Truck Fire Ford SD 6.7

[agesilaus]

My truck caught on fire for no obvious reason. 2012 F350 6.7L 4WD. Has about 170K on it. Parked, engine off, no electrical gear on. Right side of the engine compartment caught on fire.
I had a wheel off to check the brakes, went inside for a minute, came out smoke coming from the truck, seemed to be small fire.
Got a pot of water from camper, came out and it was blazing.
Finally put it out with the hose but that whole side of the front end and the front of the truck incinerated. All that plastic burned like crazy.
Fire department and sheriff came out. FD said it looked to be electrical. Waiting for Allstate.

[Grit_dog]

agesilaus wrote:
Can you really see your dually running down Hole in the Rock Road, 70 miles of semi-rough dirt washboarded road, tho the last 15 miles or so are on red rock? Or down the Harnet Loop 60 miles of the same with many stream crossings to add in.

That is what we do. We just need the traction of an unloaded SRW.

You just answered your own question by adding context to how you use the truck, that makes a dually much less attractive, especially considering your lack of actual need for the additional payload and stability.
SRW, easy peasy to air down or up for conditions. DRW, not as easy, and not as effective in low traction situations as you’d have to air down almost “too much” to equal the ride and traction of a srw.
Not to mention the width.

[deltabravo]

I've daily driven my dually. For my commute and parking area at work, it's a non issue. There's wide open sections of parking lot at work so I don't have the wedge in between two vehicles.
I park in the back 40 (open areas) at stores in all my vehicles, so parking is a non issue with the dually when shopping.

If my daily drive activities involved narrower roads, tight parking lots, having to fight for a parking spot at work, daily driving a dually would wear on me fast.

If you current truck was a short bed, then you have a "longer truck" to contend with when upgrading to a dually, not just the extra width.

[Bionic_Man]

I love my DRW for pulling my trailer. But the reality is it is overkill for my 12,000 pound trailer. It is a dedicated tow vehicle, and when I finally decide to upgrade, I'll go back to SRW. No way would I want it as a daily driver.

[FishOnOne]

OP,
Be very careful about the love being shared as some here don't drive there DRW as their daily driver, but some do and that's fine.

For me there's no way I would daily drive a DRW just to pull a 9k camper. We have a 07 Dodge DRW and it basically set's 90% of the time with a gooseneck cattle trailer connected to it. Because no one wants to drive it unloaded, it's become a special purpose truck with one purpose in life.

[agesilaus]

Can you really see your dually running down Hole in the Rock Road, 70 miles of semi-rough dirt washboarded road, tho the last 15 miles or so are on red rock? Or down the Harnet Loop 60 miles of the same with many stream crossings to add in.

That is what we do. We just need the traction of an unloaded SRW.

[blofgren]

agesilaus wrote:
Well we are in the search mode, trying to avoid $600/mo payments. My daughter and her husband have really gotten into the search and found a very nice looking 2017 RAM 3500 Laredo with all sorts extras for 41K. Very attractive price. But it is a drw which is unknown territory for us. Probably look at it Tuesday.
Just to really make their point the bad luck kobalds have been working overtime. I was driving my wife's Corolla, stopped with turn signal on, I started to make the turn when some woman came up behind me, swerved into the oncoming lanes and smacked into the driver side wheel. Really did a lot of damage to that Corolla and rendered it undrivable. LOL I expect that to be totalled next. We planned to sell it anyway.

Good grief, if it wasn't for bad luck you wouldn't have any. 😞

I think you would really like the Ram dually; I am on my second dually now and really would not want to go back to a SRW truck. Like Bob said above, you are wary of the fenders to start, but become very comfortable very quickly and they are a non issue.

Please keep us posted and best of luck!

[BobsYourUncle]

Agreed you'll love the dually.

When I got my first one I was very aware and conscious of the "hips". But after a while it was a non issue. I love my dually and especially like the stability when towing in strong winds.

[Grit_dog]

Cummins12V98 wrote:
Don't know the details but 41k sounds like a SMOKIN deal!!!

You will love the Dually.

I thought 41k was the miles from the previous post, but must have mis read.
$41,000 is exactly somewhere between a "smokin deal" and "what are you smokin?" depending on the miles. Better deal if it's deleted though!

[Cummins12V98]

Don't know the details but 41k sounds like a SMOKIN deal!!!

You will love the Dually.

[agesilaus]

Well we are in the search mode, trying to avoid $600/mo payments. My daughter and her husband have really gotten into the search and found a very nice looking 2017 RAM 3500 Laredo with all sorts extras for 41K. Very attractive price. But it is a drw which is unknown territory for us. Probably look at it Tuesday.
Just to really make their point the bad luck kobalds have been working overtime. I was driving my wife's Corolla, stopped with turn signal on, I started to make the turn when some woman came up behind me, swerved into the oncoming lanes and smacked into the driver side wheel. Really did a lot of damage to that Corolla and rendered it undrivable. LOL I expect that to be totalled next. We planned to sell it anyway.

[blofgren]

Any updates, OP?

[agesilaus]

thomasmnile wrote:
Maybe time to consider engaging the services of a public adjuster? Is arbitration your sole remedy should you not come to terms with Allstate?

Is it worth it for a few thousand dollars and maybe a long wait w/o a truck?

[thomasmnile]

Maybe time to consider engaging the services of a public adjuster? Is arbitration your sole remedy should you not come to terms with Allstate?

[BobsYourUncle]

I have to chime in now - I have been following your plight since you first posted it.
First of all, sorry to hear of the loss. Hard to take when you have a good truck.

We had a hail storm blow through here last summer. My PT Cruiser was totaled, My MIL's Nissan was totaled and my truck was heavily damaged, but due to the current value of older used trucks they opted to repair it even though most of the panels sustained damage. I took a cash payout and I am going to fix it myself.
The current market value of my 2007 diesel dually with 434,000 K on it is nothing short of plain stupid... But! People are paying those high prices. We all know about the chip shortages, and all the rest of the supply problems keeping the used vehicle market inflated.

So, above like Grit Dog and others have said, the used truck pricing is not a mistake. This is what people are getting all day long for the trucks. Heck, I was told I could get 20 to 24K for mine! Crazy.

If I could suggest you get online to various dealers, truck sales outlets, Craigslist and more and try to find a comparable truck to yours and see what they are asking for it. Keep a record of it and submit it to your insurance co.

As mentioned, they will only pay you the least amount it takes to get a signature and make you go away.
Don't let them bully you.. Your truck is a nice one and worth more than you may think.