You really DO NOT need a dually. The purpose of a dually is to provide better lateral stabilty when towing heavy loads put over the rear axle of the truck. Most boats do not even come close to putting enough weight over the rear axle to justify the load carrying capacity of a dually. Most of the weight of a boat sits over the trailer axles at the back. A srw truck with the proper load range E tires will pull great. Srw tires are wider also, dually tires are annoyingly narrow. So traction and breaking are similiar. The only reason to buy dually for recreational towing a boat is to satisfy ones own ego.

I thought about 3.42's but I don't think its worth the money. I need to put it back to stock and see what kind of mileage I would get. My mother in laws neighbor just bought an 2010 quad cab lb dually g56 and with 3.42's and he said kinda feels like it needs a little more ass when pulling a mini hoe or his pulling truck. One of the best features of the truck are the built in coolers in the floor boards behind the front seats. It has close to as much room in the back seats as the older Mega Cabs. This truck was brand new and he picked it up for $36,000 and some change which all the other just cab and chassis trucks he looked at were well over $43,000. Sorry for the high jack.

If you want better mileage and easier towing put a Gear Vendors overdrive transmission in your truck. It's not cheap($3000) so you'd have to keep your truck a long time to see a payback, but the benefits are tangible and real.

I am interested in getting a mountain road worthy truck and putting a pop up truck camper on it that I can also use in the winter to visit ski resorts and camp in the parking lot or nearby. I am not sure of what I need the 2500 or the 3500 truck. I have a 16' cargo trailer as well, but don't need it and it is for sale. So no towing plans. I suppose if I go the 3500 and weight issue would be easy to handle. Also, I am inclined to get a gasoline fuel truck vs diesel for economy in the long haul owning the truck(gas cost/repairs/up front costs) I don't plan on selling it but keeping it long term.

Really old thread here, and I see you just joined to ask the question.

Short answer, when it comes to RAM trucks, the 2500 has a notably better ride that the 3500, but that comes at the expense of hauling capacity and stability.
There is no such thing as "too much truck".
The Ram 2500 has coil rear springs.
The Ram 3500 has traditional leaf springs in the rear.

The 3500 will carry more cargo, with better stability than the 2500.