Pickup truck tow vehicle stability tests

If you folks only insist on personal experience...then I'm one who has both on
one singular vehicle...my 1996 Suburban

I drive HARD

The difference with trying to drift with the OEM wheels (narrower or OEM track...AKA Width)
vs the wider after market (approx 10.5" wider than track) is NIGHT AND DAY

NOT a dualy, but single

Again on the exact same vehicle, on the exact same roads

On narrower track...the Sub leans much more (less than most half tons...even
when they have rear anti-lean bars) and slides much sooner (lower speed and less
angle of attack on the curve)

There is a difference in tires though...wider track is with the Revo's and
the narrower track are with the T/A KM2's

NC Hauler wrote:
"I know there are narrow roads and mountains back east. The roads I'm contemplating that aren't so good for duelly's are the unimproved variety with lots of rocks and ruts, often with a rather unforgiving drop on one side into a ravine or river. There are full size trucks on these roads but very few are DRW. "


Then if you know what's here in the east...the roads I'm talking about also have sheer cliffs on one side, (back up if you run into some one), and drop offs into ravines with raging rivers or streams...same thing.....but I know, it's just NC, TN, WV and VA...nothing like Idaho...

Hey, I'm tired of arguing the point, you win.....your roads are impassable...no way could I drive or tow on them...BUT, I also have enough common sense to not take a 39' 9" high profile 5er on one of those type highway's, though I haven taken a 3/4 ton towing a 27' TT into some ravines that might make you even happy about it.

you win....I need to avoid Idaho like the plague and you already know what it's like around here and probably could do it blindfolded...your point is taken.....

I'm not trying to win anything, I'm just pointing out that DRW trucks have some substantial limitations for some people such as myself. The company I work for has several locations in the south (including two in North Carolina), so I travel down to that part of the country at least once a year and am pretty familiar with it. A lot of it is really scenic too - in particular that eastern part of NC is gorgeous. When you get a little further south and things flatten out I'm not as sold, though. The only time I can see any distance in Florida is on highway overpasses. Talk about flat...

Wow! The OP requested referral to objective evidence. To the best of my knowledge, there are no studies or published, peer-reviewed research on this exact topic.

In the absence of such, anecdotal evidence from people that have "been there, done that" is the next best thing. That and common sense.

In the available threads on the topic on the Internet -

How many people had an SRW and changed to a DRW for towing?
How many people changed from a DRW to an SRW for towing?
How many do you see that regret a DRW for towing?
How many do you see that regret an SRW for towing?

What do the people that have been towing for a long time recommend?

A DRW may be more inconvenient in some parking situations, drive-through interaction situations, and some in-town driving. How often to you find yourself in these situations in your real-world area of operations?

Are you willing to use something like Google Earth to plan ahead when going someplace that might present issues with parking or maneuvering to locate workable alternatives?

Are you willing to go online or walk into a retail establishment or bank rather than using the drive through?

Is the option of being able to tow a greater variety of trailers worth the possible inconvenience of these three situations?

Are you willing to trade the expense of two more tires in exchange for the added flexibility that a DRW may provide?

Will your home parking situation require adjustment to park a DRW?

Those are the things I'd recommend you to look at. I know what the majority of the anecdotal stories say, and I know what I have experienced in the real world. It happens to agree with common sense.

Look at the questions I posed and decide for yourself.

This is the "DRW" I use on the rough stuff. The rest of the gear stays off the goat trails and sand dunes.



It's easier for me to set up a base camp and do miles of terrain in vehicles like these.

I gotcha....The tires Ben shows for off roading is the kind I used when I went "off road", loud on the pavement, but son, could ford a creek...and yeah..it was with a tent when trout fishing. The New River Gorge has some awesome roads going into Glade Creek where trout fishing use to be really hard to get to, including crossing some pretty intimidating streams....life was simpler then:)

LOL
DRW are fine in Idaho Jim so don't cross Idaho off your bucket list :B
Although lots of em single em out in the winter months :W

My 'SERIOUS' off roading setup are OEM steel wheels with five
LT255/85R16E BFGoodrich Mud Terrain T/A KM2's mounted on 6.5" wide bead to bead

offroadtire LT255/85R16E



Haven't been to my secret place up in the Idaho Panhandle Wilderness
in a while. No way would my current STREET setup make it (Bridgestone
Dueler Revo AT LT265/75R16E on 16x10 alloys). Heck, even the Sub has
a hard time on many of the steep switch backs
Revo LT265/75R16E

No way will ANY trailer in tow make either. Tent camping is the only way

If one wants/needs an all purpose, then

COMPROMISES

is a MUST

Can't have the stability to manhandle a large trailer when Mr Murphy crosses
your path with any NARROWER track setup...but you can 'get there' off roading

Can have the stability to manhandle a large trailer when Mr Murphy crosses
your path with wider track...but then can't 'get there' off roading...

