Still can't decide between DRW or SRW?

SoCalDesertRider wrote:

jshupe wrote:
I still want to hear firsthand experience of the following three way comparison, all within the same year family/year:

- SRW, stock tires
- SRW, 19.5" LRH wheels/tires
- DRW, stock tires

I doubt my rig has all of the stability of a dually, but would like to know how close I've (anecdotally) gotten. Far more stable than a stock SRW. It seems like a good compromise to me. If I were going any heavier I'd still get a dually, but it doesn't look like we'll be upgrading our rig any time soon.

I can give you close to that comparison.

I have 2 F350's, one is a '92 SRW, the other a '97 DRW. Both trucks are 4wd. Both same body style and most things on both trucks are same or similar enough to be comparable. Both have Dana 60 straight front axles on leaf springs with a transverse tracking arm and Ford 10.25" rear axles with drum brakes. The dually has larger drums and larger master cylinder than the SRW. Both have the same size front discs and both use vacuum power brake boosters.

The '92 is a crew cab pickup with gas engine, 168" wheelbase length, 9200 GVWR, 4650 FGAWR, 6084 RGAWR. Truck weighed 6000 lbs factory stock and 6500 lbs after adding 3 hitches and camper tie downs.

The '97 is a regular cab flatbed with diesel engine, 161" wheelbase length, 11,000 GVWR, 5000 FGAWR, 8250 RGAWR. Truck weighed 7200 lbs stock with it's 8x11 flatbed installed and 7400 lbs after adding 2 hitches.

The dually burned down in a fire last year. It is sitting in the back yard. The fire didn't have anything to do with the truck having 4 rear tires.

The '92 SRW truck in it's first incarnation I ran with 33x12.50-16.5D BFG AT's on 16.5x9.75 wheels, stock springs front and rear, Bilsteins up front, Rancho 9000's rear. The truck came with factory front and rear sway bars, which I upgraded with polyurethane bushings. It also came with the factory upper overload leafs in the rear.

It carried a 2500 lb 8.5' truck camper and pulled my flatbed trailer with various off roading toys. It's loaded weight was about 9000 lbs with the camper. The truck handled the camper and trailer just fine, rode level and fairly firm and the braking was fine.

The '92 SRW truck in it's second incarnation I ran with 285/75-16E BFG AT's on 16x8 rear wheels and 16x7 front wheels, with heavy duty rear leaf packs (4000+ lb capacity per pack) and Bilsteins all around, same sway bars and overload leafs.

The truck carried a 4000 lb 8' slide-on utility body, which loads into the pickup bed. The truck also towed my flatbed trailer with various loads of raw steel or shop fabricated items, for use in my welding service business. It's loaded weight was 11,000 lbs, which was close to 2000 lbs over the GVWR.

The truck carried the weight alright. It cornered ok, for a SRW 4x4 truck carrying that much weight. It felt fairly firm in the rear and did not sag below level. I had wanted to add another leaf to the overloads, but never got around to it. The problem was braking. It didn't have enough brakes. Also lack of power but that's a different story, not related to this discussion.

I switched to the '97 truck for my welding service because I was out of weight carrying ability, braking ability, engine power and space for equipment on the '92 truck.

The '97 DRW truck came stock with front and rear sway bars, which I upgraded with polyurethane bushings, like I did with the '92 truck. It ran the six stock size 235/85-16E tires on 16x6 wheels. It had stock front springs and heavy duty rear springs, with more leafs in the main packs and the overload packs.

It carried the same 4000 lb slide-on utility body, loaded on top of the flatbed, plus another 1000 lbs of extra equipment that I could now fit on the 8x11 flatbed in other tool boxes, which I couldn't fit in the 8' pickup bed. It's loaded weight was 13,000 lbs, which was 2000 lbs over the GVWR. It pulled the same trailer, used for the same purposes.

The DRW truck handled it's heavier load better than the SRW truck handled it's lighter load.

Compared to the SRW truck, the dually cornered like it was on rails, with hardly any body roll at all. This is with a narrow rear axle too, as cab/chassis dually trucks of these years had narrower rear axles than dually pickups had. The overall rear track width of a cab/chassis dually in these years was wider than a SRW pickup, but narrower than a DRW pickup, splitting the difference about evenly.

Both trucks ran level, but the dually felt firmer than the SRW. I attribute it about equally to the 4 rear tires and the stiffer rear springs.

Braking was still lacking in the dually, but was a better than with the SRW. This is also considering the dually weighed 2000 lbs more than SRW. Had they both weighed the same, the dually's braking would have been alot better than the SRW's.

In conclusion, upgrading to the DRW truck was a marked improvement over the SRW truck, in all weight carrying, handling and braking respects.

As far as drawbacks to the dually go, the typical ones I see complained about here were of no consequence for me. Both trucks were roughly the same length and wheelbase length and both had similar turning radius and parking ability. The dually's flatbed was wider and it's rear tire overall width was wider, but that never made a difference to me between the 2 trucks in where I could drive them or park them. I went all the same places and did all the same things in both trucks equally well.

Thanks, but most of what you explained is to be expected. You went from LRD to LRE to dual LRE tires on each corner. If all other things are the same: brakes and suspension (like on the modern iteration of the GM 3500HD SRW/DRW) I want to know how a LRH tire compares to two LRE tires.