DRW vs SRW Trucks

[snowcrustracer]

Hi folks,

My DH and I are thinking about buying a new truck and are having some trouble deciding between a dual rear wheel truck and a single wheel truck.
Right now we have limited time off from the rat race and usually just stay in campgrounds so I'm not sure those habits will change when we retire.

The campers we seem to have chosen are the bigger models such as the Host triple slide and the Northern Lite 10.2EXRR. These campers probably would be more comfortable driving with a DRW.

Can we never travel fire roads and trails out in Utah or Colorado with the DRW? Will we be stuck only in campgrounds.

Any thoughts folks could add to the plus or minus list would be very helpful.

Thanks,

Snow

[deltabravo]

Dually.

[BradW]

SoCalDesertRider wrote:
Get the DUALLY if you want to haul a BIG camper! :B

What he said. Night and day difference between an SRW and a DRW hauling a heavy high CG load like a truck camper.

We hauled our 9' 10" Lance 10 years on an srw and then another 10 years on a drw. No comparison between the two.

Brad

[SoCalDesertRid1]

It depends on where you want to go with your camper. Some places, a tent topper on a Jeep might be what's needed to get there, or maybe a backpackers tent and an ATV is required...

For me, a 4wd pickup with a not too wide, fairly low roof height truck camper, that doesn't stick out much beyond the rear of the truck, is fine for everywhere I've gone. Most of that was done with my old 8.5' Six Pac on the F350. The Six Pac was a little wider, longer, taller and heavier than the camper I have now, but not by very much.

I really like that I can close the tailgate with the new, shorter length camper on the truck. I get to have a porch/tailgate and still tow a trailer, without extending the hitch. The Six Pac was just long enough that the tailgate couldn't be closed.

The 8.5' Six Pac was a vast improvement over my previous 10.5' Vacationeer, which was also wider and taller. I never liked all that extra camper length sticking out the back, especially since it didn't really equate to much more usable interior space, compared to the 2 foot shorter Six Pac.

[jimh406]

Smaller doesn't mean more capable. It might, but that is only one measure. If you want to go that route though, go with an expedition tent on top of a Jeep, or you are just compromising. 😉

[SoCalDesertRid1]

Steve_in_29 wrote:

SoCalDesertRider wrote:
Many Forest Service trucks are duallys, and almost all Forest Service fire trucks are duallys.

Guess what they drive on??... Forest Service roads! 😉

Here is my ex-US Forest Service brush fire truck, wearing all 6 of it's agency-issued super knobby off road tires. It was operated in eastern central California and western Nevada, in the Humboldt-Toiyabe national forest.

Yes but judging by that radiator guard it appears even the USFS knew the truck wasn't always going to fit.

Yep, if it didn't fit, they just ran over whatever was in the way!

Their grille gaurd setup is kinda neat, it stays in place while the hood is opened/tilted forward. Usually the grille tilts with the hood on most trucks with tilt frontends.

[SoCalDesertRid1]

Vinsil wrote:
This is true, have the "Oregon pin stripes" on my TC and truck to prove it.

Most my vehicles are adorned with "desert pinstriping" too 🙂

[Steve_in_29]

SoCalDesertRider wrote:
Many Forest Service trucks are duallys, and almost all Forest Service fire trucks are duallys.

Guess what they drive on??... Forest Service roads! 😉

Here is my ex-US Forest Service brush fire truck, wearing all 6 of it's agency-issued super knobby off road tires. It was operated in eastern central California and western Nevada, in the Humboldt-Toiyabe national forest.

Yes but judging by that radiator guard it appears even the USFS knew the truck wasn't always going to fit.

[SoCalDesertRid1]

adambeck7 wrote:
yea, you can make it down many (most?) FS roads with a dually, but like i said there's also a lot of FS roads that a dually pickup truck with a triple slide 4000lb camper will not make it down that a SRW with a 3000lb non-slide camper will make it.

i've noticed that many FS roads here in CO (where there are good non-crowded dispersed camping spots) are more like very rocky trails than they are logging roads or bumpy FS roads.

That likely has more to do with the overall size of the behemoth triple slide camper, versus the smaller camper, rather than how many tires are on the rear of the truck.

Those giant, multi slide campers are built to maximum width, maximum length, maximum height and maximum weight and are not well suited to real off roading, regardless if the truck has duals or super singles.

I'm in with the 'smaller is better' school of thought, where truck-mounted campers and off roading are concerned.

I need to build a 2x4 frame under the new camper to set it higher, for more roof/overcab clearance. Also, if I were doing more serious off roading, I would be wanting to put it on a regular 2 door cab truck, instead of my crew cab, with it's wide turning radius and low breakover angle.

[Kayteg1]

Even my single slide camper is way too heavy for SRW.
Don't hesitate to buy dually. Common myth is that it sucks more fuel, but my 6l Powerstroke dually makes honest 16 mpg empty when I have CC at 70 mph.
With camper in mountain driving that drops to 10 mpg.

[Vinsil]

adambeck7 wrote:
yea, you can make it down many (most?) FS roads with a dually, but like i said there's also a lot of FS roads that a dually pickup truck with a triple slide 4000lb camper will not make it down that a SRW with a 3000lb non-slide camper will make it.

i've noticed that many FS roads here in CO (where there are good non-crowded dispersed camping spots) are more like very rocky trails than they are logging roads or bumpy FS roads.

This is true, have the "Oregon pin stripes" on my TC and truck to prove it.

[COboondocker]

yea, you can make it down many (most?) FS roads with a dually, but like i said there's also a lot of FS roads that a dually pickup truck with a triple slide 4000lb camper will not make it down that a SRW with a 3000lb non-slide camper will make it.

i've noticed that many FS roads here in CO (where there are good non-crowded dispersed camping spots) are more like very rocky trails than they are logging roads or bumpy FS roads.

[SoCalDesertRid1]

Many Forest Service trucks are duallys, and almost all Forest Service fire trucks are duallys.

Guess what they drive on??... Forest Service roads! 😉

Here is my ex-US Forest Service brush fire truck, wearing all 6 of it's agency-issued super knobby off road tires. It was operated in eastern central California and western Nevada, in the Humboldt-Toiyabe national forest.

[COboondocker]

those are two VERY different campers. if you're wanting to get off road i'd stay away from the triple slide. too many moving parts, too heavy. newer 1 tons have payloads over 4300 lbs depending on your configuration so that would give you 1500lbs of cushion on that northern lite.

i've been on plenty of roads here in colorado where i took a big camper on singles that i wouldn't take a dually. rocky and/or rutted single tracks that a dually just can't line up with. also, CO is exceptionally rocky. can you make it down lots of FS roads here in CO with a dually? sure, but you will find some you can't make it down for sure. it's a real bummer to travel to some place only to be turned back and have to find another.

[SoCalDesertRid1]

That is one of the primary reasons to camp with a truck camper- the ability to tow, with trailer or tow bar, a variety of different toys, or tools, to fit the occasion! 😛