SRW vs DRW

[pressure_welder]

Good morning everyone hope your all doing well, So just recently we built a home off of a lake we used to camp at regularly, by doing that we've cut our camping in maybe half.... we spend our usual 1 month trip up at our favorite lake every year though, so our towing needs has decreased significantly, so i actually got rid of our 2015 ram 3500 limited drw about 2 years ago now just because i couldnt justify it carrying my butt around 90% of the year as a grocery getter. So for last two years ive been using the welding truck to pull our rig to the lake 2007 5.9 quad cab, with G56. The truck handles the load perfectly fine, its no rocket ship but it does quite well, on a side note the reverse gear on the G56 is HORRIBLE, your either riding the clutch the whole time or are a race car driver, geared way to high.

Anyway, the welding truck isnt horribly family friendly with the quad cab, and looking into weather or not a SRW 3500 would actually fill our needs accordingly, more comfortable for the family, easier daily driver, and a little more justifiable to own than a dually year round as my personal vehicle. Our situation is a bit different and i am not sure how to read it. We pull our camper and boat in tandem and here are the specs.


2018 montana 305RL - 14,270LBS loaded weight, 2395lbs pin weight

19FT crestliner sportfish - 3800LBS loaded weight/trailer, 300LBS tounge weight. on a tandem axle trailer, 23FT overall length


so with these numbers gets us in around that 18,000LBS total mark. However if i just had the fifth wheel a SRW 3500 should handle that without issue.... ive always thought of the boat as dead weight when in actuality its just rolling resistance of course until your stopping. Would i be correct to say that just adding the toungne weight of the boat to the camper weight, and maybe even 1000lbs extra for rolling resistance, would have me still safely within a SRW 3500 towing capacity?

all in all our main focus is to just acquire somthing more practical to own year round, and not have to use the welding truck to haul the rig up to the lake. Personal vehicle at the moment is a laramie eco diesel which is an amazing commuter, but i do miss my 6.7

[Grit_dog]

Lantley wrote:

Flashman wrote:
Lantley

Sorry buddy - seat of pants is way too subjective. I prefer the physics lesson.

You know I can agree with that^^^^^.
Nevertheless my dually brakes much better than my prior SRW trucks.
My comment is based on experience pulling the same equipment with DRW and SRW trucks more than anything else.

I can see the smaller diameter tires helping braking.
If the rear brakes are bigger like memtb said, that is something as well. Although I believe most newer trucks, srw/drw are same rear brake diameter.

[Flashman]

Were the two trucks same brand and year?

[Lantley]

Flashman wrote:
Lantley

Sorry buddy - seat of pants is way too subjective. I prefer the physics lesson.

You know I can agree with that^^^^^.
Nevertheless my dually brakes much better than my prior SRW trucks.
My comment is based on experience pulling the same equipment with DRW and SRW trucks more than anything else.

[Flashman]

Cummins12V98 wrote:

pressure_welder wrote:

Cummins12V98 wrote:
"2018 montana 305RL - 14,270LBS loaded weight, 2395lbs pin weight

19FT crestliner sportfish - 3800LBS loaded weight/trailer, 300LBS tounge weight. on a tandem axle trailer, 23FT overall length

Don't believe the RV pin weight, is this a fact or a guess??? Boat trailer is light on the pin.

That said if you are at or under your RAWR let er rip!!!

Also truck stops truck, RV stops RV and Boat trailer stops Boat trailer. If it does not have brakes it sure should!

Hey there, those stats on the camper are pulled directly from the placard on the camper itself so i imagine they have to be close

NO they don't!!!

Don't think I have ever seen a published "loaded" pin weight.

20% generally is a minimum and many times 25% loaded pin.

I think that having a rzr loaded (behind the axle) into my tow hauler lightens my pin weight - should be the same for the hitch weight of a boat.

[Flashman]

Lantley

Sorry buddy - seat of pants is way too subjective. I prefer the physics lesson.

[Lantley]

pitch wrote:

Lantley wrote:
Your right that is a little different scenario.
I'm more or less OK with the SRW for what you are proposing however 18K combined becomes a lot of weight for the SRW to stop....Especially a panic stop.
In the end the main reason to get a dually is for the additional braking power.

Not trying to be difficult, Where is the extra brake power? Brakes are the same?

Contact with the road is not the same. For the same reason a SRW does better in the snow a DRW brakes better. THere is more rubber friction created at the ground.
More importantly, I have driven the same trailer with a dually and a SRW.
The dually brakes much better. Not even close between dually and SRW.
This is my from the drivers seat experience no physics lesson required.

[Cummins12V98]

pressure_welder wrote:

Cummins12V98 wrote:
"2018 montana 305RL - 14,270LBS loaded weight, 2395lbs pin weight

19FT crestliner sportfish - 3800LBS loaded weight/trailer, 300LBS tounge weight. on a tandem axle trailer, 23FT overall length

Don't believe the RV pin weight, is this a fact or a guess??? Boat trailer is light on the pin.

