[Bill and Lisa]

Thanks for those of you who have driven/owned both SRW and DRW giving us the benefit of your experience. In my book "experience" outweighs "opinion" EVERY time. That said, here is some experience that I have had that has lead to my opinion.

I have a 2001 SRW short bed, crew cab, Chevy 2500HD with a Diesel engine. It is a 4x4. I pull a 2007 3000RK and the pin weight pushes 2600#. This has me over my Rear Axle limit by about 200#. I run on larger than OEM tires with a higher G rating to mitigate my shortcomings. I also do not drive above 65 MPH regardless of what the sign says the limit is.(Had the truck before I got the 5th wheel and I know a lot more now than I did then).

Experience: Stability - Bringing the rig home from Michigan to Virginia, day 2 of the journey we LOST the left rear tire on the truck at 65MPH! We should be dead (state trooper told us so!) but advice from some experienced folks on the forum and God's Grace to remember it at the time saved us. (short version - any "control" situation break using the manual overide on the trailer ONLY until you regain control and pull over to the shoulder - then use the vehicle brakes. I was down to 5-10MPH when I touched the truck brakes and the rear end of the truck dropped and the disk dug into the roadtop. Prior to that, the slowing trailer held up the back end of the truck - we thought we had experienced a blowoout up to the point we droped the rear end to the pavement)
ANYWAY - I "believe" a dually would have been more "stable" in this situation.

Tires - While I have remained within the limits of my tires, rough roads have provided me challenges. I have had three rear truck tires "damaged" while towing. once, I experienced tread seperation on one tire returning from Goshen, and twice I have had a "mouse" develop on a rear tire (all three right rear now that I think about it). So while I have been lucky enough NOT to experience a blow out on the truck it is not as remote of a situation as I once believed.

Based on these experiences, and since I use my truck only as a tow vehicle I will probably get a Dually when it comes time to replace the truck (or I come into a sudden windfall of money). The extra cost of tires and gas becomes nothing real quick if you experience even one of the above events and are not as lucky as we have been. Some things cost more than money and can not be fixed for any amount of money. So whatever you decide make sure you can "live" with your decision. Don't mean to sound morbid or anything but if you don't face some of these risks as you make your decision you may regret it. Anyone of my furbabies let alone a significant other is worth way more than the cost of 2 extra tires or extra fuel cost. IMHO.