To Dually or not to Dually

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planet6racing

New member
Well, it's time to start thinking seriously about a new tow vehicle. While the van has worked out well, the engine is getting tired and I'm flirting with the maximum capacity of the whole thing.

So, I'm shopping for a diesel truck. This will not be my daily driver. In my price range, I have a pretty broad selection of trucks, including diesel duallys. I had the pleasure of test driving one of these the other day and was amazed at how stable it was on the road (well, compared to my wandering van) and how nice and quiet the interior was (too bad the truck was 2' too long overall, otherwise this might be a moot point).

However, on the flip side, I've heard from a few people that, if they had to do it again, they would not get a dually. They gave their reasons why, but I'd like to hear some opinions from the IT board as well.

Additionally, I know the trucks come in different configurations. My main question is, can you pull a gooseneck trailer with a short box (i.e. 6')? If I got a diesel with an extended cab and 6' box, I could fit it just fine and it would be more than capable of pulling my current trailer, but I would like to consider upgrading to an enclosed and possibly to the gooseneck, so I'd like to get a truck that gave me that option.

Thanks for the help!

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Bill
Planet 6 Racing
bill (at) planet6racing (dot) com

[This message has been edited by planet6racing (edited November 17, 2004).]
 
The list of reasons not to get a dually is long and the pro side of the sheet is rather short but I will never willingly give up mine. I use it for a daily driver and yes it can be a pain to park. But, when loaded with a bed full of tires, tools, and misc support equipment and pulling the 2200# trailor with 3000# car on it the ride is so much better than the singles. And with the load spead out over four tires in the back I don't seem to sink in as bad when the paddock is soft.

I just could never figure out how to convert the Dakota to duals and make it look right.
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[This message has been edited by jhooten (edited November 17, 2004).]
 
I would have purchased a Dually DMAX instead of the single, but it would never fit in the parking ramp when driven to work on that rare occassion.

I think Parking and errand running would be its only drawbacks.

Cheers.
 
Bill,

Re: SWB duallies . . ..

Don't. Your turning radius will be terrible, and / or you'll wind up with a ding in the trailer and no back glass in the truck.

The 5th wheel / gooseneck hitch is mounted slightly forward of the rear axle, giving you a tad over 3' of fore / aft clearance in a SWB truck. Almost all 5th wheel trailers are 8'6" outside measurement. You do the math. It's actually a bit tight on a LWB (8') bed for the same reason.

If it's in your price range, I'd recommend an extended wheelbase medium duty cab and chassis with a 10'"work" or "Western Hauler" bed. Besides, with either one of those (depending on options, of course), you get lockable storage compartments.

This is mine (which, BTW, is for sale with the 39' trailer with full living quarters -seen in the background):

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[This message has been edited by ITANorm (edited November 17, 2004).]
 
That's what I thought about the short wheel base (SWB, for those of you that are as confused as I was), but I wanted to make sure I wasn't just smoking something.

That's a really nice rig you have there, Norm. I'm willing to be it is out of my price range, though...

As for parking and errand running, I don't think it would be any different than with the van. I already park out in BFE because it is a pain to park the van in close, and it doesn't go into parking garages because they are just way too low.

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Bill
Planet 6 Racing
bill (at) planet6racing (dot) com
 
I don't think you can even get a SWB dually anymore. You can get the xtra cab or single cab, but they all come with a long bed.

A short bed with a gooseneck or fifth wheel is a problem. As long as you have an 8 foot bed it should be okay.

I went with a single cab hemi dually and I really like it alot. Its not so long that its hard to park, gets 17 mpg or better when I don't push it, and still fits in most parking spaces. I know it doesn't compare to the dual cab diesel, but I drive it most days and diesel is up to about $2.30 / gal down here. The truck was $18k with rebates.

And the 2wd isn't 6 feet in the air either. My 80 year old mom has no trouble climbing into this truck.

Another plus is my wife refuses to drive it!!
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Tom
 
What would you think about getting a dually if it was going to be your daily driver? I assume parking will be a real chore. Are tollbooths and parking garages difficult?
 
