What Are The Upsides & Downsides To Driving A DRW Truck?

I've learned a lot from this thread... mostly from the pm's between the dully owners and the op....

and I've found... candadates for addition to my "block member" list.... why waste time with the same disruptive individuals when you kown that they'd argue that the color of paint on a truck affects the mpg :B

sleepy

wow...to the OP...there are very few differences in driving a dually daily...most wont affect you at all...I find that driving a dually daily in Los Angeles to be no issue at all...I love the folks that are all negative about duallys dont drive one!...

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ck1 wrote:
width is the same a SWR being that the mirrors stick out farther then the hips...so if the mirrors fit so will the hips...backing into a spot leaves plenty of room.

That's all great if your are backing perfectly straight into a parking spot. Don't you ever have to back in from the aisle? When you back up, the rear cuts the corner on any truck. This is where a narrower rear end of a truck will have an easier time fitting.

The mirrors width is irrelevant. The mirrors are:

1) Located ABOVE most close tollerance things like cars, posts, etc.
2) Located right by the cab and are very visible to the driver.
3) Located closer to the steering axle so they where you can continuousy control where they are positioned.
4) Breakaway or foldable in most cases.


NOTE: This doesn't mean you cannot survive just fine with a larger truck. It just simply isn't a fact that there is NO difference.

i guess i miss wrote..i live in a cul de sac and both vehicles turn the same when making the turn at the top of the street...yes you do have to swing a bit wider on a rt turn to not hit the curb again very minimaly...i was responding to the turning radius is larger statement made by someone
Cameron

ck1 wrote:
my dually turns exactly the same as my 1500 long bed

ck1 wrote:
you may have to swing 6 or so inches wider on a right turn next to a curb

Which is it?

Lantley wrote:

jimh425 wrote:
Jeff, what makes you so sure that people who don't have a DRW have never driven one?

Yes, you are more likely to get door dings. It's not your door opening that you have to worry about. A SRW can cheat against one line in a corner parking space to gain effective space on the other side. The DRW can't go over as far because the wheel/fender sticks out.

I'm happy for those of you that can't tell a difference in the spaces for where you park. That's not the case for many of us. I don't drive my truck to work now because I can only park it in a very few spaces. I can literally be blocked in by people being legally parked. The spaces are barely wide enough for a SRW if you want to stay inside the lines. Like it or not, a DRW track is wider. I would have bought a SC SB GM if I knew I was going to work where I work now, no, it would not be a DRW LB CC. :) I would have had to bail on the Ford. I bought the Ford because it was the most capable diesel that would fit where I had to park at work.

As far as length is concerned, Ford's are longer than Chevys from cab forward, and crew cabs are longer than a super cab. You don't have to like it, but that's the truth just like if the turning radius barely works for a short wb supercab, a DRW CC is going to be a major pain in the neck. Most DRWs seem to be CC. Some people have SRW CCs. Those would be the same length, but for the most part a SC isn't even an option for some DRWs.

Just because you don't have to deal with it doesn't mean it's not true.

From real experience it is much easier to back a crew cab truck into a space vs. pulling in. 9 times out of ten the cars around you have pulled in front first. In this scenario the doors of the cars around you do not line up with the hips of the dually. There is no door ding issue.
I agree that mathematically there is a point where a dually will be too wide to squeeze into or through a given area. With the exception of drive thru's and gated parking lots yo do not find these tight areas very often.
If you do its usually a simple matter of parking a bit farther away. A crew cab dually is no harder to park in real word situations than any truck its same length. I have encountered spots I cannot fit into however I have yet to come upon a scenario where I thought if only I had a SRW I could fit.
Those of us that drive a dually in the real world know duallys can be driven on a daily basis without any real heartache. Those of us that drive dually's on paper can contrive all kinds of problematic scenarios that you simply don't encounter in the real world

BINGO couldnt have said it better..I have owned duallys for over twenty years and this is exactly how I park...Jimh425 might want to drive one for awhile before you try and argue your point...there is NO difference in length, width is the same a SWR being that the mirrors stick out farther then the hips...so if the mirrors fit so will the hips...backing into a spot leaves plenty of room. Dont know where this turning radius thing came from...my dually turns exactly the same as my 1500 long bed so dont know where that came from..you may have to swing 6 or so inches wider on a right turn next to a curb but no big deal...
Cameron

on edit notice I live in So cal near los Angeles and drive it all the time in LA. my parents live at the beach and i NEVER have had an issue parking down there

Lantley wrote:
I don't need to consult with Sir Issac Newton or get a degree from Hopkins or M.I.T. to drive my dually.

I know. All you need is to own a DRW, and you can do whatever you want and ignore things like turn radius and width and length. Those pesky things only apply to SRWs. :)

jimh425 wrote:
Lantley, amazing that you can alter the laws of physics just by owning a DRW. I need to go out and buy one, so I can, too. :)

It's really not that complicated. I don't need to consult with Sir Issac Newton or get a degree from Hopkins or M.I.T. to drive my dually.
As a matter of fact it's just as easy to drive as a SRW truck.
Put down that pencil and paper turn off you imagination. Get behind the wheel of a dually and you'll find it's not that hard at all. You won't need to use E=MC^2 either;)

Parking, I have my own special bays, that some of you probably do the same, it's a secret we keep to ourselves. My sons know where these spots are, and are told not to tell their mates, weather it be shopping centres, the city, some legal, some pushing my luck. Parking any large vehicle and reversing a trailer is easy, just be patient, with others and their conceived expectations of your unknown ability, mirrors, cameras, get out and look, it's all good. If it's large, most people sit back!

DRW will probably ROCK!