Do I need a Duelly ?

RedJeep wrote:
Dually mpg sucks. Washing the dirty old truck is a pain. Buying six tires is expensive. Running over curbs at the bank and taco bell makes me spill my Coke. Having to park far far away is a pain.

Towing with a dually is Great!

And exhaust brakes are also Great!

you pretty well summed up my experience with Dually's as well.. except you forgot the one where people are asking you for your contractors card, or you get waived through the barrels when approaching road work. yes I am exaggerating.

I hated my dually... except when towing down the highway.. then it was awesome.

I never had an exhaust brake.. I had the pleasure of owning a V10.. I just geared down on hills and it worked great.

Thanks!

Jeremiah

Dually mpg sucks. Washing the dirty old truck is a pain. Buying six tires is expensive. Running over curbs at the bank and taco bell makes me spill my Coke. Having to park far far away is a pain.

Towing with a dually is Great!

And exhaust brakes are also Great!

2oldman wrote:
Advantage/disadvantage dually
dually or no 2011
More dually w/5er 2011

I'm not a dually fan - and planned accordingly (via trailer weight/size).

Forget the 2500!..:R

*YOU* need *at least* - a 1T dually.

Suggest you visit the Escapees MDT and HDT forums before dropping the coin on a new dually pickup.

Good luck with your selection.

~

ckwizard777 wrote:

jbstack28 wrote:
Ok that is what I thought. Thanks to everyone's Quick and informational responses.
To expand on the question. I had a 3500 dodge previously with a fifth wheel.
It was not a 'Duelly'. Do I have to have that wider base, and additional Rubber on the road to be the safest?

Yes because the weak link is the tires, you will max out the tires weight rating on a srw before you hit the max axle weight rating.
Get the dually.

Not true the listed axle rating on the VIN sticker needs to be equal to or less than the combined tire rating on the rear axle.
If one puts replacement tires on that are not the same rating as the stock tires that is an issue!

The stock tires on my 01 Ram have a weight rating of 3,042# ea. rear GAWR is 6,084#. My truck with optional 265/75-16E with a rating of 3,415#, this doesn't raise the VIN rear GAWR, but does give me an extra margin of safety even at max axle rating.If running max axle rating (per VIN)I am at only 90% of my tire rating.

Think about SRW versus dually this way.

In most pickups, I would guess 60% of the weight is forward, and 40% over the rear.

So at 40% rear on an 8,000 pound truck, there exists already 3,200 pounds over the rear axle and onto the two (SRW here) tires.

So one tire is already close to capacity just carrying the truck around. Depending on tires of course. Some have load ratings of 3,095 pounds per tire, while other sizes in the 17, 18, and 20 inch sizes have load ratings of up to around 3,600 - 3,700 pounds per tire.

So dependent on tires, the hitch, the passenger weight added, the hitch weight of the fifth wheel itself (the real deal breaker here) is ALL being carried by just the one remaining rear tire.

So you better hope it is not one of those 3,095 pound rated tires.

There you go. I'm guessing you got told by most what you did not want to hear.

You are buying a monster & you need an appropriate truck to SAFELY pull it. Put your own life & DW's life at risk if you want just to save a few $ but don't put everyone else's lives on the road at risk because of too much trailer for the truck.

I will ask you another question. My purpose with a fifth wheel is to drop the trailer and then use the truck for moderate 4 wheeling. DRW, 4X4 trucks can be used in the mud and narrow roads, but it ain't fun.

If this is your goal, you must size the camper for a SRW. Otherwise DRW and drop down about 20% from the trucks tow rating for an easy drive.

jbstack28 wrote:
Ok that is what I thought. Thanks to everyone's Quick and informational responses.
To expand on the question. I had a 3500 dodge previously with a fifth wheel.
It was not a 'Duelly'. Do I have to have that wider base, and additional Rubber on the road to be the safest?

Yes because the weak link is the tires, you will max out the tires weight rating on a srw before you hit the max axle weight rating.
Get the dually.

Yup you need a dually.

Coming back from CT a couple of years a go we got caught in storms coming through Akron OH. The wind blew the big green exit sign into the right lane along with tree limbs and other debris. Trailer just sat there like nothing was happening. Found out later a tornado came through behind us so we were on the edge of that storm. Driven 18 wheelers for 19 years and that 5th wheel with the dually behaves better than most semis I've driven. We did have to stop and point her into the wind for about 20 minutes waiting for the storm to let up. Rain so heavy you couldn't see the road. Watch the weather radar on my phone.

Going up I-95 into CT and all that construction the trailer light cord came unplugged and I lost the trailer brakes. 20 minutes or so later I was able to get out of traffic and plug the trailer back in. Zip tie kept it from coming loose again but stop and go traffic without trailers brakes is not fun the way they cut in and out of traffic....Don't skimp on truck braking; the trailer brakes can fail.

We have friends who pull a new Bighorn with a 2007 Ram 2500. I asked him about it and he said the dealer called Heartland with his VIN and Heartland said it was ok. I think the dealer blew smoke up his tush. I can't see Heartland making such a statement.

I don't understand dropping $40-80,000 on a trailer and then skimping on the truck to pull it.