Is a Dually Necessary

[SmilinJack]

Hello folks. Newbie here. Just starting out and gathering information. I'm considering a fifth wheel in the 13 to 15,000 GVWR range and want to match the truck to the trailer. Haven't purchased either yet. My question is this: When looking at the towing weights for 350s or 3500s, the tow rating appears to be the same with single or dual rear wheels. Are dual rear wheels necessary, and if so, why? Thanks in advance for your responses.

 

[jimtoo]

Hi SmillinJack,

Welcome to the Heartland Owners Forum and hopefully to the family. We have a great bunch of folks here with lots of information and all willing to share their knowledge when needed.

You will get lots of opinions on this subject. Duals necessary,,, No.. but mine is go with a dually. With a dually it is very stable when towing and I just feel safer.

Enjoy the forum and all the answers, recommendations.

Jim M

 

[danemayer]

Hi smilinjack,

Welcome to the Heartland Owners Forum. There's a great bunch of friendly and helpful people here who can help out when you have a question.

You might want to visit Fifth Wheel Safe Towing for detailed information, but here's my 2 cents worth.

You need to be concerned with both the 5th wheel towing capacity, and the vertical load/payload. A relatively new single rear wheel diesel 3500/350 will typically (not all) have a 5th wheel towing capacity of around 15,000 - 16,000 lbs and a payload around 4,000 lbs. The dually version typically claims a few thousand additional towing capacity and 6000-7000 lbs payload.

If you're considering a 5th wheel with GVWR of 15,000 lbs, you should plan on the pin weight running around 3,000. Add to that the weight of passengers, pets, tools, gear, hitch, bed liner, bed cover and anything else in the truck. It's not hard to get up to 4,000 lbs.

Can you safely tow a 15,000 lb 5'er with a late model 3500/350 SRW? Yes. But if there's ANY possibility that you might want a toy hauler or other larger trailer in the future, where the GVWR could be 18,000 lbs and the pin weight could be 4,000 lbs, now's the time to look hard at the dually.

 

[MTPockets]

From personal experience- I had enough truck with the F350, but then I added the cross bed tool box, then I wanted the auxiliary fuel tank. Being full time, our "stuff" weighed more than I figured originally. In less than a year, I was 600 lbs overweight and still didn't have my auxiliary fuel tank. Now I have it, but I also moved to the dually. I wish I had done that from the start.

 

[jmgratz]

i will give you a simple answer. We used to to our 16000 + pound Landmark with a 99 Ford F350 long bed single rear wheel truck. Then we upgraded to a 2012 F350 long bed dually 4 wheel drive. I will say there is all the difference in stability especially when driving in a strong cross wind. Do you need a 4 wheel drive truck? Probably not but I would recommend a dually. BTW we do use the dually as a daily driver also without any problems.

 

[BouseBill]

Is a dually absolutely necessary? NO. But if you're going to tow heavy I recommend one. I've towed with both a SRW 1 ton and now with the F-450.....I would not go back to a SRW, much more stable IMHO, and no way is the boss lady gonna overload the F-450 with the Big Country

 

[TravelTiger]

We have a 2004 Dually. We are right in line for the trailer we have, GVWR of 14500. Tows great, no sway or control issues.
But to upgrade trailers, we'll need a bigger truck. Absolutely will be a dually again. They seem to be getting more popular, our Dodge dealer in town claims they have 62 available! In my 45 min drive into Dallas today I counted 10 duallies.


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[NWILSON]

As most will agree the dually is far more stable when towing a 5er! Do you NEED it for the rig you are eyeing? Nope! Will the SRW wear out before you buy your next rig? Not likely! Will your next rig require the towing capacity of the dually? Probably! For the relatively small difference in price of the dually I'll recommend that you pay now and only pay once! You won't regret it.

 

[jassson007]

We just bought our 2nd dually. DW was afraid if driving first one until she got behind wheel now she loves it and wants to drive it as much as I do. She even enjoys pulling the BC.