That said if you are at or under your RAWR let er rip!!!

Also truck stops truck, RV stops RV and Boat trailer stops Boat trailer. If it does not have brakes it sure should!

Hey there, those stats on the camper are pulled directly from the placard on the camper itself so i imagine they have to be close

NO they don't!!!

Don't think I have ever seen a published "loaded" pin weight.

20% generally is a minimum and many times 25% loaded pin.

[larry_barnhart]

We only drive our dually in the winter seasons for 6 months a year when we tow to AZ and both of us cannot imagine us having a SRW truck. Missed the trip for the 2020 2021 seasons but going south again and will enjoying the fat rear end. chevman

[pressure_welder]

Cummins12V98 wrote:
"2018 montana 305RL - 14,270LBS loaded weight, 2395lbs pin weight

19FT crestliner sportfish - 3800LBS loaded weight/trailer, 300LBS tounge weight. on a tandem axle trailer, 23FT overall length

Don't believe the RV pin weight, is this a fact or a guess??? Boat trailer is light on the pin.

That said if you are at or under your RAWR let er rip!!!

Also truck stops truck, RV stops RV and Boat trailer stops Boat trailer. If it does not have brakes it sure should!

Hey there, those stats on the camper are pulled directly from the placard on the camper itself so i imagine they have to be close

[pressure_welder]

Grit dog wrote:

pressure_welder wrote:
In reply to the question about distance, Per year i would say we would be in that 1500KM to 2000KM max range total. We pull two decent hills on the way... were on the prairies so certainly not mountains! but there is one hill that gets me down to 3rd or 2nd gear with the 5.9. WHen i had the 15 - 6.7 with aisin it completely anihilated that hill with the same load.

Its always nice to chat with you guys/gals about this sort of info, you could call the dealership but you would get the "pamhplet answer" i consider myself experienced when it comes to towing, ive always been an overkill kinda mentality. However if an SRW would fit the bill i think that would be my next move.

So you have a stock 3rd Gen that you need to stripe the tires to see if it's moving when pulling hills and you're worried about srw vs drw? Sounds like you're a rolling road block as it is. SRW = no problem if you're holding up traffic every time you hit the road.

lol yes i have a stock 3rd gen with a G56, i am not sure id qualify us as "blocking the road" everytime we hit the highway. Pulling a steep grade any trailer/camper/semi would be doing the same... I dont pull that rig over 100kmh on flat highway anyway, which the 5.9 does well.

[pitch]

Lantley wrote:
Your right that is a little different scenario.
I'm more or less OK with the SRW for what you are proposing however 18K combined becomes a lot of weight for the SRW to stop....Especially a panic stop.
In the end the main reason to get a dually is for the additional braking power.

Not trying to be difficult, Where is the extra brake power? Brakes are the same?

[mkirsch]

What on earth are you doing that the rear tires don't "stay planted" on an SRW truck?

I own a DRW truck, and it feels more stable around corners at higher speeds because of the wider stance, but the wheels on my Dad's SRW don't come off the ground going around the same corner at the same speed. Mostly there's more body roll because the springs aren't quite as stiff.

[Sagebrush]

Once I switched to a dually I haven't gone back to a SRW. On windy days it pulls with less drama, those four rear tires stay planted much better. I also like the 4x4 3500 DRW better than my older 2wd DRW, having that 4Low is great for backing into sites, you just idle it right in. It really makes a difference in the rustic State campgrounds without pavement. I mostly pull with my old 2003 Ram 3500 auto trans 4x4 QC with 4.10's now. Good old truck.

[Cummins12V98]

"2018 montana 305RL - 14,270LBS loaded weight, 2395lbs pin weight

19FT crestliner sportfish - 3800LBS loaded weight/trailer, 300LBS tounge weight. on a tandem axle trailer, 23FT overall length

Don't believe the RV pin weight, is this a fact or a guess??? Boat trailer is light on the pin.

That said if you are at or under your RAWR let er rip!!!

Also truck stops truck, RV stops RV and Boat trailer stops Boat trailer. If it does not have brakes it sure should!

[memtb]

The actual brake disc area of a DRW of same year model is just marginally larger than that of a SWR, and actually locking the rear brakes on either is nearly impossible when under load. If you could actually lock the rear wheels on both then the extra braking goes to the DRW.

In the OP scenario.....nothing short of a class 6 or larger would significantly shorten the braking distance. Anyone relying on the tow vehicle to stop a heavy load are pretty badly mistaken.......the trailer brakes should be the primary stopping component for the trailer! Anyone doubting this, just hook up to about 20K pounds, do not connect the wiring harness and do a panic stop from about 60 mph. I think you’ll gain a healthy respect for the benefits of good trailer braking and the inability of a pickup truck to quickly stop said load! memtb