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Dually

Faststreak
Explorer
Explorer
As I have mentioned on here in a earlier thread, I bought a beautiful Host Cascade in November and put on my SRW 3500 GMC. I have done many mods to the truck and it carries the camper ok. You definitely know it’s back there and you feel the rough roads. Sometimes it bounces pretty good. So thinking of going to Ram 3500 Dually. I’m trying to get a idea of investment. For those of you that carry a heavy camper can I expect to do mods on the new truck and to what extent? On my SRW I have done a ton of mods from sway bar to heavy duty Timbrens, blistien shocks, lower stable loads, 19.5 inch wheels and 14 ply tires. Will the dually be so much better that no or a few mods have to be done? I only tow a bass boat. Also you guys that have the Ram are you satisfied with it and are you happy with the Aisin transmission or would you recommend the 68? I have heard some Aisin have had problems. What’s your experience? Thanks for your input. Love this site
40 REPLIES 40

towpro
Explorer
Explorer
burningman wrote:
Well now people are making exaggerated claims about duallies.
It’s the same truck as a SRW. The extra stability from the wider stance and twice as many tire sidewalls and the extra capacity from those extra tires are what’s better about them for heavy use.
The rest of the truck is the same.


The Ram dually has different rear than the 3500 SRW along with options for ratios.

The Ram dually has helper springs that contact the frame as suspension drops where the SRW does not. (air suspension is different)
2022 Ford F150
Sold: 2016 Arctic Fox 990, 2018 Ram 3500, 2011 Open Range
Sold Forest River Forester 2401R Mercedes Benz. when campsites went from $90 to $190 per night.

burningman
Explorer II
Explorer II
450s and 550s aren’t “one tons”. And if you really wanna know, the earlier Ford F450s had Dana 80 rear and Dana 60 front axles, the same as Dodge 2500 with manual transmissions came with.
Most 3/4 ton and one ton trucks use the same wheel bearings.
The engines and transmissions are the same.
Rather than vague terms like duallys are heavier duty this or that, try calling out specifically what is different. Generally, it’s a couple-inch wider rear axle to clear the inside tires against the pickup bed, and not even that if it’s a cab & chassis, usually an extra leaf or two, and often duallies don’t even have a factory sway bar. Those are actually more common on SRW trucks. The brakes are usually the same part number.

I’ll only haul my camper on a dually. I own three of them. The extra tire capacity and stability that comes from the width is game-changing. But ALL the drivetrain and chassis parts are the same except those few things to make it mount the extra wheels.

That’s how they’re built.
2017 Northern Lite 10-2 EX CD SE
99 Ram 4x4 Dually Cummins
A whole lot more fuel, a whole lot more boost.
4.10 gears, Gear Vendors overdrive, exhaust brake
Built auto, triple disc, billet shafts.
Kelderman Air Ride, Helwig sway bar.

KKELLER14K
Explorer II
Explorer II
Umm, seriously? ..ok. So what dually truck do you want to compare to a 2500 with all the mods you can throw at it at what cost for modifications?? There is NO 2500 that will be as built as a 450 or a 550....even a 350 has more punch...they are not the same...my Cummins is a HO...it has a bigger brake package, bigger springs,overloads and sway bar, a wider stance and much more stability that no 2500 can compete with..My point was to say the investment is worth turning your attention and piece of mind of choosing any RV of your choice...and not to worry as you go bigger... A 250 rig won't give you all the options without having to buy another truck if you expand to something larger. What if your wanting to have a 5000 pound TC and pull a trailer with toys or boat or even go with a 5th wheel that's 20 thousand pounds? Dually is you answer...in my opinion.

burningman
Explorer II
Explorer II
brholt wrote:
burningman wrote:
Well now people are making exaggerated claims about duallies.
It’s the same truck as a SRW. The extra stability from the wider stance and twice as many tire sidewalls and the extra capacity from those extra tires are what’s better about them for heavy use.
The rest of the truck is the same.


At least with Ford in 2013 this was not true. Dually came with heavier duty rear axle, bigger brakes, sway bar, etc.


OK on those '99-up Fords, the SRW came with a 10.5 Sterling with an almost-10,000 rating and the dually had a Dana 80. Makes no difference in ability. thats more than enough. Brakes are same, sway bar is insignificant cheap and easily changed.