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[SmilinJack]

OK guys. Thanks for the input. Looks like a duallyis in my future...

 

[Garypowell]

Seems to me that someone needs to speak up for SRW. Started in 1996 with an 18,000+ pound Travel Supreme and a Dodge SRW and then went to Ford, and now a 14,000 # HL with a 2008 Chevy SRW and generally have not had any problems. Not sure what is meant by stability......I have never felt unstable.

I think my favorite story from 1995 as I checked out RV'ing for future business use (as we do now) was one fellow who told me he liked his DRW because he liked the extra set of brakes it had in the back.

point here is one will tend to defend what they have (me included)....so get comfortable and go with it. My comfort comes from my decision to always keep good rubber on the truck.

I also take comfort in never seeing a SRW in the "ditch" from being overloaded.....but the crazy thing is that when I see an accident it is a DRW.

 

[scottyb]

When looking at the towing weights for 350s or 3500s, the tow rating appears to be the same with single or dual rear wheels.

Not sure I follow you here. A SRW F350 has around 16K tow rating and a DRW F350 has a 22500 tow rating. I towed my rig for 4K mi with a SRW 3500. Now I have towed it for another 8K with my DRW F350 and the difference in stability, especially in a crosswind, is like night and day. I never wanted a dually since it is my daily driver. It's more tires to buy, lower fuel mileage, difficult to park, nearly impossible to drive through, but they do have a purpose in life. I just passed my 1st year and racked up 38K mi on it. I'll be looking at 6 new tires in a few months, but I will never go back to pulling with a SRW.

 

[DesertThumper]

Is a dually absolutely necessary? NO. But if you're going to tow heavy I recommend one. I've towed with both a SRW 1 ton and now with the F-450.....I would not go back to a SRW, much more stable IMHO, and no way is the boss lady gonna overload the F-450 with the Big Country

Similar thoughts to what Bouse Bill mention above. After upgrading to a heavy 18k RW, the dually is a choice we made right.

 

[dbbls59]

You don't need a dually, but when you tow in a strong cross wind you will appreciate having one.

 

[MTPockets]

You do need a dually if your payload exceeds the max door post sticker payload limit for a specific truck. Many ignore this, but it is what it is.

 

[Mark-Mullin]

Seems to me a new axel and box would be cheaper than a new truck. A few bolts and your good to go.



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[dave10a]

A dually is not necessary for my rig. The new i ton trucks have the tow rating to handle 16k gvw trailers. Saying that I can not travel with full gray, water and black tanks which would put me slightly above the truck specs. However not to a dangerous level. One of the reasons I purchased my trailer was that is was towable with a SRW F350 maxed out with Ford's spring and suspension options. I am not against dually's, but they will not fit in to my garage and they can be a pain in the *** in some parking lots-- not to mention higher cost for registration and lower fuel mileage.
I have pulled my trailer for 15k miles coast to coast and border to border and hardly realize I am towing...... I did add a TrailAir pin box which I highly recommend.

 

[MCTalley]

We have a dually. However, if you are not going to be pulling the trailer too often (i.e. a few weekends a year, etc.), I would think the SRW would be more than sufficient. It all comes down to intended use in your case.

 

[Majestic]

We switched last spring to a Dually, never go back, had an accident (large sink hole) on the highway, trailer was a write off as it jack knived at 60mph, truck had no damage and we didn't roll. I don't think we could have made it with the old truck, you just can't control that weight at that speed.

 

[Ultraclassic]

Keep in mind whatever you get, how you option out your truck will also play into the weight you can pull. Some trucks with all the bells and whistles won't pull as much as a basic model, you just have to ask yourself do I need it. Because we want to be comfortable we chose the bells and whistle, also makes for better resale most of the time. After getting use to the dually we really like it, it feels very stable and honestly fun to drive. You will hear good and bad about the big 3, just go for what you like they are all good trucks and like anything new you have to work the bugs out.