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

[azdryheat]

One con to a dually surfaced this evening. Friends and us were towing our RZR's home after dark after a day playing in the sand. They were behind us and texted my wife that my trailer lights just went out. My trailer is 6 feet wide and I can't see it with the dually fenders in the way. I had no idea the trailer lights went out (the umbilical had disconnected from the truck). Glad to have them behind me.

[memtb]

rhagofo, I was referring to the actual axle load capacity......not tires/wheels, springs, ect. Merely, the load capacity of the axle! Beefing the accompanying components, increases the truck load capacity! Without going into lengthy internet research, several years ago the Ram 3500 HD axle rating ( not truck load rating) was the same SRW or DRW. The DRW was axle slightly longer to accommodate the DRW’s. The rear brake discs and caliper assembly were also slightly larger = more braking surface area, to accommodate the extra tire contact patch area afforded by having dual rear wheels. That same contact patch area, greatly works against you on very slick surfaces .....unless you have a lot of load on the back of the truck. For my personal uses....I need a truck that will perform (unloaded) on slick surfaces. We also go places where the fenders would quickly be removed from a DRW. We all have different needs/applications for our trucks.

Which brings me back to the weakest link on the SRW.....wheel/tire load capacity! memtb

[Cummins12V98]

GVWR should be higher but one more pound to 14,001# will put the DRW into commercial territory.

[rhagfo]

memtb wrote:
As this topic was “closed” in a different part of the forum, but continued here.....below is my post cut and pasted here!

With a 1 ton HD SRW, the limiting factor is primarily the tires and rims. With a HD SRW 3500, the suspension, and axles are plenty sufficient for your potential load. I haven’t researched in recent years, but the older 3500 Rams had the same rear axle load rating, whether SRW or DRW. The dual tires are what increased the truck load capacity. With the dually you will gain some stability and “slightly” more rear brake surface area.!

If your 5th wheel is properly balanced, and your tires/rims are sufficient for the load, you should be fine. Assuming the rims/tires are adequate, it comes down to your preference. If the truck will be primarily for paved road use, and not an everyday driver, and minimal snow/ice....the DRW would be great. If you will be doing substantial snow/ice travel, or off road use, and/or a daily driver.....it’s hard to beat a SRW.

We tow substantially more than 16K with a SRW, with some wheel/tire upgrades. But, we don’t full time, the truck is used in snow/ice, and off road.....for our needs, the SRW is much more practical! memtb

Not sure how old your are referring to, but Ram didn’t have a SRW 3500 before 2003. The rear axle on my DD 2004 is about 9,500# the SRW 3500 was like 6,000#. My 2001 Ram 2500 had a rear axle rating of 6,084# the 3500 DRW was about 9,000#+.
The 2002 Ram 3500 DRW had a GVWR of I think 10,500#.
If you think GVWR is all about axles and tires, Ram made big leaps in GVWR, once in 2003 Ram 3500 went from 10,500# to 12,300# the change was from a C channel frame to a fully boxed frame. In 2013 they strengthen the frame again and went from 12,300# to 14,000#.

[4x4ord]

ferndaleflyer wrote:
I subscribe to the "you never have to much truck" idea. I got my first dually in 1985 and wouldn't dream of a SRW for towing. You get in a situation one time and all the reasons for not having DRW disappear. Once is all it takes. Its the rubber on the road that can save your life.

For those driving on icy winter roads your point is even more applicable ..... Once is all it takes. Too much rubber on the road can cost you your life.:)

[Grit_dog]

Cummins12V98 wrote:
It's not always about can my truck tow it. Reality is can my truck "HANDLE" it when the chitz hits da fan???

But, wouldn’t a srw at say 24k combined (assuming OP is wrong and his trailer is heavier than he stated) be as safe as yours at almost 38k combined? By your logic, you should be in a class 5 to class 8 truck to maximize how it handles when “chitz hits da fan.”

[Grit_dog]

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.

[Cummins12V98]

It's not always about can my truck tow it. Reality is can my truck "HANDLE" it when the chitz hits da fan???

[memtb]

As this topic was “closed” in a different part of the forum, but continued here.....below is my post cut and pasted here!

With a 1 ton HD SRW, the limiting factor is primarily the tires and rims. With a HD SRW 3500, the suspension, and axles are plenty sufficient for your potential load. I haven’t researched in recent years, but the older 3500 Rams had the same rear axle load rating, whether SRW or DRW. The dual tires are what increased the truck load capacity. With the dually you will gain some stability and “slightly” more rear brake surface area.!

If your 5th wheel is properly balanced, and your tires/rims are sufficient for the load, you should be fine. Assuming the rims/tires are adequate, it comes down to your preference. If the truck will be primarily for paved road use, and not an everyday driver, and minimal snow/ice....the DRW would be great. If you will be doing substantial snow/ice travel, or off road use, and/or a daily driver.....it’s hard to beat a SRW.

We tow substantially more than 16K with a SRW, with some wheel/tire upgrades. But, we don’t full time, the truck is used in snow/ice, and off road.....for our needs, the SRW is much more practical! memtb

[ferndaleflyer]

I subscribe to the "you never have to much truck" idea. I got my first dually in 1985 and wouldn't dream of a SRW for towing. You get in a situation one time and all the reasons for not having DRW disappear. Once is all it takes. Its the rubber on the road that can save your life.

[rhagfo]

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.

[valhalla360]

Once again...is 14k loaded or empty weight.

You are at the border between SRW and DRW. If that's empty weight, you are in dually territory. If it's GVWR, a SRW of recent vintage is likely fine (check the ratings anyway).

[SweetLou]

My dually tows 12K empty and we can fill the thing. I am very happy with the stability. As previously said on the pros, only cons are wider when empty, and two extra tires.

[4x4ord]

It comes down to how much you will use the truck not towing. My fiver weighs 16k fully loaded and I don’t need or want a dually. If the truck was a dedicated towing vehicle I still wouldn’t need a dually but I might buy one for the added stability. If you’re buying new you would be thrilled with any diesel 1 ton SRW.

[SDcampowneroper]

We tow a 16k Fiver loaded weight with a second ( double tow) 2.5 k trailer. Gross 26k with a SRW 3500 extrended cab long bed. diesel.
No issues of stability, overloading, braking.
If a SRW is rated to do the job with pin weight, why is DRW justified? Not.
More important to handling is wheelbase.. A longer trucks wheelbase is the stability, not the extra tires, the springs and axles are the same.
Get over the length and parking issues of a long bed. Save yourself the cost of slider hitches, have the room for cargo or an extra fuel tank. Our 80 gal in bed diesel tank extends range 900 mi. more.