DRW or SRW

[moman1]

I've read a lot of topics on here about how safe (or not safe) it is to pull a trailer that is close to the max towing capacity of the truck. What I'd like to read here is actual experience (not opinions) of those that are towing close to their limits. Here's why: I'm looking at getting into a Fuzion 422 Chrome. The tow vehicle I get is going to be my daily driver. I really don't want to drive a dually as a daily driver. The max capacity of the 2016 GMC Denali 3500 SRW is 17,100 lbs. The Fuzion with fuel, fresh water and toys is going to be right at 17k lbs. Does anyone have any similar experiences? Again, I realize a dually would be more stable. I also know these trucks are much more capable than what the limits may say.

Thanks in advance!

Kevin

[taken]

If I had to have just one set of tires, I would agree that AT tires would be a much better fit. But I'm going to get a second set of winter wheels and Toyo M920's for them. Then I'll have the best of both worlds. High mileage highway tires for RV season and summer driving, and great winter tires too. Plus, since both are long life commercial truck tires, between the two sets, I'll likely never need to buy tires again...

[1jeep]

Ah, yes I felt lucky to find a 2016 drw with the 4:30 gears and wide track. tire size, you'll laugh but that's why I chose the 350 I wanted to be able to buy regular 17" tires and not the g rated 19.5", but yes they do look better.

no doubt the 130 should have a higher rating than the 110 dana and I assumed it was a ford game, but with my truck being rated to tow 26k lbs I have a long way to go before my 15k lb trailer will exceed it.

[taken]

1jeep wrote:
taken, im not sure what drw your friend bought but I can tell you my 2016 drw rides worse unloaded than the srw did.
Also you mention getting a f450 in your future, why you skipping the 350drw? I bought a f350 drw with the heavy tow capacity which gave me the same wide track front axle as the 450, the gvwr of both are the same 14k lbs, but the 450 s a little heavier giving it less payload. Maybe these numbers will change for 2017 as mine is a 2016.

I am skipping the 350 DRW for a few reasons. For the 2017 redesign, the HD tow package is gone with the wide track front axle and 4.30's. The 6.7 DRW 350 now comes with 3.55's with optional 4.10's but no wide track option. I also want the stability of the 19.5 tires on the 450. (They look better too...) There are other upgrades over the 350DRW but you get the idea. The payload thing is a game as Ford needs to keep the 450 under class 5. It's grossly underrated to do so. The Dana S130 rear axle is rated to 16k by itself! Plus the 450 rides better than the DRW 350...

[1jeep]

taken, im not sure what drw your friend bought but I can tell you my 2016 drw rides worse unloaded than the srw did.
Also you mention getting a f450 in your future, why you skipping the 350drw? I bought a f350 drw with the heavy tow capacity which gave me the same wide track front axle as the 450, the gvwr of both are the same 14k lbs, but the 450 s a little heavier giving it less payload. Maybe these numbers will change for 2017 as mine is a 2016.

[taken]

Yep, a DRW cures that ill. I have a buddy who went from SRW to DRW 350 as his wife had back surgery and the jarring ride of the SRW while towing was making her crazy. The DRW cured it and he lost nothing in unloaded ride quality.

[moman1]

taken wrote:
They sure do buddy! Lots of arm chair engineering at it's best...

My 44.5', 19k+ monster tows like an arrow behind my SRW and I am very comfortable doing so in all conditions. I personally wouldn't be comfortable doing the same with a rig 1k heavier on the pin pushing me over the only two ratings that concern me, GAWR and tire.

All that said, the one failing of a SRW truck towing at it's limit is bad roads/bridge expansion joints/bumps/etc. The trailer will really bounce the rear of the truck. No, airbags won't cure this. On a trip to FL from MA last Nov, I had two jobs. One was to drive us there. The second was to warn the wife of upcoming bumps so she wasn't taken off guard. If I missed one, I was in trouble... For this reason, I'm going to a 450 when I order my 2017 SD next spring. I've never once felt the white knuckle thing folks post about here. Never felt out of control or had any sway or instability to deal with in mountains, passing semis, or in heavy wind. Mine is a perfectly comfortable setup from a driver confidence standpoint. What I don't like is the awful ride on bad roads when traveling long distance. If I stayed in MA or even just did New England, I'd likely suck it up and stay SRW for the ease of every day driving. However, my intent is to continue to go further and further out as my daughter gets older and I don't want to deal with the bouncing...

Yeah, Colorado even made national news this year with how bad our roads are getting with potholes. I have a quarter ton now that already jars the hell out of you. So, a dually is better on those huh? I guess it's time to test drive a dually out here. I'm leaning that way right now much to my chagrin. Most of our camping is about 80 miles away. But we do plan to start having some road trips soon.

Some have raised the concern about commercial insurance or USAA not insuring at all. That's another issue we need to work through.

Thanks for the insight.

[taken]

They sure do buddy! Lots of arm chair engineering at it's best...

My 44.5', 19k+ monster tows like an arrow behind my SRW and I am very comfortable doing so in all conditions. I personally wouldn't be comfortable doing the same with a rig 1k heavier on the pin pushing me over the only two ratings that concern me, GAWR and tire.

