Might be buying a Dually....

[emcvay]

Darn it! I might just be growing up after all (no offense to those who don't agree with my reasoning)....

I love my F350 SRW and have done a lot to it and put a lot of miles on it with the AF990 on top....but....I have only two wheels on the back end and this has started to cause me concern. I keep thinking: what if something goes wrong? a blow out?

I've found a 2019 F350 CC PS 4x4 Lariat FX4 with 14,000 GVRW package for $61k which seems like a pretty good deal (it's white though and I prefer Red or Blue to white)...and am thinking that I just might pull that trigger.

Of course it means installing new tie downs as I'm thinking my old ones won't work with it (2010 SRW) and I'll need swing outs (can't believe how much those cost) but really should be able to stop there and get rolling again from what I'm hearing.

Only thing besides the color I'm not overly happy about is the 4.10's in the rear end. Sure, it will feel like a hotrod and all but I'm thinking 3.55's would give better fuel mileage on the highway.

Anyway, there ya have it. I'm thinking more of the safety factor of 2 vs 4 wheels (never did worry about breaks etc and the SRW with all the mods seems to handle the load WELL).

Course, now I have to stop passing DRW's and saying "see he's rockin' and rollin' worse than we are" since he's got 4 and I've got two and if two is one and one is none then 4 is more 😄

[trail-explorer]

mbloof wrote:
While anything available can be special ordered I think it would be difficult at best to purchase (off the lot) anything that was NOT 4X4 and crew cab these days.

Around here it seems that is all dealers have in inventory.

Ditto for Washington state dealers. THe only thing I see in a 2WD truck on a dealer's lot is a "work truck" / commercial / fleet style vehicle, standard cab usually, and they are always white.

[mbloof]

Kayteg1 wrote:

mbloof wrote:
While anything available can be special ordered I think it would be difficult at best to purchase (off the lot) anything that was NOT 4X4 and crew cab these days.

Around here it seems that is all dealers have in inventory.


- Mark0.

That what forced me to special order super cab in 2WD.
Icing on the cake was custom paint and 360 cameras.
Even with those extras, opting out what I have no use for saved me lot of money.
I only regret they don't do King Ranch in supercab.

I got sort of lucky and bought the last 2017 SuperCab Lariat in my area. I was fairly close to special ordering.

[Kayteg1]

mbloof wrote:
While anything available can be special ordered I think it would be difficult at best to purchase (off the lot) anything that was NOT 4X4 and crew cab these days.

Around here it seems that is all dealers have in inventory.


- Mark0.

That what forced me to special order super cab in 2WD.
Icing on the cake was custom paint and 360 cameras.
Even with those extras, opting out what I have no use for saved me lot of money.
I only regret they don't do King Ranch in supercab.

[Kayteg1]

emcvay wrote:

11 degree = 19 % calculator
Going down is easy. So far I read 5 degree going up and watched if the camper is still behind me.

[mbloof]

While anything available can be special ordered I think it would be difficult at best to purchase (off the lot) anything that was NOT 4X4 and crew cab these days.

Around here it seems that is all dealers have in inventory.


- Mark0.

[jaycocreek]

Grit dog wrote:
Good to hear emcvay.
Jaycocreek, maybe give it a rest, eh?
We get it. You're the best driver this side of the Mississippi and could take a 2wd through snowmageddon blindfolded. You should think about offering driving lessons. Good supplemental income...lol

Your funny....

If you read my post at all,I was giving praise to the UPS/School Bus/plow and other drivers that manage somehow to get around safely with a 2WD..Life does go on in the snow without "having to" own a 4X4..

I will give it a rest as ordered..(laffin)

[Grit_dog]

Good to hear emcvay.
Jaycocreek, maybe give it a rest, eh?
We get it. You're the best driver this side of the Mississippi and could take a 2wd through snowmageddon blindfolded. You should think about offering driving lessons. Good supplemental income...lol

[emcvay]

OK back on track 😉

I got a call from the dealer and my tie downs are in! I go in Tuesday morning to get them installed along with my Truckcedo tonnue cover 😄 Of course, the tonnue and tailgate come off as soon as I get home so I can load the camper up (after installing the swing outs) but they are there for when the camper is not on the truck.

