Dually Conversion

[The_Works]

I have a 2011 Chevy 3500HD diesel, crew cab, long box, single rear wheel (SRW), 18,500 towing capabilities. I have seen conversion kits to convert my SRW to a dually, has anyone done this this? If so, are you happen with the results? Reasons for my thinking is, I like my truck, its paid for, I bought it new and have had it serviced when necessary and it runs great. I bought a 41 ft Heartland Big Horn 3750FL, 16K gvwr and I'm pushing the load capabilities for the SRW tires. I don't need to increase the load capabilities of the truck but I want to feel a little more secure with the camper load distribution on four dually tires vs. two. Any problems with this thinking?
Also, how can one weight the truck and camper to determine the pin weight? Thanks for your positive input and comments.

[6_6_Oilburner]

I am nearly certain a hub swap is not going to work on a GM 11.5 rear without wheel spacers. I believe either the distance between the 2 bearings is greater, or the distance from the inner bearing to backing plate is greater.

[carringb]

Perrysburg Dodgeboy wrote:
You may want to tell you insurance company what you are doing also. I know for a fact that if you alter your vehicle from stock and do not notify your insurance they can and most likely will not pay the comp and or collision portion of your claim.
Don

Good point. This issue varies by insurer. The bottom of the barrel online-only insurers often have these exclusions. I ran in to this with Unitrin. The policy exclusions (meaning your vehicle isn't covered under those circumstances) listed "any modifications to the vehicles suspension". I called and asked about airbags. They said unless they were included from the factory, that would be a modification and the policy would be void.

So... I switched to Allstate, and later to State Farm, and neither had an issue with my van having airbags or being a dually.

[Perrysburg_Dodg]

You may want to tell you insurance company what you are doing also. I know for a fact that if you alter your vehicle from stock and do not notify your insurance they can and most likely will not pay the comp and or collision portion of your claim.

This happened to a friend that took a standard Mustang bought a donner GT Mustang and converted it. When he totaled it his insurance company refused to pay a dime towards his car. Luckily he had a loan on it and when the bank got involved they paid only the cost of the insured car not the value of a HO. To add insult to injury they refused to sell the vehicle back to him so he was out the HO parts also.

Something to keep in mind if you do go this route. BTW it is illegal to remove the door sticker form your vehicle, it is vehicle specific and has your vin on it. If you want to have your vehicles weight sticker recertified there is a procedure you have to fallow. As Bryon noted you may not need to do this if you do ALL the work yourself but you should contact your State's DMV to make sure!

Don

[Cummins12V98]

Powerdude wrote:

donn0128 wrote:
This will still not alter the GVWR sticker on your drivers door post. If your going to go this route, I would suggest you find a donor dually to take the bed, rear axle assembly from. Remember duallies also have different studs, longer to accompdate the dual wheels. Of course, once you have the bed painted to match the cab, and the donor parts your total cost would likely exceed the cost to trade plus cash for a real dually

Find a wrecked dually of your year, take the axle, and the door sticker. Replace your door sticker with the one from the dually.

Problem solved.

His sticker is already 3500. Never seen anything stating a rig bring a "Dually".

EDIT You probably meant the weight rating sticker!

[blt2ski]

jims1 wrote:
Been there, Done that ,

Still bought a bigger truck

I converted a Dodge SRW to a DRW. Still didn't have enough braking power. Pulled fine, was much more stable, but our Carrilite is in the 18500lb range and the stopping power just wasn't there. Disks on the trailer, PacBrake on the truck, Powerslot rotors, EBC Green Stuff pads, and the weight of the RV would push the truck down the highway in an emergency braking situation.

Well, you were over one of my "rule of thumbs" for towing I follow. No trailer heavier than 2x the grawr. so you needed a 9000lb grawr for me to haul said trailer. Depending upon when you did the conversion, you total would still be in the 12-15K grawr range.

Marty

[jims1]

Been there, Done that ,

Still bought a bigger truck

I converted a Dodge SRW to a DRW. Still didn't have enough braking power. Pulled fine, was much more stable, but our Carrilite is in the 18500lb range and the stopping power just wasn't there. Disks on the trailer, PacBrake on the truck, Powerslot rotors, EBC Green Stuff pads, and the weight of the RV would push the truck down the highway in an emergency braking situation.

[SteveB]

To the OP, check out www.arrowcraft.com. They have complete conversion kits.

[BenK]

My comments covered the possibility the OP was interested in changing
their OEM's ratings...

Cousin in the Calif Highway Patrol used to check ratings vs actual
weights with portables and had his troopers likewise...he quit after
one too many accidents where he had to pickup pieces of folks. The
final straw was when one of his troopers had his legs cut off by
those bumper shocks of the 70's

He also got many complaints sent to his boss and the reps' for
the region...his boss didn't ding him for any of that

Buddy has a F350 Superduty SRW and gone to 19.5's on his first
set. Now even larger 19.5's. He carries a huge Lance and tows
a V-utility hauling his quads or tows his Jeep. Larger tire because the
first set wore out quickly...even though they were rated for it.

He off roads a lot with me and we take our rigs up to Tahoe (Rubicon) often.

He does NOT care about OEM ratings and just how well it handles
and wears...

His V10 is now showing signs of wearing out by consuming engine
oil...but he understands and will rebuild soon with my help...

flyairam wrote:
Sir,

My dilemma was almost exactly the same as yours; a paid-for well-equipped truck (2006 with 40,000 miles!), but preparing to buy a large RV. My fifth-wheel weighs within a few hundred pounds of yours and my RV garage is large enough for RV and truck, but not large enough for a dually.

