When is a dually needed?
 

Thinking of looking for a duramax this spring to tow my formula 311 should I go with a dually? If not needed when is a dually needed, you never know I might go with a bigger boat one day.

Oh boy!
:party-smiley-004:

NOT AGAIN:lolhit:

Here we go again!!!! Read this thread: SRW towing? Not for me!! *

You posted this in the wrong forum.

DRW vs SRW will never get a clear answer but I can tell you a DRW is a pain in the azz for a daily driver. I bought a dually to tow my 382 but have a car for daily driving. The truck is used for hauling and weekend trips to the hardware store.

BTW: A SRW 3/4 or 1 ton should tow that rig just fine IMO.

IMO, once you've passed a complete towed weight of 8000lbs or more (boat&trailer) you've moved into Dually territory.
There are some great discussions about this in the "truck and trailer" forum. This is also my threshold of 2 -vs- 3 axles on your trailer.
T500 once you've been in a Dually long enough you get accustomed to it, except for today when I could barely hit a parking spot at the grocery store backing in 'cause my 4dr Dually couldn't make the swing in drive. The poor people parked beside me must have had a heck of a time squeezing into their door. But, be prepared for door dings soon after your purchase.

See ya,
Kelly

Bottom line:
Unless you let your wife use the dually, and she whips it through a parking lot too fast and tears off a fender...

...you will NEVER regret buying a dually.



Look in the truck/trailers forum. There has been some spirited debate on this lately.

+1 on all of the above. A SWR is more than enough for that 31!

8000 lbs?????????? You must have went from a compact pickup to a dually.

I love my dually and she loves me back. I usually just park a little farther out where I can kick it on an angle into two spots (just don’t take it shopping for Christmas). If your testosterone levels ever fall off, instead of heading to the doctor, just take your dually out for a spin.

My wife does have two cars though, so it is not my only ride.

Andy

plus there just bigger n badder :evilb:

+100

My Toy Hauler, and a copy of an advertisement showing the difference in size between a standard size pickup to the C4500/C5500 Series.

+200

Have a F350 SWR pulls the 39 Cigarette great. Boat weighs 12,000 dry.

Agree though dually's are awesome. The wife would do some real damage with the extra set of wheels.

Dually, Dually, Dually!!! I love duallys. Have had 14 of them so far. Here's my latest and favorite so far.

@huskyrider Any 1/2 ton pickup can tow 8000-9000lbs now.


I love my dually and she loves me back. I usually just park a little farther out where I can kick it on an angle into two spots (just don’t take it shopping for Christmas). If your testosterone levels ever fall off, instead of heading to the doctor, just take your dually out for a spin. premierPOWER


I loved the mall parking lots where I could park way away from everybody and take FOUR spots. I do that with my 300 now too. I don't mind walking because I know I won't get door banged.

I could put my dually almost anywhere I wanted to. Went through my bank drive through all the time with it. Right turns were an issue but I just had to be careful to swing out wide enough. Other than the manual trans which sucked in town I loved my dually.

Nice truck !

F350 Dually pulling a 336 Formula = a safe and comfortable feeling. :drink:

Sounds like I started the "winterizing" thread in August type of discussion here. I figured there be some debate, and I've always loved duallys even before I was a boater, just thought they were cool looking. I would only buy one if there was a a significant advantage of a srw when towing my boat. I know a 2500 diesel would work great just want to know what a dually would get me.

Oh and I'll ask the gf if she is ok driving it.

Thanks 45Tripps

We pull our 31 Sonic (9,000 dry) with a 2011 F350 SRW. The guy we bought it from used a 2011 F250 SRW, both diesel of course. I don't feel the need for a dually with this setup and the triple axle Eagle. If you have a gooseneck trailer a dually is the only way to go, IMO.

Dually is great no doubt, but the truck is a daily too, it's just easier and we feel plenty safe. Many have and will point out there are times/circumstances when a dually is best....

Man, here we go.

