Towing with a dually or single?need help please

[loverving45]

Hello,
I have a 39’ fifth wheel 4 slides, , 14000 pound, and am about to buy a pick up to tow it. Everyone tells me to buy regular pickup , not a dually. They say the regular single rear wheel is enough for towing this fifth wheel and no need for dually. I’ve heard that dually is a must have for such big trailers due to the steadiness it provides. My question is for those of you who own similar size of rig, do you suggest me buying a dually or a single rear wheel? Also, which if the companies is the best for this purpose, ram, gmc or Ford? Any suggestion would be greatly appreciated and helpful. Thank you

[Grit_dog]

rhagfo wrote:



Grit Dog, don't know where you have been since 2013, but Ram made the jump to big SRW GVWR back then.
2013 Ram 3500 SRW LB GVWR 12,300#
2013 Ram 3500 SRW SB GVWR 11,700#
Ford and GM were still topped out at 11,500# until 2020.

Sorry, I meant 3/4 ton trucks. Last I checked, but icbw, Ram 2500s are still at the 10k limit whereas the other 2 now have supersized 3/4 ton GVW offerings. Albeit, defeating the actual reason for 3/4 tons having a 10k gvw limit for commercial use.

[Veebyes]

What is the difference between a SRW & a DRW? Possibly this is. Notice that the truck is not still attached to the trailer. The DRW truck had the extra stability & stayed upright. The truck remained upright & on the road. The trailer tore out of the truck & barrel rolled down the embankment.

Sure any SRW can pull a big 5er. You don't need a DRW till that split second when you really NEED that DRW. That is when your life just might depend on those extra two wheels.

Notice also what the kingpin did to the 18,000lb hitch when it broke out of the truck. Trailer weight at the time of the blowover was less than 13,000 lb.


Click For Full-Size Image.


Click For Full-Size Image.

[rhagfo]

4x4ord wrote:


I was coming home from skiing yesterday evening and had a little bit of wake up call on the Trans Canada. I tend to push it a little so when I had a chance to get my speed up in the fast lane I took advantage of it. I thought the pavement was pretty good so I was running in 2wd but when I hit a curve at 120 my bald Michelins lost traction and I just about joined the other 10 vehicles buried in the ditch. After getting things straightened out I wondered "what would have happened there had I been driving a dually". It could be that if I drove a dually I'd run better tires in the winter end up being safer.

Well running 120 kph (74.4 mph) seems a bit unreasonable on a questionable road surface. We daily drive our DRW and when bad weather comes we adjust driving speed and style to suit road, weather, and vehicle conditions.

[Edd505]

14K road ready with F350SRW tows great 10-12K a year. I live in the SW so plenty of mountain driving.

[4x4ord]

BobsYourUncle wrote:

frankwp wrote:

But that's just me. Lots of people don't mind one as a DD.

Yes, I guess we all have our own preference. I know I do.

I actually enjoy using my dually for a DD when I can. As you are in Calgary like I am, you know what the roads are like right now after that massive storm we just had. I live in the south end.

Needed to do a Costco run this afternoon, my car is still buried in the street, just a big white blob out there.
Took the dually to Okotoks and very much enjoyed doing 110K down the highway in it! Nice and stable, and after 411,000K I still love it. Parking? Well yeah, it's a little on the wide side but that's ok, I'm used to it after driving it 14 years. I can put it into any parking space, even though they make them so small.

And yesterday everyone was getting stuck in the alley, so I put the truck in 4WD and ran up and down the alley beating the deep snow down so all my neighbors could get through without getting stuck. Extra pair of tires helped.
Like a kid with a new toy! :B

I was coming home from skiing yesterday evening and had a little bit of wake up call on the Trans Canada. I tend to push it a little so when I had a chance to get my speed up in the fast lane I took advantage of it. I thought the pavement was pretty good so I was running in 2wd but when I hit a curve at 120 my bald Michelins lost traction and I just about joined the other 10 vehicles buried in the ditch. After getting things straightened out I wondered "what would have happened there had I been driving a dually". It could be that if I drove a dually I'd run better tires in the winter end up being safer.

[MFL]

:C

[Cummins12V98]

My favorite Dually parking.

[ferndaleflyer]

I had a 4wd dual rear wheel truck when I lived up in snow country but 4wd not necessary down here in NC. I do have a F150 4wd and Mercedes is AWD also, in case it snows!

[BobsYourUncle]

rhagfo wrote:

BobsYourUncle wrote:

frankwp wrote:

But that's just me. Lots of people don't mind one as a DD.

Yes, I guess we all have our own preference. I know I do.

I actually enjoy using my dually for a DD when I can. As you..... snip

Frankwp, I can understand a bit of reluctance to drive a DRW in the snow, lower tire pressure to 35 to 40 psi and add some weight to the bed. We drive our 3500 DRW CC LB as a daily Driver as it is our only vehicle as we full time, really don't have an issue with the length or width. I either pull through a parking spot, or back in, it is actually safer to back in even in a car as you have better vision leaving.

I almost always back in to a parking spot. So much easier to get out to leave. The space between the rows is made for a little Honda, not a full size pickup. Parking is never an issue, just gotta be observant in your mirrors.

As for running it it the snow, I have the advantage of my ladder rack, tool boxes and equipment in the back. It all weighs about 2000 pounds. This not only smoothes out the ride, but greatly assists with traction in the snow. Tires are getting down on tread, but I still have no issues with the extra wide footprint of a dually.
For those of you who run an empty dually, throw a ton of weight in the box, it makes a huge difference.

[rhagfo]

BobsYourUncle wrote:

frankwp wrote:

But that's just me. Lots of people don't mind one as a DD.

Yes, I guess we all have our own preference. I know I do.