All that said, the one failing of a SRW truck towing at it's limit is bad roads/bridge expansion joints/bumps/etc. The trailer will really bounce the rear of the truck. No, airbags won't cure this. On a trip to FL from MA last Nov, I had two jobs. One was to drive us there. The second was to warn the wife of upcoming bumps so she wasn't taken off guard. If I missed one, I was in trouble... For this reason, I'm going to a 450 when I order my 2017 SD next spring. I've never once felt the white knuckle thing folks post about here. Never felt out of control or had any sway or instability to deal with in mountains, passing semis, or in heavy wind. Mine is a perfectly comfortable setup from a driver confidence standpoint. What I don't like is the awful ride on bad roads when traveling long distance. If I stayed in MA or even just did New England, I'd likely suck it up and stay SRW for the ease of every day driving. However, my intent is to continue to go further and further out as my daughter gets older and I don't want to deal with the bouncing...

[moman1]

lawnspecialties wrote:

moman1 wrote:
Wow. I guess this site is getting almost as bad as Facebook with people just making stupid comments and not being helpful. Didn't used to be this way.

For those that provided insight and your experiences, thank you. You were a big help. To the others that have only provide snide comments that only infuriate and incite sarcasm towards a serious topic asked by a person genuinely looking for information as a new person to toy haulers, get a life and move to a different thread. You're not helping.

It happens every time. DRW vs. SRW. Diesel vs. Gas. Chevy, Ram, Ford. These get folks riled up every thread. :B

Best of luck to you either way. Post some pics of that Fuzion when you get it. We came really close to getting one but the one we wanted was even heavier on the pin than the 422. Great looking campers.

Thanks. Will do. We're pretty excited. The only other option for us was the momentum 397. Same basic floor plan and it is a lighter pin. To be honest, the only reason we went with the Fuzion is the name brand electronics. Sounds trivial I know but they were that close in every way.

[lawnspecialties]

moman1 wrote:
Wow. I guess this site is getting almost as bad as Facebook with people just making stupid comments and not being helpful. Didn't used to be this way.

For those that provided insight and your experiences, thank you. You were a big help. To the others that have only provide snide comments that only infuriate and incite sarcasm towards a serious topic asked by a person genuinely looking for information as a new person to toy haulers, get a life and move to a different thread. You're not helping.

It happens every time. DRW vs. SRW. Diesel vs. Gas. Chevy, Ram, Ford. These get folks riled up every thread. :B

Best of luck to you either way. Post some pics of that Fuzion when you get it. We came really close to getting one but the one we wanted was even heavier on the pin than the 422. Great looking campers.

[1jeep]

OP I sent you a PM...I went from a srw to drw very recently.

[moman1]

crazybanshee wrote:
Lincster I have a question for you. How can we get a beating a horse to death icon for this site?:S

Wow. I guess this site is getting almost as bad as Facebook with people just making stupid comments and not being helpful. Didn't used to be this way.

For those that provided insight and your experiences, thank you. You were a big help. To the others that have only provide snide comments that only infuriate and incite sarcasm towards a serious topic asked by a person genuinely looking for information as a new person to toy haulers, get a life and move to a different thread. You're not helping.

[moman1]

lincster wrote:

moman1 wrote:

lincster wrote:
I always get a kick out of folks that will wait to see the answer they want to hear and then acknowledge that one....

If you already have your mind made up against a dually, then why post?

I don't have my mind made up yet. I have to use the equity in my current truck to get out of my MH. So I'm trying to decide between a used special purpose dually with another livable daily driver truck or a really nice SRW brand new Denali 3500 that can be dual purpose. I'm just responding to the ones that share what I asked for. I asked for real experiences, not advice. So to all of those that shared their advice, thank you and no offense intended. I welcome the advice since I'm new to a fifth wheel. But, I'm mostly interested in the experiences. So why do you feel the need to troll? What's it to you?

Troll???? That is the funniest thing I have heard in a while. Check my history with this sight. I am the furthest thing from a troll. I have been preaching and giving real examples of weights and loads etc for years.

That comment just shows how little you know about the toy hauler forum.

Good observation there Captain Obvious. I already stated I'm new. And yes, if you make a comment the way you did that only criticizes, adds nothing constructive to the thread itself, and only offends someone based on assumptions, you are a troll. Why make a statement on this thread like you did above when there is absolutely zero to gain? If you have nothing to add, simply move on to another thread.

[crazybanshee]

Lincster I have a question for you. How can we get a beating a horse to death icon for this site?:S

[lincster]

moman1 wrote:

lincster wrote:
I always get a kick out of folks that will wait to see the answer they want to hear and then acknowledge that one....

If you already have your mind made up against a dually, then why post?

I don't have my mind made up yet. I have to use the equity in my current truck to get out of my MH. So I'm trying to decide between a used special purpose dually with another livable daily driver truck or a really nice SRW brand new Denali 3500 that can be dual purpose. I'm just responding to the ones that share what I asked for. I asked for real experiences, not advice. So to all of those that shared their advice, thank you and no offense intended. I welcome the advice since I'm new to a fifth wheel. But, I'm mostly interested in the experiences. So why do you feel the need to troll? What's it to you?

Troll???? That is the funniest thing I have heard in a while. Check my history with this sight. I am the furthest thing from a troll. I have been preaching and giving real examples of weights and loads etc for years.

That comment just shows how little you know about the toy hauler forum.

[moman1]

lincster wrote:
Real world experience:

My buddy and I had very similar trailers, big 41' Weekend Warriors.
Our loads were almost identical. Full water, 3000lb sand rails in the trailers etc.

I have always had a dually, he always had a SRW Chevy.
Was he always right there with me towing? Yes.

He left his rig at home one trip and went down with me.
He said the entire way, "I can't believe how much more solid your setup feels".
He couldn't tell when a semi went by us, he couldn't tell when the wind was blowing... etc.

Not sure how much more real life you need than that.

Thanks. This is real and makes a difference in my decision.