IMHO, if you're an urbanite commuter who parks in a garage, a dually isn't a viable daily driver. Toll booths are no problem (after all, they have to accomodate semi's), but parking is - garages, lots, no matter. The current trend for developers is to (at least try to) go with 8.5' wide parking spaces (most cities require 9', for now). A dually is usually a touch under 8'.

[This message has been edited by ITANorm (edited November 17, 2004).]
 
As someone who's owned both and driven quite a few trucks pulling horse trailers and racecars other than my own...

If you're going with a fairly small gooseneck trailer, say under 40', the SRW will work well. I have a 32' gooseneck and pull it with a SRW Dodge/Cummins 2500 and am happy with all aspects. On the flip side if I hookup to a tag trailer over about 24' the ride sometimes gets downright scary. If I had to pull a tag trailer all the time I'd go back to my old dually in a heartbeat.

As far as other drawbacks the only other downside for me was cost of tires and brakes. My dually was a 96 Dodge. Obviously tires cost 50% more. The other big expense was brake drums. The rear drums were over $100 a piece. With the newer trucks all having rear disc that gets to be a moot point however. Parking and daily driving? Did that. The dually was sprung a LOT more stiffly that the SRW and road terribly unloaded by comparison. Even though the SRW is sprung more softly it rides very level when fully loaded...I was very surprised! You're saying you're not going to daily drive it anyway.

My only other advise is maybe to avoid a 4x4. Mine is 4wd and it sits pretty high stock. I've made contact between the bed rails and the trailer twice when having the rig on very unlevel ground. The truck sits high enough that I have to lower the trailer right down on the box (about 4" clearnace) to make the trailer sit close to level. It still sits a little nose high. With a lower 2wd this would not be an issue. I really need to look in to lowering the truck. For a pure tow rig (not daily driven) if I had to do it again I'd look for a 2wd dually. Being in the same situation I'm in now, daily driving, I'd do it the same way again.

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Chris Ludwig
08 ITS RX7 CenDiv
 
Chris;

What year is your Dodge? I have a new-in-the-box set of rear spring saddles from a '01 D1500 4x4 that I was going to put on my D2500 4X4 for the same reasons you quote. They'll drop it about 2", but you'll have to get another set of U-bolts.

That was until I weighed my rig, and my brand new, special-order, $35,000 D2500 SLT+ truck went up for sale. The rear axle was almost 1000# over the GAWR for the single wheel axle.

That said - somehow, get a REAL weight on the front of the trailer before you buy a truck to go with it.

Also, there is an outfit in Dresden, TN that has a template for a 5th wheel, lowboy, slider hitch for the Dodge trucks of that era. They custom built the first one for me, and it worked well. As far as construction quality and durability - comparatively, the Reese 22K is made of old beer cans.
 
Just one thought on the dually versus SRW.
If you live in an area that gets a lot of snow, you will not like driving a 2wd dually.

I had a 97 3500 Ram diesel, and in the snow it was a handful as the front tires and the rear duals do not run in the same track. In heavy, wet snow, the rear is always trying to jump from one rut to another. Luckily, mine was 4WD, shifting into 4wd and the truck was stable as a rock.
One other thing, when a dually is in 2wd and the bed is unloaded or lightly loaded, they will get stuck on level wet grass.

I never liked the way my 3500 Ram rode, but, after changing over to Rancho 9000 adjustable shocks and stiffening up the front and softening the rear it made a huge improvement in the unloaded ride. I also bought a set of E-Z Ride shackles from 4 WheelParts (can't remember who they are made by) and they not only leveled the ride height of the truck, but with the shock change, it rode better than the Durango I traded it for in 2000.

I've got a 01 2500 extended cab shortbed now, and it rides quite well, except when pulling the 8K pound tag along camper on PA roads. But then, not much rides well on PA Interstates....
 
If its being used only for towing, go with the dually. I am lucky enough to have the truck for towing purposes only ( and the occasional errand where you may need a truck ), and have a normal daily driver.

I tow a 24' tag, loaded around 9000 lbs. When i hook it up, you barely even know its there. towing, stopping, everything. with my single rear wheel 3/4, you Definately knew it was there. i went the route of inexpensive. i have a 95 Ford crew cab 8' box 1 ton 4x4. its a big ass truck, but considering the amount of usage i give it, its perfect.

good luck
 
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