Dual Rear Wheels vs. Single Rear Wheel

[Bill-N-Donna]

quote:Originally posted by mtpocket2

Could someone please explain why a dually does not go good in snow? Seems 4 tires pushing would be better than two. I have driven in snowy and icy conditions with my dually and never felt like I had more or less problems. Never driven in the mud with it. If more tires are bad the 18 wheelers should just stop running at the first snowflake but they seem to do fine. I hear this a lot and wonder if it is just hearsay or if some one has actually experienced it.

From what I have learned; the dually’s are much lighter per tire and therefore get way less traction. I don’t believe this is hear say at all; it makes sense to me. Take a CC long bed dually and in wet grass backing up without any load in the bed of the truck you will probably get stuck or it will start slipping and making holes in the grass. A pick-up is normally light in the back anyway but when extended and the weight dispursed between four tires instead of two you are left without much traction. That is IMHO the reason you need a 4X4 on dually’s. I pulled into a park backwards once to face some friends we were camping with and it rained. When I hooked up I had to back over a slight embankment on the grass to get out. I couldn’t have got out of there without the 4 wheel drive and I did get out without messing up anything.

[KathyandDave]

Backing up the Monty in the snow on grass is a challenge with the dually. I needed the 4x4, for sure, but I got the Monty into its winter parking spot. Dually's have twice the footprint of singles, so they exert half the force downward to cut through the snow. The 4x4 helps a lot.

Sidebar: I'm wondering if sliding hitches, which displace the pin backwards in a turn, wouldn't lift the front wheels a bit, thus reducing the value of the 4x4?

[DarMar]

Glad to see we are back on topic as we owe it the original poster(PackerFan) as he tries to make an informed decision based on his situation.

Yes Rich, I too learned that tip of running the inner dual up on a block and removing the outer dual for use as a spare, temporary of course, but works for me! Hey, guess we've established another pro to owning a dually, nice, as sometimes it appears as thought there aren't many, according to some folks!

MtPocket2: My experience is that sometimes the duals hang up in heavy snow and mud. For example after a heavy snow of perhaps 8 inches or so when one heads down a barely traveled road with one set of wheel tracks or no tracks at all the outside duals may have a bit of trouble trying to decide where to ride. This is very noticeable when you do not have any extra weight on the truck. The inside duals follow the track made by the front wheels as the outside duals try to slide into the same tracks, easiest path to follow, causing a fishtailing effect. Hence one ends up traveling in 4 wheel drive to reduce this motion. The same happens in heavy mud. We live in a rural area 3 miles off the heavier traveled highway and run into this situation on a regular basis. It is not a real problem but just something else to consider and deal with. Again I would not have a dually without the 4WD option.

[richfaa]

I can give witness to the value of 4X4 on a dually. My 05 F-350 Ford Dually was not a 4X4. I figured I did not need it.I was not thinking dually and had no experience with Dually P.U's. We got seriously stuck in the mud in a fair grounds with the 4X2. We bogged down in the Arizona desert with the 4X2.You live you learn..

[RickW]

I use to have a Undercover tonneau cover on my F250. It was great in that my hitch still fits under it when not pulling the trailer. But my mileage logs show no difference in fuel economy with or with out. I can see the advantage of just pulling to the hitch to keep items from moving around.

[2 Sinks]

Last years trip to the mountains in late October presented us an urgent need to use 4wd low range.After enjoying the long climbs on I77 (this is a guy thing) into Fancy Gap Virginia and exiting for the campground I made the wrong turn.We ended up on a scenic narrow 2 lane twisting mountain road...the fall colors were vivid.

Now we needed a place to turn around,finally I saw a field with a grown over driveway leading into it which looked long enough to handle 36 feet worth of trailer not to mention the truck.I backed her in using a little more throttle than normal got straightened out and proceded to pull out.I only allowed the rear duals to spin a couple times before getting out to check the problem.The trailer wheels were sunk into the wet ground almost to the rims.I quickly put the transfer case into 4wd low range and eased effortlessly out onto the road.

All 4 trailer tires were a wet muddy mess.I think this was a blessing though.While setting up at the campground about a mile away I noticed the right front Mission trailer tire was greatly enlarged and had about a 2 inch crown to its entire diameter.It looked like it would blow any minute,I quickly removed the valve stem and let it deflate.I think the wet cold caked on mud took some of the heat out of the tire and may have kept it from blowing.

The 4x4 option which I prefer/recommend for all tow vehicles saved us alot of time and trouble...beats the heck out of waiting for road service.

[chieflawdawg]

We had an inside tire valve stem go bad on a trip to the mountains( I-77 to Fancy Gap KOA) last fall while pulling out Monte. Didn't even know about it until we were going out to dinner that evening and someone following us flagged us down to tell us we had a flat. What a mess we would have had if we hadn't had the second wheel on that side. DRW for me. That sold me on it.