[jaycocreek]

Well,this turned into 2WD against 4WD which was not my intent as I have owned a ton of 4X4's and they have there place and a 2WD will never beat a 4X4 but they can come really close..

My reply was to this

never buy a 2wd in Pacific Northwest!

..That is absurd living in the PNW and those freak snow storms talked about,we get them every year multiple times and a 2WD dually does just fine in them whether it is toting a TC/delivering children to schoo/plowing roads or delivering UPS packages..All 2wd dually's in the PNW..

Never knock a mans truck 2WD or 4WD..(Laughing)

[emcvay]

As far as the 4x4 vs 2x4 dually argument goes here is my take: NEVER give up 4x4 if you don't have too!!!!

I work for the phone company and we have LOTS of big 'dually's' -- we call them 'bucket trucks' and the have a LOT of weight in the back. With or without chains they NEVER out perform the 4x4 bucket trucks in the snow, never. In fact, my 4x4 bucket trucks are used often to pull out chained up 2wd bucket trucks.

Yes, people can learn to drive in the snow and ice in anything, I grew up in Canada and can attest to that, however 4 wheel drive is better in the snow, ice, mud, sand you name it. Doesn't mean you can't learn to go all sorts of places in 2wd and I have made it to my cabin in 2wd when my 4x4 failed to work. I chained up the backs (instead of the fronts) and made it up. Not nearly as well, but we still made those 19% plus grades.

[emcvay]

[emcvay]

emcvay wrote:

emcvay wrote:
Oh that drive isn't flat LOL, the video doesn't do it justice. 3 or 4 of the grades are better than 10% and one is 16% by my calculations. All of those you almost can't stand on when they ice up. You have to look closely at the trees to see it though.

I'll have to post a pic later but my new FX4 offroad software said the first hill was 11%. My guess is the steepest is probably around 13 then but I'll find out (didn't think to check until I was leaving)

Oopsie! I need to make a correction:
Results:
An angle of 11 degrees converts to:
19.44 Percent of a Slope

So actually, the grade on the last hill is 19.44 percent NOT 11. My truck shows 11 degrees and I mistook that as a grade LOL...ok, so back to the subject at hand 😉

LOL you really do need a 4x4 and chains to get to our cabin.

[jaycocreek]

My son is/was in the same mind set as you until we did a test in 9" of fresh snow on the road with an ice bottom...His Chevy 2500 HD with Toyo tires(factory syped). against my 2WD dually,both empty with no weight in the back...My tires are syped AT3's....My 2WD dual tires stayed on the road without sliding and never broke traction at all while his broke traction more than once and slid in one corner...

With his in 4X4 he never broke traction or in any corners either..My wife's FWD dodge also broke traction once but did better than the 4X4 in 2WD..The dually did as well as the 4X4 in 4X4 in the city driving normally....

I can agree to disagree on this from my personal experience with a2WD dually and a 4X4....I truly think tire width on a dually is the deal breaker for good or bad traction...a put a set of doubles with Ice cleets and some weight in the back and it's a snow going monster...LOL

[jimh406]

jaycocreek wrote:
Wow..I had a big ole reply all but typed out to each of your comments and must have hit the wrong button and the page disappeared...LOL

S0,this is short..The most rigs in the ditch around here are 4X4's and people who don't have a clue how to drive in the snow.

Short, huh? 😉

Any way, there are more 4x4s in the ditch in snow because there are more 4x4s that actually made it out of their driveway. Ok to joke around, but there is a reason that 4x4s are exempted from chaining up on some of the mountains. It’s not because the DOT people are dumb.

Also, the difficulty of driving in snow isn’t just related to the average snow fall in the area. Anyone who’s driven very much, knows really cold snow isn’t near as slick as wet snow not to mention that the areas with a lot of snow actually maintain their roads.