Searching_Ut wrote:
Glad you had a great trip there coach-man. Personally I worry much more about deep wet slushy snow than I do black ice. Deep slush when hit a speed can jerk you around leading to sliding where ice just significantly reduces traction and changes the handling of the vehicle. If you've practiced ice driving a lot you learn to handle the vehicle to where you should never loose control on ice in most conditions on major roads. As mentioned, excess speed greatly affects potential outcomes.
As for the Dually argument: Suspensions designed for heavy weights sway and wallow less under load than overloaded suspensions, but handle many other situations worse. A 3/4 ton truck handles much worse on a windy mountain road empty than a half ton does, and a 1 ton is a pain in the tush under the same conditions. An empty dually in snow doesn't get as good of traction as a SRW, and on rutted dirt roads DRW are a real pain, and if you're really unlucky you get something stuck between the wheels and cut up the sidewalls. I've only ever owned 1 DRW truck, and that was enough for me. All trucks are compromises, but the dually had more than I was willing to make for what I use a truck for.
There's a pretty big difference between regular ice and "black ice". With "black ice" there is no control because there is no connection between your wheels and a solid surface for the wheels/tires to work with. I've driven on ice lots and it's a not a big deal if you have some experience with it. All the experience in the world will not help with "black ice".
All the points you mentioned about a dually may be true, but we are talking tow vehicles here. This is the 5th wheel forum and we assume that you're using that dually to pull a 5th wheel, not as a grocery getter. If it works well as a tow vehicle you put up with it's imperfections in other areas.
