I've had nothing but issues with my 07 3500 quad dually. Last winter I took the front axles and drive shaft out because the axle tubes constantly are leaking fluid. Anyway last winter we had 2 small snowfalls here in Springfield Mo. 6 inches I was stuck a total of 5 times in parking lots. I've never had this much trouble with other 2wheel drive truck and cars so why would a big 3500 dually set there and spin with absoulutly no traction? It was alittle embarrassing to say the least, I was running with no weight in the bed but didn't think that would be an issue. So my question is what is a good multi traction tire and would this even make a difference? right now I"m still got the Generals on it which were standard equipment on it. And also how much weight should I carry in the bed for traction. By the way the truck has 137,000 miles on it so thats why I'm tired of throwing money into the 4x4 system.

Thanks,
racfan9

 

If the axle tubes are leaking, you probably damaged the seal putting the shaft back in. Really, there isn't THAT much stuff to replace, and it should last for a long time. A 2wd dually is useless in snow, however it shouldn't be getting stuck in 6" snow with half decent tread on ANY tire. You could get a decent AT, but 4x4 is 1000x better for snow.

 

1000 pounds in the bed

 

You have a Dulley so there are 2 extra tires back there displacing weight.....That means less traction for each tire..... 4wd to 2wd and you are getting stuck in the snow

 

There's the answer. Nothing affects traction more than tires do. Ask any racer, and they'll tell you the same thing. Rallys are won and lost based on tire choice.

When I first bought my truck (used), it had the factory original MIchelin AT2 (or whatever they were), and 30K miles. In the first light snow fall, I had to use 4WD just to get moving on my little hill. Driving through town was a challange. I changed to Michelin LTX M/S, and this thing just chews through ice and snow like a tank.

 

You've got the worst possible traction trifecta going on.
1. Dually (less ground pressure than a single wheel)
2. Hard street tires, no traction.
3. No weight on the rear axle (see #1)

With the Dually, you can lower the tire pressures ALOT (if they don't rub). I only run about 35-40 psi in my 2500 (empty bed) in the winter, down to 25 psi or less if I'm in deep or slick snow on a trail. This will increase the surface area, but the tires will get much better traction.
Get some better tires for the winter soft, lots of siping is good for wet slick snow. (But it really don't snow in MO, so I'd just get some good AT tires when yours wear out.) Big mudders are better for deep snow, not as good on the hiway as snow tires.
Put some weight in the back, for you, just throw it in when it snows. 600-1000 lbs farther back in the bed will help the most, will do wonders with traction too.

 

Yep I had a dually 2wd that if it sprinkled,,, it got stuck,,, put a piece of 3/8 steel plate covering the bed floor,,, 700+ lb,,,,,,, problem solved!!!!!

You could prolly get by with less say 450-500 and be fine,,,, JMHO

 

Racfan9
"I've never had this much trouble with other 2wheel drive truck and cars so why would a big 3500 dually set there and spin with absoulutly no traction?... By the way the truck has 137,000 miles on it so thats why I'm tired of throwing money into the 4x4 system."

Im confused... so you have a 2wd dually or a 4x4 dually?

 

137,000 miles is not that many miles on one of these trucks.

 

He changed a 4wd dually to a 2wd and is not happy with snow traction is how I read it....WHY did he do that? I suggest chains, bed weight if he insists on 2wd in the snow. But it hasn't snowed anywhere yet has it?

 

Txarrowhunter,

The truck is 4x4, I bought it used last year with 115000 miles on it, after I had it for a month or so I noticed it was leaking oil out the axle tubes. I took it in to have those replaced and was told both axle tubes were bent and that they didn't think the new seals would take care of the problem. So instead of paying 3500.00 to change out the axle housing I told them to pull the axles and driveshalf out, so it's badged a 4X4 thats just a 2X4. By the way they did put new axle seals in and it still leaked. So thats the story of my 4X4.

Racfan9

 

Hmmmm, not very convinced....

 

Junk yard would be my suggestion along with a second opinion.