Dualie vs SRW benefits?

I haven't measured the Fords but the last time I measured a Ram DRW compared to a SRW the tailgate height was 2" lower. Could be a dually will fit your trailer better. A dually will manage your trailer better. How much better and whether the tradeoffs are worth it are up to you. I like the freedom of having the extra payload capacity a dually delivers. No second thoughts when installing the auxiliary fuel tank or packing up a bunch of firewood for a trip. I have no problems driving and parking my dually. My mind might change if I lived in a congested city or an old town with narrow streets.

As dapperdan stated, we started out with a dually. Wasn't necessary with our first trailer, it was just a good buy when we were looking for a truck. That said, 3 years later, when we upgraded to a significantly larger trailer we didn't have to go looking for another truck. We're on our 4th trailer and 3rd truck, all duallies. Finding an automatic car wash capable of accommodating the dually can be difficult, but they are out there. Parking usually isn't an issue for me but occasionally I do find a parking lot with narrow or short spaces and I'm compelled to use more than one parking space. But that's not very frequent. Hope this helps.

I've pulled with everything short of a rickshaw. A dually is boss, period. My 2006 Ram 3500 8' bed 4x4 tells my rv where its going, not the rv trying to be the boss. Stability, braking, sway, this is the peace of mind you want. If you know how to drive parking is not an issue. I will admit washing it is a pita! I miss car washes.

Will it be your daily driver?
To me it seems like a dually will tow better. Is there anyway to argue it wont?
That said the mega rich dudes that i see showing up with giant toyhaulers that are super heavy usually have SRW trucks. But they are newer trucks. I dont think price matters for these guys and they still buy SRW and the tow vehicle is not their daily driver.

I tow a 12,000 lb. (loaded and wet) fiver with single rear-axle long bed F350 and am well-pleased with the towing characteristics. I am not bothered by trucks passing. The GCWR is 3,700 lbs, but that is adequate for this trailer.

A SRW can go through bank drive-throughs and drive-through car washes. I don't think that is true of DWR trucks.

With a longer and heaver trailer I would no doubt need a DRW.

I think you may have mis-read the chart. The rear wheel weight rating on a RAM 3500 SRW is 7,000 lbs, the weight rating on a DRW 3500 with the SAME drive line is 9,750! The GCWR difference is about 4,000 lbs. to 5,000 lbs. depending on bed length and rear end gear ratio. That would be way more than 500 lbs!
Stability is another huge factor if you factor in wind. I’m sure you’ll have opinions for both though. As for me we started out owning our first fifth wheel with a dually and haven’t looked back. With a dually you’re not that limited to what kind of trailer you can pull. Just the peace of mind is well worth it to me.

Dan

No comparison. 1/3 more rubber on the ground = more stability especially in wind or passing trucks and the longer wheelbase rides 100% better.

I've towed both ways and I really like the stability of the dually in windy conditions. Also we once suffered a blowout in one of the duallies when the wife was driving and didn't affect the handling of the truck. If we had the single rear wheel and it blew would we have wrecked?

The difference between a DRW and SRW is the Cargo Carrying or payload capacity of the trucks. There is more to towing than GCWR. A typical 5er will have a loaded pin weight of 20 to 22% of the trailers GVWR (ignore the brochure pin weight).

Look at the yellow sticker on the truck for that particulars trucks payload capacity.

Take the trailer estimated pin weight + the 5er hitch +any cargo in the bed + passengers. This total should be less than the trucks payload capacity.

The DRW will ALWAYS have a higher payload capacity and rear axle GAW than a SRW.

A long bed with a longer wheel base will ride better loaded or unloaded than a shorter wheelbase truck.

I would NEVER a 5er with a short bed truck. I see too many short bed trucks with busted rear windows or dented cab. Towing RVs since 1984 and 5ers since 1999.

So the net results is to estimate the real pin weight and see if it is enough truck to haul the trailer, not just tow it.

Ken