"I know there are narrow roads and mountains back east. The roads I'm contemplating that aren't so good for duelly's are the unimproved variety with lots of rocks and ruts, often with a rather unforgiving drop on one side into a ravine or river. There are full size trucks on these roads but very few are DRW. "


Then if you know what's here in the east...the roads I'm talking about also have sheer cliffs on one side, (back up if you run into some one), and drop offs into ravines with raging rivers or streams...same thing.....but I know, it's just NC, TN, WV and VA...nothing like Idaho...

Hey, I'm tired of arguing the point, you win.....your roads are impassable...no way could I drive or tow on them...BUT, I also have enough common sense to not take a 39' 9" high profile 5er on one of those type highway's, though I haven taken a 3/4 ton towing a 27' TT into some ravines that might make you even happy about it.

you win....I need to avoid Idaho like the plague and you already know what it's like around here and probably could do it blindfolded...your point is taken.....

NC Hauler wrote:

IdaD wrote:

NC Hauler wrote:

IdaD wrote:
My problem with a DRW truck would be driving it offroad while camping, fishing or hunting. A full size truck is already a handful on many of those roads, but a duelly would be even worse. Plus they just don't perform that well on certain surfaces. If you're going to go DRW you pretty much need to go with a toy hauler so you can bring a Ranger (or equivalent) along.

And at the end of the day you can pull plenty of trailer with a SRW truck - anything that actually requires DRW would be too large to get into any good camping spots.

Never had a problem finding a camping spot with my almost 40' 5er hooked to my long bed crew cab dually....but maybe that's just where I go camping...Off road, I have no need to go "off road", though I have been in 10-12" of snow and truck did fine...been in some muddy fields and though the truck got EXTREMELY muddy, it got me in and out....(glad my dually doesn't know it's not supposed to be able to go good in the snow and/or mud):).

IF I were to go to a TH, wouldn't be to tow any "toy's" in the back, would be more for storage and exercise equipment.....:)

The difference is probably that you're in North Carolina and I'm in Idaho. The terrain is a little different out here. :C

I've never been in what I call the flatland, I know the mountains in the east can't hold a candle to the mountains in the west...I know because I've been told time and time and time again...but I tow in the mountains of WV, TN, NC and VA...and guess till you've done it, you'll figure there is nothing to it....Some of the secondary roads in these 4 states are ess curve after ess curve after ess curve, up and down and all around on the secondary roads...So, unless you've driven to a trout stream atop Spruce Knob Lake in WVA, or towed the BlueRidge Parkway to Mt. Mitchell, (highest mountain EAST of the Mississippi), then I guess all we can do is speculate....but believe me, we have some pretty steep, narrow, roads in these remote areas also, and very rare you run into long straight stretches...Even 7% grades on some of the interstates...all that to say....it can be just as hard to get into places in the mountains of NC, VA, TN and WVa I would imagine.......) Our terrain can also get rather ugly also.....You have beautiful country I hope one day to visit, but mountains not as high, still rugged in these mountains also.

I know there are narrow roads and mountains back east. The roads I'm contemplating that aren't so good for duelly's are the unimproved variety with lots of rocks and ruts, often with a rather unforgiving drop on one side into a ravine or river. There are full size trucks on these roads but very few are DRW.

IdaD wrote:

NC Hauler wrote:

IdaD wrote:
My problem with a DRW truck would be driving it offroad while camping, fishing or hunting. A full size truck is already a handful on many of those roads, but a duelly would be even worse. Plus they just don't perform that well on certain surfaces. If you're going to go DRW you pretty much need to go with a toy hauler so you can bring a Ranger (or equivalent) along.

And at the end of the day you can pull plenty of trailer with a SRW truck - anything that actually requires DRW would be too large to get into any good camping spots.

Never had a problem finding a camping spot with my almost 40' 5er hooked to my long bed crew cab dually....but maybe that's just where I go camping...Off road, I have no need to go "off road", though I have been in 10-12" of snow and truck did fine...been in some muddy fields and though the truck got EXTREMELY muddy, it got me in and out....(glad my dually doesn't know it's not supposed to be able to go good in the snow and/or mud):).

IF I were to go to a TH, wouldn't be to tow any "toy's" in the back, would be more for storage and exercise equipment.....:)

The difference is probably that you're in North Carolina and I'm in Idaho. The terrain is a little different out here. :C

I've never been in what I call the flatland, I know the mountains in the east can't hold a candle to the mountains in the west...I know because I've been told time and time and time again...but I tow in the mountains of WV, TN, NC and VA...and guess till you've done it, you'll figure there is nothing to it....Some of the secondary roads in these 4 states are ess curve after ess curve after ess curve, up and down and all around on the secondary roads...So, unless you've driven to a trout stream atop Spruce Knob Lake in WVA, or towed the BlueRidge Parkway to Mt. Mitchell, (highest mountain EAST of the Mississippi), then I guess all we can do is speculate....but believe me, we have some pretty steep, narrow, roads in these remote areas also, and very rare you run into long straight stretches...Even 7% grades on some of the interstates...all that to say....it can be just as hard to get into places in the mountains of NC, VA, TN and WVa I would imagine.......) Our terrain can also get rather ugly also.....You have beautiful country I hope one day to visit, but mountains not as high, still rugged in these mountains also.