For the boat you're towing, I'd say a 3500 SRW is fine. Dually is nice, but yes, have a car as your daily driver. My opinion,

A question that has been asked a billion times before. I like duallies, but you will have no problems finding SRWs that will do the job with the 311. If you are not looking to step up, a 3500 SRW would be my choice. Personally I like to be on the safe side. It'll never hurt, but a must? No.

Should I run a crossover or leave the stock water pump on? :)

Hmmm. Yes and you'll need a PSI blower with that.

Single will work just fine

Call Cory at Super Trucks!

My 3500 HD drw pulls my top gun great! I have alcoa 22.5 on it. My wife is five ft 2" and the only thing she requested is steps. Srw will pull it but why play around? Man up! Drive mine every day. People that say I don't need it don't know how to drive and shouldn't be trailering. If a little is good too much is just enough!

Srw will do just fine dually will be better but it's like using a tall deck 540 to make 500 hp. I'm a full time firefighter and I'm the driver so driving a dually through the city is no big deal to me But I prefer srw

Wait till offshoreexcursion catches wind of this thread.... :evilb::evilb::drink:

Got any pics of that 3500 with 22.5"?

I regretted it and I went from a dually to a SRW and have no regrets at all. I'm on my second 2500HD since the dually. My truck is my daily driver. The only plus for the dually for me was in towing on the highway.

With a dually, I could not go through a car wash, bank drive thru, into a parking garage and even some fast food drive thru's. The dually also had to be in 4wd if there was even a 1/4 inch of snow on the ground.

I tow about 10.5k about 4000 miles a year with no problem behind my 2500HD.

+ 1

A dually is very seldom "needed" it is wanted or desired but seldom needed.

On other threads I dispute the advantages of DRW over SRW because science does not support the claims of many of the DRW fans, BUT I CAN NOT argue that the DRW does look cooler and may "feel" safer under certain conditions.

The choice is yours unless you are over-weight, then again it's still your choice to make but if something happens after that you have to live with.

This combo works well;

Sweet combo . Want to lend it out.

Merry christmas

No but would really like to be using it!

[QUOTE=Catmando;3578649]@huskyrider Any 1/2 ton pickup can tow 8000-9000lbs now.
QUOTE]

Maybe the sales brochure says that, but not sure i wanna use a half ton to pull a 9k lb enclosed trailer thru the hills. :party-smiley-004:

My recomendations are based on personal butt cheek pucker factors of real life towing in SE Texas.
We typically take quite a bit of rain, mostly light occasionaly heavy, and have many asphalt roads.
I pull excavators and building materials on trailers every day.
I've always used a panic braking in the rain situation as my milestone for measurement of ability.
I wouldn't want to be pulling 4 1/2 tons behind a half ton truck in the rain on a blacktop road and make any type of panic braking due to a motorists action or a light going yellow that your not close enough to make. Laying on your horn and flashing brights as your literally sliding through the intersection doesn't cut it for me.
I've been there and done that pulling a 277 Caterpillar on an equipment trailer (11500lbs) behind a 3/4 ton fleetside Ford. Note, I was also working the sensitivity dial on my controller like a mad man to slow the rig without locking up the trailer tires.

See ya,
Kelly

This forum cracks me up sometimes....at one end of the spectrum there are guys that say you rarely need anything other than a 1/2 ton to tow....and at the other extreme guys saying you need a Kodiak or F550 to tow a 28 footer.

Very little middle ground from what I've noticed.

Agreed!

Biggest concern pulling weight is stopping power. I've been impressed with the F350's brakes.

Hi guys, I've towed everything from a 12 foot tin boat to my 43 foot Scarab( 15,000 lbs). The rule of thumb I use is that the truck should weigh at least as much as the boat other wise when you get into tight situations( I know a F350 doesn't weigh 15,000lb but it is a dually) the boat may end up steering the the truck. The biggest advantage to a dually is in the cornering, it is alot harder for the boat to influence the truck in the corners when there are 4 rear truck tires on the road as opposed to just two. Given the option I would always take a dually over a single wheel truck. I love my
F350 and wouldn't tow with anything else and as has already been said it is probably over kill . But as I say better safe than sorry. If you can afford it buy a DRW truck. Just my two cents.
Rick G.