that is not "mechanically minded" :)

Question.. I see that everyone and I do mean everyone says, dually, dually, dually.. But why? What does a dually do with the same engine that a single rear wheeled truck with the same engine does not?

I have a single rear wheel 2012 Duramax 2500 and a 2009 F-550 that is a dually but I just haven't found the information that tells me the difference. I want to pull the toy hauler with the 2012 Duramax but like I said, everyone says dually is the way to go.

Please advise...

The suspension / brakes / stability / axle can be a huge difference....... If you could pull the TH with either you can see real quickly why the duelly.

Its kind of like trying to pull a huge trailer with my Mustang or a truck that have the same 351 Cu In. motor LOL

Not saying your 2012 won't do it just (need to check your load ratings) it is just the duelly is more (More is better)
honda4us
Explorer
May 20, 2013
After towing our toy hauler with both, hands down the Dually makes for a much nicer drive. Can the SRW do it, sure in most cases, but you will arrive wore out from the drive, the Dually is just that much nicer.
fly-boy
Explorer
May 20, 2013
No question there are some pluses to owning/driving a srw- mostly convenience (parking) and cost savings (tires, fuel economy...) but these only really count if you are driving without a trailer.

Rarely do you hear someone complain they were hauling their trailer and their drw truck just made it too darn easy and comfortable. :)
tnd2
Explorer
May 20, 2013
Just to add a note on the stability. I bought my DRW before I 'needed' it, I was towing 8,000# regularly with a SRW truck and needed to replace the truck due to age, so I opted to grab the DRW and even though the old truck wasn't taxed out from either a tongue weight(it was a bumper pull flatbed trailer) or a gross weight issue, it was noticeable how much more comfortable towing was.

I also notice less door dings with the DRW, but that's probably due to parking in the healthy section(longest walk from the door) so I don't have to squeeze my fat butt(DRW) in a parking space.
2oldman
Explorer II
May 20, 2013
Advantage/disadvantage dually
dually or no 2011
More dually w/5er 2011
fj12ryder
Explorer III
May 20, 2013
Just step behind the truck and check out the overall wheelbase on the dually versus the single rear wheel. That much more of a stance will, IMO, make the dually more stable. Of course in the case of a flat tire on the rear there is another wheel on the same side to help keep things more controllable.
fly-boy
Explorer
May 20, 2013
I towed with a SRW F350 for years and I was very pleased with the stability and performance- until I bought my first DRW.

My experience has been that the DRW just makes for a lot less driving fatigue. I could immediately tell the truck was more stable. On long trips I can set the cruise and really just relax and enjoy the driving- which I did not do with the SRW.

I guess If I had a DRW and a SRW it would depend on how loaded I was and how far I was driving.
flyinguy68
Explorer
May 20, 2013
travelmaybe wrote:
Okay... Okay.. Okay... don't eat me alive, PLEASE! Just so you know I am a woman that is not "mechanically minded" :)

Question.. I see that everyone and I do mean everyone says, dually, dually, dually.. But why? What does a dually do with the same engine that a single rear wheeled truck with the same engine does not?

I have a single rear wheel 2012 Duramax 2500 and a 2009 F-550 that is a dually but I just haven't found the information that tells me the difference. I want to pull the toy hauler with the 2012 Duramax but like I said, everyone says dually is the way to go.

Please advise...

It would be more fair to compare a 350/3500 single rear wheel truck to a 350/3500 dually but in the newbie terms that mean the most to not only you but me as well, the most prominent characteristic that answers your question is how much weight you can put on that rear axle.
Dually's increase not only how much a truck can haul in them, but how much they can tow behind them.

More tires = more weight displacement, = more braking, = better stabilization = more drag, = more fuel consumption, = more maintenance, = more costs
WyoTraveler
Explorer
May 20, 2013
Bottom line, check the acceptable load weight of your PU and the hitch weight of your toy hauler. If you are within the guidelines you are good to go.

A dually will probably give you more of a false sense of security. Last year there was a post and some pictures of a 5ver pulled with a dually on I-80. Dually didn't help a bit. The cross wind ripped the 5ver out of the hitch and down the embankment. The 5ver was scrap. Of course the dually was OK except for tearing the hitch apart.