Duallies verses Singles
 

Hello. My first time here. Love your site. I find it very informative. I Just ordered my first 03 Ram 3500 QC Long Bed/Diesel HO/48RE Auto/4.10 rears/4 x 2, but with single rear wheels. I plan on checking into an exhaust brake, grill gaurd, running bars, navigational system, spray-in bed liner and of course the fifth wheel hitch. I'll be towing a 5ver 37' Kountry Star with a GVWR of 16,250. I believe that once we load it up for travel we'll be at around the 15,000 lb. tops. We will be fulltiming it for the most part which means we'll be towing about once a month on an average or less. I have heard many pros and cons about having dualies. I guess I'm looking for some piece of mind after my order has been placed. The dealer, as I'm sure everyone is aware of, can be about as helpful as a pair of brick shoes in quick sand at times. In fact as I was holding the new brochure in my hand that read, "Now, a 4-speed automatic transmission is available with the Cummins High-Output Turbo Diesel engine", the dealer insisted that I could not order it that way, which only means that the dealer wouldn't have a clue on any futher assistance as far as to dually or not to dually. I don't believe that I will be unhappy nor disappointed with my choice of trucks because according to the dealer I am unable to change my order at this point anyway. They tell me that my truck is in "D" status (whatever that is). So my question is, does anyone think that not having duallies will be that big of a deal or have any set backs as we adventure into our new lifestyle? Again, great site and I'll post some pictures with the rig all hooked up for those who are interested. ::)

Re:Duallies verses Singles
 

Nagi,<br>Welcome to the site. Good stuff here - - most of the time - - sometimes you may have to wear your high top boots. [laugh] [laugh]<br><br>I highly recommend duallies hauling your fiver. I am in about the same weight range - - I can push 16000 if very wet. My last truck was a single - - no comparison in the stability between the two. Most of the guys say once you go over 12000#, you are best with duallies. I agree. And, blow a rear tire - - would you rather be on the rim or have another tire holding you until you get stopped? You should be OK with GVWR on the truck and you went with the 4.10 axle. You won't regret that when towing - - puts you right in the sweet spot and you should have a lot less downshifting on the auto. <br><br>There are a lot of people out there towing big fivers with single rear wheels. After doing it, I am much happier with the dually.<br><br>Bob

Re:Duallies verses Singles
 

Nagi, a big welcome to you.<br><br>I have to agree with Fiverbob on this. I am towing 9800lbs(loaded) with my SRW and I am fine but if I purchased another RV in range of 13,000lb(loaded) I would be approaching my GVWR.<br><br>With your rig the DRW is the only way to go.

Re:Duallies verses Singles
 

I agree with KenR and FiverBob. I've driven and towed with a '99 2500 and an '02 3500 dually, both equipped similar otherwise. There's a big difference in stability, especially at high speeds and in those situations where you have to do things like pull over concrete kurbs into gas stations. If you can do it still, go with the dually.

ascraeus

Re:Duallies verses Singles
 

:'(Well, we talked to the dealer and because our vehicle is in what they call the &quot;D&quot; status, there's no turning back. We're stuck with the single wheels in the back rather than a dually. I guess never having the pleasure of driving a dually I won't know what I'm missing. Maybe I can attach a set of training wheels just in case. Thanks for the replies. At least I'll know better next time before I drop 40K on a vehicle.

Re:Duallies verses Singles
 

Just to add one more tidbit...we were informed that we would be able to pull more without duallies so in order to get the max towing capacity out of our truck we didn't order the duallies. Were we missinformed?

Re:Duallies verses Singles
 

The difference in the weight with the single vs dually is in the weight of the wheels, etc. You can have more hitch weight with the dually. the difference is in the GCVW.<br>george

Re:Duallies verses Singles
 

I certainly don't want to get into your business and just trying to help but you need to look at this:<br><br>My truck (see below) with full fuel, hitch, running boards, mat in bed, two passengers and my stuff comes to 7130lbs. Breakdown is as follows:<br> My Truck Your Truck<br>Truck dry weight 6256 6382<br>fuel 238 245<br>2 passengers 274 274 ??<br>Slider hitch 212 175 ??non-slider<br>tube steps-mat 80 80<br>My stuff 70 70<br>Total 7130 7226<br><br>My pin weight 2025 3000 ?20% of 15,000<br>Total 9155 10226<br>GVWR 9900 9900<br>Over/(under) (745) 326<br><br>Food for thought.<br><br>

Re:Duallies verses Singles
 

Nagi,<br><br>To address your question were, &quot;you miss informed&quot;. I think the issue here is knowing that you can &quot;pull&quot; more weight, but with a fiver you are &quot;hauling&quot; 20% of the weight of the 5'r in the truck. You are not pulling it. I did a lot of research in this area before I finally settled on the dooley's and I am very glad I did. My 5'r is 12,000 lbs and I love the stability of the dooley's. I can't feel a semi passing me.<br><br>Don't know if you have checked out the RV Forum at rv.net.com but there's plenty of information there on towing 5th wheels.<br><br>

Re:Duallies verses Singles
 

Rattlinram pulls a 30 foot double slide Cougar 5'er very well with a little short bed 2500 two wheel drive. You may want to drop him a PM to see if he has any advice but I know he tows it all over the east coast and then some with no problems.<br><br>Drop him a line some time.

Re:Duallies verses Singles
 

Push your dealer a bit, I had no problem or difficulty getting my dealer to change my order three months after I made the order. In fact my first order arrived two weeks after I changed the order. My new dually order is in transport.

Re:Duallies verses Singles
 

Nagi,<br> I would certainly push my dealer to see if he would let you change to the dually, as both your truck weight and gross combined are going to be very high, even for a one ton.<br><br>Bill

Re:Duallies verses Singles
 

;)Thanks to everyone for their input. It has helped a lot. The fact is that when I ordered my new truck, no one every informed me about &quot;pin weight&quot; ever being an issue. In fact most of the reason I hear about owning a dually are not as important as the one main reason that I should be concerned with which is the &quot;pin weight&quot;. You would think that the dealer would know something after learning how I will be using this truck. You would think that the RV place would give me a heads up. What's wrong with this piture ??? First thing tomorrow I will be visiting the dealer to cancel my order and they can have my $500 if that's what it takes. I would rather be safe and keep other fellow drivers of whom I share the road with safe. I will probably go to another dealer and start over fresh only because this dealer didn't know diddly-squat when it came to offering any information. In fact this same dealer (after I told hime that a new Auto Tranny was available for the HO Cummins) asked me to go home and find this information for him on the internet and fax it to him. He wanted me to do his homework for him so he could sell me his product. I should have walked then but I didn't. [eyecrazy] <br>Thanks again for all you input.

Re:Duallies verses Singles
 

For the rig you intend to pull, I would walk away from the $500 and order a dually. The 48RE tranny is much more than the 47RE. If the dealer makes you eat the $500, check out other dealers for an equal or better deal. Then show your current dealer your new truck after you get it.<br><br>Also you can get an additional $500 rebate if you join the Farm Bureau (you do not have to be a farmer). See:<br><br>http://www.turbodieselregister.com/f...ghlight=rebate

Re:Duallies verses Singles
 

Nagi:<br>I think that you will be happier with the dually. They take a bit of getting used to, but they are very stable.<br>george