Even 3/4 tons are mechanically the same, save for maybe an extra spring.
2017 Northern Lite 10-2 EX CD SE
99 Ram 4x4 Dually Cummins
A whole lot more fuel, a whole lot more boost.
4.10 gears, Gear Vendors overdrive, exhaust brake
Built auto, triple disc, billet shafts.
Kelderman Air Ride, Helwig sway bar.

TxGearhead
Explorer II
Explorer II
Grit dog wrote:
TxGearhead wrote:
Ha! I'm ahead of you! LOL I'm on truck #4 in 8 years. The first was a 2500 to pull a Cougar XLite 5th, then a F350 diesel SRW (over payload) to pull the Montana, then the RAM 3500 SRW that was good with the Montana but overloaded with the recently acquired Bigfoot. Now the dually. Now I'm free to trade the POS Montana for anything.
This all started in 1980? with a light duty F250 300 six cylinder and a Tejas cabover of unknown weight, but I'm sure overloaded.
Expensive lessons for me.
Maiden voyage for the dually and Bigfoot is this coming week, hopefully.


Aside from upgrading to the dually, this only proves you like buying new trucks. In general, truck #2and #3 were the same vehicle ratings wise and #1 was also the same from a practical (not by ratings) standpoint.

Actually #1 and #2 were used. #1 was a GMC 2500 6.0 gasser bought to pull a 21ft boat. Then we talked about a travel trailer and got the Cougar 5th wheel. It pulled it screaming up hills. Traded that on the used 2014? F350 SRW. Much better so we upgraded to the Montana HC. The F350 had a payload of 3267#. I was over that a good bit. Traded to the new Ram 3500 SRW with a payload of 4018#. I was good until I got the Bigfoot. Loaded heavy for a winter trip I was 4500+. Thus the dually.
2018 Ram 3500 CC LB DRW 4X4 Cummins Aisin Laramie Pearl White
2018 Landmark Oshkosh
2008 Bigfoot 25C9.4
2014 NauticStar 21 ShallowBay 150HP Yamaha
2016 GoDevil 18X44 35HP Surface Drive

brholt
Explorer II
Explorer II
burningman wrote:
Well now people are making exaggerated claims about duallies.
It’s the same truck as a SRW. The extra stability from the wider stance and twice as many tire sidewalls and the extra capacity from those extra tires are what’s better about them for heavy use.
The rest of the truck is the same.


At least with Ford in 2013 this was not true. Dually came with heavier duty rear axle, bigger brakes, sway bar, etc.

Bedlam
Moderator
Moderator
KKELLER14K wrote:
Horse before the buggy... Does anyone follow that time tested rule anymore? Look...it is a no brainier, to give advice is why the OP asked and I can tell you this.... that if you want to carry a load of 5000 pounds in the bed of your truck, why, why, would you not have a dully? I mean come on....your not going to take a 2500 SWR and make it work no matter how much you think your right. I do not see why anyone puts their cash into Mods that is pretending that it works for a SWR... with a Dully you have the over load springs, a bigger brake package, check your gearing...are you auto or manual?..plus a good set of airbags with an on board controller works well... like a charm....OK, 3 trucks and 4 campers later I don't know..squat right? OK just passing it on... Buy the biggest baddest truck and go from there. You can have any RV from that decision...it's all about the truck first...go BIG or go home...

My F250 with modifications was hauling around 5000 lbs of payload 10,000 miles every year, so it is possible to do this safely. If I didn’t need 7000 lbs payload for my current camper, I would still be driving it.

Host Mammoth 11.5 on Ram 5500 HD

Grit_dog
Navigator
Navigator
burningman wrote:
Well now people are making exaggerated claims about duallies.
It’s the same truck as a SRW. The extra stability from the wider stance and twice as many tire sidewalls and the extra capacity from those extra tires are what’s better about them for heavy use.
The rest of the truck is the same.


