what about these dual wheel adapter kits? are these things ok? safe? any downfalls?

http://www.southwestwheel.com/dodgeconverion.htm

i know there are lots more out there, just askin....

 

The reason you don't see a lot of folks making these, is the product liability. I think they are plenty strong. Think about the ones for the 22.5 wheels. Those really take a pounding. I see a good number of um around. I install also and have seen no trouble .

..Preston..

 

A buddy of mine set his 3/4T up with Arrowcraft duals. It's set up a weld rig...don't know the weight, but prolly 10K. Came out very nice with no issues.

 

I am looking into these adapters also.

They make a kit that is 6 wheels plus the adapters for $1150 shipped. I'm guessing I bolt these onto my stock wheel studs and then bolt the wheels onto the adapters...

235 tires are dirt cheap so I am looking at $1000 mounted/balanced/installed after I sell my bed and stock wheels, and a little TireRack gift cert. I have.

I am mostly concerned about if this is safe? Is it going to cause premature wear on bearings?

The other thing is that the wheels are only rated to 2500 # per wheel which in the rear is fine... but in the front puts my max rating at 5000#. Seems to be playing it a little close to the the stock weight of the truck of about 4500#? Those are aftermarket "stock replacement" wheels...

 

I haven't checked out the rears yet, but for the fronts just go to a boneyard and get a set of original Dodge dually adapters. They bolt right on the front hubs just like aftermarket ones, then you bolt the wheel on.

I haven't checked the rear part numbers, but I would be willing to bet that you can change from a SRW to dually just by removing the SRW drums and bolting on dually drums. If this is the case, find a pair of low mileage dually drums at a boneyard and have them machined, and install them. or just buy new drums. You would be using all factory parts for the most strength.

Next thing. Why are you going to dually? I seriously considered it, but once I weighed all the pros and cons, the only reason i had to do it was for the looks. You don't get any more payload capacity because you are limited by the axle and springs. You get more stability with the extra width, but thats about it. Unless I'm missing something. The cons are that you pay more at toll booths, get slightly reduced mileage, and have to buy 6 tires at a time instead of 4.

Jim

 

I will have my adapters on today and i will post some pics of the truck took forever to get the eagle alloys.

 

Been running Arrowcraft adaptors on my 2500 for 256k with no problems at all. Wheel bearings are all original. Have run up to 8000 on the rear axle, normal at 6000 plus. See my sig...


Stock dual adaptors on the front will not work without machining, they have a different hub size.

 

great HID, sounds good.

jim the springs,brakes and axle are the same on my truck as a 3500 "except for the outer wheel spindle and hub assembly" according to dodgeram.info. i know it won't increase my actual GVW but i would be doing it for the load rating. still thinking about getting into driving my truck for $$$ and i would need the additional load capacity. i have used single rear wheel 19.5's in the past but they are expensive and while i personally don't care about looks, i think that it matters to other people, especially customers and DOT/police. they don't understand that you can have single rear wheels rated for more weight than many light truck duallies...i would probably do what Haulin did and ditch the bed.

 

So just go with the 3500 outer hub then. I think it would be much cheaper than an aftermarket kit, st least if you could find a pair of used hubs.

Haulin', which part was a different size? I checked and the front wheel bearings/hub assembly was the same part number for a 2500 and a 3500, and thats what the dually adapter bolts to...so I don't see why it wouldn't just bolt right on. Unless I'm missing something...

Jim

 

Well I had checked with Napa before posting that, and they showed the same bearing part number for 2500 and 3500. But I just checked Autozone and they showed different part numbers. I would be extremely shocked to find AZ having correct info if Napa didn't...but it could happen.

Jim

 

Best I know, Napa shows two different front hubs for the '99. Wheel centric hub diameter is somewhat different. I think there is a difference from 99 and up. but in reality the hub on a 3/4 ton is lug centric anyway. It shows up in the rears, I had to have my rear adaptors machined up to the larger size.