I've got a 2003 2500 Quad Cab diesel that I bought new and I'm very happy with it. My needs are changing, though, where I need more carrying capacity. I hate to sell a good truck with a known history of being well-maintained and take the risk of buying a used dually that turns out to be a POS (new is not an option).

Has anyone converted a 2500 to a 3500 just doing the suspension upgrades? Is it practical? I'm thinking I'd have to use refurbished or junkyard parts and do it myself to make any economic sense.

What would it entail? Change rear end, change spring setup, change front suspension-- would all that bolt up to existing chassis or are the mounting points different?

Would I need a 3500 driveshaft? Or other bits and pieces I'm not thinking of? I was thinking of bolting on the lastet model DRW plastic outer fender, which might be the easiest part!

 

I saw on here aftermarket sides that where wider for less than new stock!

If i was able to go to a junk yard and find a Dually. I would just get the springs,fenders,adaptors(to fix the front).All suspension parts.NOT the entire rears. due to what you said. YOU KNOW WHAT YOU GOT!!!!. That said gear Ratio is important. So what do you have now? 3.73 if yes then you may be ok with a stock tire.

Just my 2 cents i am sure their will be many opinions soon!

 

You would not necessarily have to change the springs. The only difference is the overload leafs. For the trouble involved, I would just install airbags like firestone riderites or similar. No other front end or drive train mods needed. The mounting of the duallys and the fenders might actually be the bigger job. I can't help there.

The one thing of note though is your truck has a little sticker that says your truck is only rated at "xxxx" lbs. As long as the weight police are indifferent, you'll be ok.

 

I'm thinking of the same thing. What would you think, are there issues with axels, hubs, breaks, that kind of thing?

 

I found fenders on EBay, and got both sides for less than $500. A local shop will mount and paint them for me for $750 - $1000, depending on how fancy a paint job I decide on. I'm thinking flames, the wife-unit doesn't really think so... I found front and rear adapters from Arrowcraft (Special thanks to anther post here, but I can't find it agai to thank that person directly). The rims and tires are where the real expense is coming in, it'll be close to $2000 for wheels.

 

I always thought a 3rd gen regular cab long bed would look pretty sweet converted to a dually with some mega cab fenders. You'd just have to fill in the recess where the fuel door is on the drivers side, but that wouldnt be much of a problem.

 

eagle alloy is what i have in a 17x6 and i paid 740.00 for the complete set with lug nuts and center caps included
\\the ysell them on ebay all over

i have the 17x6 version( the 19.5s look just like mine) but will be upgrading to the 19.5s because of the fact that the tires have such a long wear time





[IMG]http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b26/donandcat/finish1.jpg[/IMG

 

Hows the Mega conversion holding up??? Man that thing is sweet. Are there any problems or is it as good as if it came from the factory that way.

 

I changed the suspension in my 97 to make it a SRW 1 ton I jerked the leafs and Coils out and replaced them with junkyard specials no sweat everything should change right out. With that being said the difference in the two spring packs is one overload as mentioned above there are a few packs out there with 7 leafs in them but the standard 1 ton pack is 5 after all my work changing everything out. It still wasnt enough I still ended up putting airbags on the guys are right just buy the adapters slap duals and bags on it and go.

 

Would the Rickson Wheel. http://ricksontruck.com/ and 19.5s be an option instead. I have read about a lot of camper haulers doing this instead of the dually.