I actually enjoy using my dually for a DD when I can. As you are in Calgary like I am, you know what the roads are like right now after that massive storm we just had. I live in the south end.

Needed to do a Costco run this afternoon, my car is still buried in the street, just a big white blob out there.
Took the dually to Okotoks and very much enjoyed doing 110K down the highway in it! Nice and stable, and after 411,000K I still love it. Parking? Well yeah, it's a little on the wide side but that's ok, I'm used to it after driving it 14 years. I can put it into any parking space, even though they make them so small.

And yesterday everyone was getting stuck in the alley, so I put the truck in 4WD and ran up and down the alley beating the deep snow down so all my neighbors could get through without getting stuck. Extra pair of tires helped.
Like a kid with a new toy! :B

Frankwp, I can understand a bit of reluctance to drive a DRW in the snow, lower tire pressure to 35 to 40 psi and add some weight to the bed. We drive our 3500 DRW CC LB as a daily Driver as it is our only vehicle as we full time, really don't have an issue with the length or width. I either pull through a parking spot, or back in, it is actually safer to back in even in a car as you have better vision leaving.

[rhagfo]

Grit dog wrote:

rhagfo wrote:
As I read these post about towing a 16,000#+ 5er with a SRW, I think about GVWR and axle ratings. Prior to 2020 both GM and Ford highest GVWR for a SRW was 11,500#, making the approximate max payload about 3,700#. Ram on the other hand the 3500 SRW LB had a GVWR of 12,300# since 2013.
One needs to ask why didn’t GM and Ford up their SRW GVWR in 2014 to match Ram. Best guess is that GM and Ford didn’t have the frame strength to make those increases.

And now one has to ask why Ram is the only one who hasn’t super sized their srw gvw ratings in recent years like the other 2.
Are Ram 4th gens weaker?
Nope just like the older fords and GM s weren’t either. They’re basically taxable ratings that are loosely associated with the vehicles’ actual capacities or capabilities.

PS, it looks like Ferd and GM read more of the “3/4 tons are useless” internet drivel and decided to try to capitalize on marketing against that widespread theory....

Also didn’t you pull a decent size 5ver with an old Dodge srw for a long time?
Having used and abused most every model of truck from the big 3 over the last 30 years, I can say every HD truck since about the year 2000 giver take. 2nd gen Dodges, GMT 800s and the orig Superduty have had the chassis to tug a 16k trailer. Drivetrains, depends on model.

Grit Dog, don't know where you have been since 2013, but Ram made the jump to big SRW GVWR back then.
2013 Ram 3500 SRW LB GVWR 12,300#
2013 Ram 3500 SRW SB GVWR 11,700#
Ford and GM were still topped out at 11,500# until 2020.

Some other points
since 2003 Ram has had a fully boxed frame, I think it took Ford several years for a fully boxed frame, looks like about 2017.

I have felt that Dodge/Ram has been conservative with their weight ratings before 2013.
Our old 2001 Dodge/Ram 2500 had a GVWR 8,800#, the only GVWR for the 2500 94 to 2002, yet ours came with 3500 springs, a Dana 80 rear axle, and optional 285/75-16E tires (3,415# rating), yet still a 8,800# GVWR. Towed several years with that truck between 10,300# and 10,500# GVW, never need help to ride level.

[BobsYourUncle]

frankwp wrote:

But that's just me. Lots of people don't mind one as a DD.

Yes, I guess we all have our own preference. I know I do.

I actually enjoy using my dually for a DD when I can. As you are in Calgary like I am, you know what the roads are like right now after that massive storm we just had. I live in the south end.

Needed to do a Costco run this afternoon, my car is still buried in the street, just a big white blob out there.
Took the dually to Okotoks and very much enjoyed doing 110K down the highway in it! Nice and stable, and after 411,000K I still love it. Parking? Well yeah, it's a little on the wide side but that's ok, I'm used to it after driving it 14 years. I can put it into any parking space, even though they make them so small.

And yesterday everyone was getting stuck in the alley, so I put the truck in 4WD and ran up and down the alley beating the deep snow down so all my neighbors could get through without getting stuck. Extra pair of tires helped.
Like a kid with a new toy! :B

[frankwp]

@mkirsch makes a lot of sense. I know I would not buy a trailer or fifth wheel that needed a DRW to pull it. Even though I put only about 5000 KM/year outside of towing, there are just too many negatives for a dually as a daily driver.

But that's just me. Lots of people don't mind one as a DD.

[mkirsch]

Plan on buying two trucks.

First, buy a 3/4 ton or SRW 1 ton. As stated any of them made in the last 5 years are more than up to the task of towing that trailer on paper.

HOWEVER, only you will be able to determine if you are comfortable with it, and then only after you've had a chance to experience driving the rig in real world conditions. All the opinions here are meaningless in your situation because everyone has different ideas of what constitutes "issues," different ideas of how a vehicle should handle, different expectations of how a vehicle should stop.

What's good for the goose isn't always good for the gander...

Maybe you'll get it right first time around. Maybe you'll HATE it, for whatever reason, rational or irrational. There's no way to know until you try it.

Keep the possibility of having to upgrade to a DRW for whatever reason on the back burner.

[ACZL]

Living in CNY, the SRW in winter is best. After having a DRW now for a couple winter's, can honestly say they stink w/o about 3-4K sitting on it. That being said tho, for towing our coach (14k empty, 16k max), it's brought new meaning to enjoy the ride. It's a much more stable platform and relaxing. Even the wife said she feels more comfy driving while towing then RV when she's relieving me for spells. Same RV, previous truck was a '15 F350 SRW. Towed it fine, but was at or over some of weight capacities for it. Going around curves or stiff crosswinds, you could feel it wanting to push you in the middle. Had lower StableLoads which helped a lot, but still no comparo to a DRW.