After doing the research on my truck's running gear, sticker weights, and safe weights, I decided a tire upgrade was all I needed. I bought Vision Hauler 81 19.5 inch wheels from duallywheels4u and am very happy with this decision. The truck handles the RV very well with no stability problems whatever. It's actually more stable loaded than unloaded; these tires are designed to carry weight-and lots of it.

Without looking at your specific numbers, if your GM is like my Dodge, your axle is rated at something near 10,000 pounds. That leaves the tires as the weakest link, a legitimate safety concern.

Another poster (no names, no insult intended) suggested you would spend a lot of time or money to re-certify your weight capability. That's akin to re-certifying your toaster; nobody does it, nobody cares to do it, and nobody is overseeing that process (I'm LEO).

As for weighing your rig, a simple search will give you the answers to that question. It's easy but requires a little hassle of hooking, unhooking, etc.

Good luck with your decision.

Randy
-----------------------------
I have a 2011 Chevy 3500HD diesel, crew cab, long box, single rear wheel (SRW), 18,500 towing capabilities. I have seen conversion kits to convert my SRW to a dually, has anyone done this this? If so, are you happen with the results? I bought a 41 ft Heartland Big Horn 3750FL, 16K gvwr and I'm pushing the load capabilities for the SRW tires. I want to feel a little more secure with the camper load distribution on four dually tires vs. two. Any problems with this thinking?
Also, how can one weight the truck and camper to determine the pin weight? Thanks for your positive input and comments.

[Ozlander]

That door sticker is just a sticker, nothing else.
Tells you what the tires are good for, that's all.

[The_Works]

This is why I put my questions out on this forum, lots of good information and thought provoking ideas. I didn't realize I could purchase a much higher load rated tire and I think this is the route I'm going to take. I'm not trying to increase my trucks gvwr, but with the tires on the truck now I'm approaching the max load, haven't exceeded it, just to close for comfort. Thanks for everyones' input!!!

[blt2ski]

If it were me, I would not give a rats hiney what they door sticker says. In Wa st where I am, all the LEO's care about is how much weight I have paid for. If it is over what I weigh, I am legal, if not, illegal! Also as long as I do not have more than 500 lbs per inch width of tire on a single driveline rig, or 600 lbs for a duallie setup, I am legal. Door sticker be danged! I sold my 05 dullie 2 years ago, it had a 14K registration on it. No issues selling it! New owner kept the 14K plates. I was legal to 14k, not the 11400 on the door sticker.

NOW, if one gets into a civil court issue. That door sticker may mean something. But as I saw recently re a towing article. maybe it was here, buy yourself plenty of insurance, do not worry about door stickers!

marty

[Powerdude]

donn0128 wrote:
This will still not alter the GVWR sticker on your drivers door post. If your going to go this route, I would suggest you find a donor dually to take the bed, rear axle assembly from. Remember duallies also have different studs, longer to accompdate the dual wheels. Of course, once you have the bed painted to match the cab, and the donor parts your total cost would likely exceed the cost to trade plus cash for a real dually

Find a wrecked dually of your year, take the axle, and the door sticker. Replace your door sticker with the one from the dually.

Problem solved.

[carringb]

BenK wrote:
You'd spend more having it certified with a new GVWR than just going out
and buying a dually...

Certification is only required if you are performing the conversion for a customer, or you are selling the truck with the higher GVWR. It is not required for private use.

I converted my van using hub adapters. 300,000 miles later, so far so good. Only problem I've had is the aftermarket out wheels working loose after a while, because they are lug-centric instead of hub-centric like the OEM wheels. I will be fixing that soon. The lug seats are pretty worn down, so they are due for replacement.

[flyairam]

Sir,

My dilemma was almost exactly the same as yours; a paid-for well-equipped truck (2006 with 40,000 miles!), but preparing to buy a larger RV. My fifth-wheel weighs within a few hundred pounds of yours and my RV garage is large enough for RV and truck, but not large enough for a dually.

After doing the research on my truck's running gear, sticker weights, and safe weights, I decided a tire upgrade was all I needed. I bought Vision Hauler 81 19.5 inch wheels from duallywheels4u and am very happy with this decision. The truck handles the RV very well with no stability problems whatever. It's actually more stable loaded than unloaded; these tires are designed to carry weight-and lots of it.

Without looking at your specific numbers, if your GM is like my Dodge, your axle is rated at something near 10,000 pounds. That leaves the tires as the weakest link, a legitimate safety concern.

Another poster (no names, no insult intended) suggested you would spend a lot of time or money to re-certify your weight capability. That's akin to re-certifying your toaster; nobody does it, nobody cares to do it, and nobody is overseeing that process (I'm LEO).

As for weighing your rig, a simple search will give you the answers to that question. It's easy but requires a little hassle of hooking, unhooking, etc.

Good luck with your decision.

Randy
-----------------------------
I have a 2011 Chevy 3500HD diesel, crew cab, long box, single rear wheel (SRW), 18,500 towing capabilities. I have seen conversion kits to convert my SRW to a dually, has anyone done this this? If so, are you happen with the results? I bought a 41 ft Heartland Big Horn 3750FL, 16K gvwr and I'm pushing the load capabilities for the SRW tires. I want to feel a little more secure with the camper load distribution on four dually tires vs. two. Any problems with this thinking?
Also, how can one weight the truck and camper to determine the pin weight? Thanks for your positive input and comments.