[exav8tr]

Steve, This has happened to me twice, thankfully I had the extra tire. I finally replaced the rubber stems with metal ones, OK now.....BTW, nice meeting you and Carla and sweet little Alexcis. We hope to see you again and also in Salisbury.....

[mtpocket2]

Thanks for the info. The weight distribution over 4 tires makes sense to me. I have never questioned the value of a 4x4. Now I understand the dually better. I will still take the dually for towing

[FLSTS03]

OK packer fan, You've heard from all those MOC'ers who pull a lot of miles and you've rec'd a ton of good info.I'm one of those guy's that can't seem to get beyound my own driveway and work, so my view point will be from a different perspective. With the exception of a auto car washes, I have not found a fastfood drive through, ATM, Doctor parking lot(they are small), mall, bar, etc. that has given me trouble,also we had 10-12 inches of rain last week in 4 hours(100 year event) and I had comfortable control of the truck(no weight in back and no 4WH). I bought the dually for towing and I haven't had the time to go more than once last year and I thought in town would be a pain. It's been quite the opposite, Enyor the Dually a lot and don't regret the decesion one bit Good Luck and please go camping more than once a year... Steve

[Dmaxdon]

GMC really let a lot of people down when they did not come out with a 1 ton short box. This forced many to bury their head in the sand and go with the 2500 HD with it's anemic 9200 GVWR. With a Dmax and a few big people in the cab this truck weighs 8000 pounds leaving only 1200 pounds for pin weight.WHICH MONTANA MODEL HAS A PIN WEIGHT THIS LIGHT!!!!!!
My Chev Dually has an 11400 pound GVWR, weighs maybe 400 pounds more than a 2500 HD. Insignificant only to someone who does not believe in ratings.

[cmp-shooter]

I have had both I only prefer the SRW for parking only, I like the dually and would get one if I could afford it and was not worried about the current quality of the new ones.
The differences of the SRW IS THAT WHEN I pull with it the low beams are like the high beams cause of sag at rear of my 3500 srw, I've since added a "LEAF SPRING" TO THE REAR and don't get that anymore.
to sum up I'd say if you are a driver who thinks about your driveing every minute get a dually........if you park your car in a supermarket in front get the SRW.

[richfaa]

We have been searching the internet about the "differences" every article we read will mention two things.. Increased stability of the dually and the increased payload of the 1 ton and the dally. I have no idea about the stability but it would seem that a wider platform would give more stability. Fortunately our truck is not a daily driver and we do grumble when we have to drive it and park it. We took the Honda to Florida with us so we would not have to drive the big butt, long Ford around to much.

[PackerFan]

WOW..........Thanks everyone for the information and help. Alot to absorb. I haven't been able to check this thread since I first posted it and can't believe it has 6 pages of replies. WHEW!

As an Update: I have been looking at the Fords and Dodges (I am a current Dodge owner, 3/4 ton, diesel) and I think I am going to go with the Dodge 3500 Single Rear Wheel. They have some great deals on them right now and that is also helping to make my decision along with the fact that I personnelly think that the Cummins engine is the best on the market and I love it's performance.

As someone earlier stated in their reply that the answers to my original question will be as many and varied as the stars in the heavens. But I was looking for honest input from everyone and I knew the members here at the MOC would give me thier honest opinions.

Thanks Again to all that provided their input and I will let you all know how my hunt turns out!

Scott

PS: I will be seeing some of you this summer at the Mackinaw Campout!

[richfaa]

"PS: I will be seeing some of you this summer at the Mackinaw Campout!" Great ..and maybe with a shinny new truck???? see you there.

[Art-n-Marge]

So Richfaa you never mentioned how well your Honda towed your Monty when you went to Florida and you didn't want to use the big butt, long Ford. That's the first I've heard it could do that. Must have been a Honda built in America...... :-D

Just kidding with you (unless you have pictures of it).

[billhoover]

If I bought what I wanted it would been a 2500HD D/A. However, after extensive research (vehicles, RVs and attorneys), I got the only GM truck that would lug my 3400 around and remain within the capacity numbers put out by GM.

[richfaa]

Well the Honda was built im America..Marysville, Ohio. We drove both vehicles down. Learned last year that driving the big butt dually around isn't much fun. No..The Honda would not pull much.

[dsprik]

I have never felt unstable with my SRW. There may be other issues that favor the DRW, but I'm not sure stability of DRW vs the SRW should be any kind of a deciding factor. Are SRWs inherently unsafe due to instability? Not talking about braking or other issues - just stability...

[TLightning]

I don't understand why stability is even a point of discussion...four wheels vs two wheels??? Like any other support mechanism...four 2 x 4s will give more support than two 2 x 4s.