The real benefit of a dually versus a single axle is the extra tire. More stability and you can run the tire tread down to the wear bars safely. That is really it. Have both and have had plenty of towing experience. Go to the F450 and up series if you want to relax a bit.
ncrebel8
Wesley and Niki Norwood
HD means Heavy Duty, The 3500 HD is available in Dual rear wheel (DRW) and Single Rear wheel (SRW). SRW actually giving you more towing capacity because the truck is lighter. Some will say DRW is more stable, thats a matter of opinion.
Ill go along with the better choice will be a 3500. I think that is what the OP was saying his plan was. Although there are plenty of 2500 trucks towing towing this size and larger rigs all over the country.
2010augusta
Well-known member
Really??? Then why does GMC give all the duallys an higher tow capacity. Check your facts.
Here is GMC Fifth wheel towing guide for the 3500HD
Again here is GMC's fifth wheel towing guide for the 2500HD, I can't find which one is rated to pull a 16,500# pound trailer, but my see-sight is not that good.
ncrebel8
Wesley and Niki Norwood
Really??? Then why does GMC give all the duallys an higher tow capacity. Check your facts.
Here is GMC Fifth wheel towing guide for the 3500HD
That has to be the most confusing towing guide Ive ever seen. If you notice on the 6.0 vortec engine side, it list the SRW with a higher towing capacity than the DRW in every catagory. On the 6.6 Duramax it has that reversed. Am I the only one that sees that as wierd?
As far as the 2500 being rated to pull that much, I never said it was. I DID say that the 3500 would be the best choice. But there are plenty of 2500 trucks pulling that much weight all over the place. Example- monday I hooked up to our goosneck trailer, loaded with a load of logs to be moved to the sawmill to be sawn for my brothers house we are building. then hooked a dual axle flat bed to the back of the goosneck trl, loaded the ford 3930 tractor with lift on the flatbed. and pulled it to the sawmill yard. Truck, 2 trls, tractor and the load of logs, probably somewhere around 32,000 pounds. Was it overweight? WELL YEAH! Would I recomend anyone else do this? NO, but the 2500 HD had no problem pulling it. (dont try this at home)
Regardless, I stand corrected.
DMitch
Well-known member
I tow the camper in my signature with a 3500 DRW 2008 Diesel. The truck has no problem at all with the weight and has tons of power. In a real hard stop I think it is a little light on brakes. I am in the process of upgrading fron pads, rotors and calipers. Besides that, the truck will handle the Pinehurst just fine. SRW 3500 or 2500 just isnt enough truck. Been there done that. Just my two cents.
All the best,
All the best,
Brakes on the trailer and the control of them is way more critical than what you are towing with. This applies to any towing situation. You don't want to stop the trailer (trailers) with the TV. If the trailer wont stop itself, you better work on the brakes, controller, or what ever is the weak point. Still important that you have a good TV and the duallys are more stable but wont necessarily stop you any quicker unless they are F450 or equivalent that actually have larger brakes. We are on the road quite a bit and almost every accident we have came up on that involved a trailer was due to no or bad brakes. Saw one in the shop today that had grease on all the brake linings. The axles had been greased but the grease didnt come back out the front, just exited via the seals and greased the drums.
Boca_Shuffles
Well-known member
Wrayj1,
The GVWR increases from 9200 lbs to 9900 lbs going from a HD 2500 to a HD3500 with a single rear wheel.
Your truck with a hitch, fuel and your self will weigh about 7200 lbs with a Duramax.
Your cargo capacity will go from 2000 lbs to 2700 lbs when you go to a HD3500 SRW.
Your trailer pin weight is 2292 lbs with an empty trailer.
Why not go with a HD3500 Dually which will raise your cargo capacity another 1,500 lbs (i.e. 11,400 lbs GVWR)?
With a dually you won't have to have the discussions of whether that extra case of bottled water or those two extra cases of beer will put you over your GVWR.
Been there, done that!
The GVWR increases from 9200 lbs to 9900 lbs going from a HD 2500 to a HD3500 with a single rear wheel.
Your truck with a hitch, fuel and your self will weigh about 7200 lbs with a Duramax.
Your cargo capacity will go from 2000 lbs to 2700 lbs when you go to a HD3500 SRW.
Your trailer pin weight is 2292 lbs with an empty trailer.
Why not go with a HD3500 Dually which will raise your cargo capacity another 1,500 lbs (i.e. 11,400 lbs GVWR)?
With a dually you won't have to have the discussions of whether that extra case of bottled water or those two extra cases of beer will put you over your GVWR.
Been there, done that!
