DRW vs SRW safety, tire blowout
Every time the DRW vs SRW debate starts up, dually owners always point to the safety of having 4 rear wheels in case of a blowout while driving. What I am wondering is has anyone actually experienced ...
Forum Discussion
^Not even sure what point you’re trying to make with that last statement but it makes sense (even though it seems obvious).
What is hard for people to wrap their head around is the friction thing. Surface area (srw vs drw) is only a small part of the equation and it’s insignificant until a srw tire reaches its limit. (The proverbial “ice.”)
For the same reasons that apples to apples, a srw get better traction in the snow, it also doesn’t get worse traction braking until it’s limit has been reached. And again the surface area of rubber on the road is both an advantage or a disadvantage depending on conditions.
Take a loaded truck lots of weight on the rear axle. One would be hard pressed to overcome the available braking force (and lock a wheel of kick in abs) in normal to hard braking.
Now move to hard braking/ panic stops.
What happens to the vehicle? A significant amount of weight/ force is transferred forward to the front axle, unloading the rear axle to whatever extent. (Like on a bike you can do a stoppie, picking up the rear axle).
This is the one condition where duals may out-brake a srw. You’re on the brink of or have lost traction and the additional rubber on the road will help.
But at that point, the advantage may be of diminished return. Or in the case of a TC, you’d still be hard pressed to exceed the available braking force of the srw due to sheer weight. Maybe wet pavement? However if that much weight is transferred, the rear wheels aren’t doing much of the braking at that point anyway.
There are many other factors. But the fact is, the primary reason for dual rear wheels on a pickup is for greater tire/wheel load carrying capacity. The tires and wheels in and of themselves don’t provide more stability (except by default due to much less tire flex) or braking force.
What is hard for people to wrap their head around is the friction thing. Surface area (srw vs drw) is only a small part of the equation and it’s insignificant until a srw tire reaches its limit. (The proverbial “ice.”)
For the same reasons that apples to apples, a srw get better traction in the snow, it also doesn’t get worse traction braking until it’s limit has been reached. And again the surface area of rubber on the road is both an advantage or a disadvantage depending on conditions.
Take a loaded truck lots of weight on the rear axle. One would be hard pressed to overcome the available braking force (and lock a wheel of kick in abs) in normal to hard braking.
Now move to hard braking/ panic stops.
What happens to the vehicle? A significant amount of weight/ force is transferred forward to the front axle, unloading the rear axle to whatever extent. (Like on a bike you can do a stoppie, picking up the rear axle).
This is the one condition where duals may out-brake a srw. You’re on the brink of or have lost traction and the additional rubber on the road will help.
But at that point, the advantage may be of diminished return. Or in the case of a TC, you’d still be hard pressed to exceed the available braking force of the srw due to sheer weight. Maybe wet pavement? However if that much weight is transferred, the rear wheels aren’t doing much of the braking at that point anyway.
There are many other factors. But the fact is, the primary reason for dual rear wheels on a pickup is for greater tire/wheel load carrying capacity. The tires and wheels in and of themselves don’t provide more stability (except by default due to much less tire flex) or braking force.
