We Took Your Advice Ordered a Dually

[UncleFudd]

Your advice and experience won over my desire to make a SRW short bed tow vehicle work. The Cedar Creek requires a dual wheel truck so we ordered a Ford crew cab long bed w/DRW including the factory installed 25K Reese hitch. There is a wide gap between the maximum SRW and DRW. If they made just one model somwhere in the gap that would work. Neither Ford or GM has one.
Thanks for your complete analysis and sound advice.

Now that we have the big problems settled Cedar Creek ordered & will take forever to get delivery. Cedar Creek say they can't find enough delivery personnel. And the TV ordered, we are looking for a bed cover.
The Retrax gets a lot of good reviews but is expensive & not leakproof.
What are your choices?
Thanks still again,
Jim

[wandering1]

Why does the Cedar Creek require a dual wheel truck? The only reason for a dual wheel truck is to haul more weight over the rear axle, does the pin weight weigh to much for a SRW? I haven't seen one in the last 15 years that weighs that much except for a semi trailer.

[stsmark]

Funny you should mention deliveries, the bride and I just drove to Midwest from CA and I was surprised to see 4-5 delivery tows for every personal one I saw on I-80. Saw a convoy of 4 Pumas, 3 Airstreams. Have fun with your new toys!

[lee_worsdell]

nice job with the truck,also in the same boat with the trailer no one to deliver to Ontario.

[lee_worsdell]

nice job with the truck,also in the same boat with the trailer no one to deliver to Ontario.

[greende]

Congratulations on the new DRW. We did the same two years ago. I just ordered (yesterday) Fold A Cover G4 Elite bed cover. I may write a review here after I install it.

[Rob_Fla]

You did the right thing, we switched to a Dually last June and have been very happy with the change.
These big 5th Wheels are heavy and have a lot of surface for the wind to blow around.
Our DRW tows great, rides great and is very stable is all conditions.

[sk734]

You will like the dually. I waited to buy my 2011 because of the heavier frame and the urea tank-MPG is much better than prior years because of less regens.

[Golden_HVAC]

Yea,

I hear you on the dually problem. If only Ford made a longbed truck with a extended wheelbase, and put on the 19.5" rims in single rear wheel configuration, with a 4,000 pound rating per tire, it would be sufficient enough to have a 13,500 pound GVWR, and by extending the wheelbase about 9" it would put the weight farther forward, loading up the front axle, so the truck can carry a lot more weight, without nearly as much on the rear axle.

In a camper situation, the 9" longer wheelbase would put the center of gravity well ahead of the rear axle, and transfer a lot of the camper weight to the front axle.

In a fifth wheel situation, it might be possible to have the rear wheel opening just in front of the bumper, giving more clearance for the tailgate, and placing the hitch center about 2" in front of the center of the axle, transferring more weight to the front axle, and also making it possible to turn sharper without the front of the trailer reaching the cab window - remember the 9" longer wheelbase would mean the trailer pin would be overall 8" farther from the cab. A 7' bed might be enough to tow a fifth wheel without a sliding hitch.

Or with a 8' bed, if the rear axle is far enough back, then there might be space to mount the spare tire in the compartment in front of the rear axle, on the passenger side, like the old 72-75 F-350 Super Camper Specials had. The Cuper Camper Special had a 140" wheelbase instead of the 133" wheelbase, bringing the axle back 7" and they did install a compartment to carry the tire in the bed, behind the passenger door. It was a 30" square door cover, the tire acess was to the outside of the bed, and you could get it on and off while a camper was on the truck.

Probably one of the best features that Ford offered to camper buyers back in the 70's and 80's.

Fred.

[Artemus_Gordon]

We picked up our new 2013 F450 two weeks ago. It's amazing in every respect. We put the 500 miles on before towing as directed. It's checklist feature for towing is a great idea. The truck is a joy to drive congratulations on a wise choice! I got 11.3 mph on a four hundred mile trip towing our Montana this weekend, that shocked me! Look as far as the additive, I don't consider it an issue!

[redavis]

Congrats on the new truck and trailer. I don't see where you mention what motor you went with but if you got the diesel like I did in my new truck, you're going to love it. Amazing power.

I just added an Extang EnCore tonneau to my truck. Here's a couple photos on my truck:





I wanted a lockable cover and this one fit the bill. While I've not had it long enough to tell you all the pluses and minuses, I do like what I see so far. The fifth wheel hitch is useable with the top folded up though it is a two person hookup job as you cannot see the hitch because of the folded top. It does remove easily leaving only the rails that are flush with the bed rails. While I wouldn't exactly call it cheap, I got it installed by my local dealer for $800.00.

Randy

[Me_Again]

silvercorvette wrote:
Gas or diesel?

I bought a Doge (new in 2010) diesel because both Ford and Chevy have a pee tank to meet emission laws and Dodge did not require it. Form what I understand Urea only needs to be added at every oil change, as far as I was concerned it was an extra expense I did not want to deal with.

You are paying dearly for not having a higher mileage Urea equip'd truck. All the extra regens are costing you in mileage.

chris

[joebedford]

UncleFudd wrote:
There is a wide gap between the maximum SRW and DRW. If they made just one model somwhere in the gap that would work. Neither Ford or GM has one.

Congrats on the new truck.

Just curious: what rating are you referring to and how big is the gap?

[Travlingman]

Congrats on the new truck and camper. Looks like you did well. I have Trifecta tri-fold cover that does a good job. Pics of the new rig and camper when they arrive.

[ReneeG]

Good choice on the dually. You'll never regret having too much truck. Same happened to us and what a pleasure to tow now. We live in a mountainous region so we tow with confidence now instead of with that butt pucker factor of 10.

[dbbls]

You will be amazed when you start towing with the dually. Good choice. Regarding a cover, I went with a soft roll up cover. There are several good ones out there. Mine is a TruXcedo.