Say it ain't so!!!
2016 Ram 2500, MotorOps.ca EFIlive tuned, 5” turbo back, 6" lift on 37s
2017 Heartland Torque T29 - Sold.
Couple of Arctic Fox TCs - Sold

Grit_dog
Navigator
Navigator
TxGearhead wrote:
Ha! I'm ahead of you! LOL I'm on truck #4 in 8 years. The first was a 2500 to pull a Cougar XLite 5th, then a F350 diesel SRW (over payload) to pull the Montana, then the RAM 3500 SRW that was good with the Montana but overloaded with the recently acquired Bigfoot. Now the dually. Now I'm free to trade the POS Montana for anything.
This all started in 1980? with a light duty F250 300 six cylinder and a Tejas cabover of unknown weight, but I'm sure overloaded.
Expensive lessons for me.
Maiden voyage for the dually and Bigfoot is this coming week, hopefully.


Aside from upgrading to the dually, this only proves you like buying new trucks. In general, truck #2and #3 were the same vehicle ratings wise and #1 was also the same from a practical (not by ratings) standpoint.
2016 Ram 2500, MotorOps.ca EFIlive tuned, 5” turbo back, 6" lift on 37s
2017 Heartland Torque T29 - Sold.
Couple of Arctic Fox TCs - Sold

burningman
Explorer II
Explorer II
Well now people are making exaggerated claims about duallies.
It’s the same truck as a SRW. The extra stability from the wider stance and twice as many tire sidewalls and the extra capacity from those extra tires are what’s better about them for heavy use.
The rest of the truck is the same.
2017 Northern Lite 10-2 EX CD SE
99 Ram 4x4 Dually Cummins
A whole lot more fuel, a whole lot more boost.
4.10 gears, Gear Vendors overdrive, exhaust brake
Built auto, triple disc, billet shafts.
Kelderman Air Ride, Helwig sway bar.

KKELLER14K
Explorer II
Explorer II
WOW! good report. Can't say it enough..If you want light duty, ok, but everyone ramps up their needs for bigger payloads eventually in my opinion...I see and hear it all the time. Granted it may take a while to get there but look at it from this point. By the time you put all of the effort into putting lipstick on a SWR, it is just not worth the headache. Your goal should be to have a big rig first, DUALLY POWER!. You will always have the option of hauling or pulling whatever your choice of RV is with no doubts about the foundation you build your RV experience on... buy a good horse first then ride on.

TxGearhead
Explorer II
Explorer II
Ha! I'm ahead of you! LOL I'm on truck #4 in 8 years. The first was a 2500 to pull a Cougar XLite 5th, then a F350 diesel SRW (over payload) to pull the Montana, then the RAM 3500 SRW that was good with the Montana but overloaded with the recently acquired Bigfoot. Now the dually. Now I'm free to trade the POS Montana for anything.
This all started in 1980? with a light duty F250 300 six cylinder and a Tejas cabover of unknown weight, but I'm sure overloaded.
Expensive lessons for me.
Maiden voyage for the dually and Bigfoot is this coming week, hopefully.
2018 Ram 3500 CC LB DRW 4X4 Cummins Aisin Laramie Pearl White
2018 Landmark Oshkosh
2008 Bigfoot 25C9.4
2014 NauticStar 21 ShallowBay 150HP Yamaha
2016 GoDevil 18X44 35HP Surface Drive

KKELLER14K
Explorer II
Explorer II
Horse before the buggy... Does anyone follow that time tested rule anymore? Look...it is a no brainier, to give advice is why the OP asked and I can tell you this.... that if you want to carry a load of 5000 pounds in the bed of your truck, why, why, would you not have a dully? I mean come on....your not going to take a 2500 SWR and make it work no matter how much you think your right. I do not see why anyone puts their cash into Mods that is pretending that it works for a SWR... with a Dully you have the over load springs, a bigger brake package, check your gearing...are you auto or manual?..plus a good set of airbags with an on board controller works well... like a charm....OK, 3 trucks and 4 campers later I don't know..squat right? OK just passing it on... Buy the biggest baddest truck and go from there. You can have any RV from that decision...it's all about the truck first...go BIG or go home...

TxGearhead
Explorer II
Explorer II
I loosened the 2 jam nuts on the hanger just above the rubber snubber on the sway bar.
2018 Ram 3500 CC LB DRW 4X4 Cummins Aisin Laramie Pearl White
2018 Landmark Oshkosh
2008 Bigfoot 25C9.4
2014 NauticStar 21 ShallowBay 150HP Yamaha
2016 GoDevil 18X44 35HP Surface Drive