dually ???????????'s

[2003Cummins4Me]

I've heard that dually's suck off road... is this true? If so why do they suck... I think they look freakin awesome lifted with big tires.

 

[bmoeller]

No problems yet. Never in any mud deeper than 6". Has handled snow just fine. Never been anywhere near stuck yet. Have even pulled trailers through mud and no problem, even with worn out drive tires at the time.

 

[dan_gilson]

Some people have had problems because the front tire is almost on the center line between the duals. This can cause a plow effect where the front tire pushes loose material into the path of both rear tires. When this happens the rear end tends to float up and tires spin.



Weight in bed, tire thread type/depth and what you are driving over all play a part.



You can also get a large stone caught between the duals and then throw it.



Also, the extra width of the training wheels can cause other problems on narrow trails and trails with deep ruts.



Duals in general are more of a pain to drive. On my 2500 I knew that if my nose cleared in a narrow spot so would the rest of me. This is not true with the 3500. I leave my towing mirrors out. If I fold one in I am normally OK. If I dent the door the dual will definitely WILL NOT clear. Unless I am going really slow the door dent will probably be the least of my problems.



On the flip side... . The training wheels hook up on traiction much much better. Especially in the wet. The is a lot less sway on the rear end. You have a lot more safety margin if you blow a tire on the rear.



The reason why I got a dually: After entering both a 2500 (heavy duty everything) and 3500 in to a spreadsheet. The 3500 was $180 more. Both had the same options otherwise. Go figure. I don't know whether it is the same now but that was the way it was in '98.

 

[Big_Daddy_T]

Ive seen a 2wd dually in a place that makes most 4x4ers cringe. The extra width allowed him to grab the side of the ruts.

 

[Rman]

what do you mean by off road? there's several different "off road" meanings. Muddin, rock crawlin, sand dunin... there's lots. The idea of a long wheel base truck rock crawling is pretty much absurd where i go, it simply can't be done. They do well in mud though, and with proper tires they will do well in sand.



What kind of "off roading" do you prefer? Most people around here lift there trucks and stick big tires on them so they can look cool when they pick up beer at 7-11. I can think of a couple instances where a dually would be beneficial... but not many.

 

[Diesel Nut]

When I had my dually it never stopped. It was a 93 350 4x4 and mud, snow, small to medium rocks, big rigs buried in the mud, nothing ever stopped me. I was the go to guy to pull everyone out when all the blazers and toyotas and jeeps got stuck in the mud. I miss that truck!:{ :{ :{

 

[2003Cummins4Me]

well, the off roading that i am mainly interested in is mountain trails, mud, snow, ice, on and off road, no rock climbing or anything really extreme. I live in colorado springs and i basically want something that will get me wherever i want to go... i really like the dually's better than the single's... and you can definitly make a dually look awesome. i just like to know the shortcomings of something im going to throw over 40k for. anyone know of aftermarket 17" dually wheels? i cant find anything other than 16" and 19. 5" and larger. if there was a real tire (super swamper ssr or equivilent) i would get 19. 5's. does anyone have any info on this?

 

[dan_gilson]

I have 19. 5" wheels. The commercial tires are realy stiff. I am not carrying enough load on them right now. This is mainly a problem with the rear end. The ISB seems to load the front just fine.



For a dually you really need to be heavy loaded most of the time. A big slide-in or 5th or stock trailer. I have been considering some tractor plates over the rear axle when unloaded. To give you an idea with 4 tires rated at over 4K# per you need a lot of weight to settle things down. I have not overload my 3500 (yet) but I do have a lot of margin on what I can now carry.



For a SWR it will not be so bad.



The wheel and tire combo weight is much heavier than stock. Keep this in mind if you do your own tire rotations.



Just as life there are a lot of +'s and -'s.

 

[Rman]

I think with a detroit locker, or spooled rear end a dually would really have some killer rear end traction. Put some good tires on there and hell you could do most of what you want to do in 2wd. Tires make a HUGE difference in mud and snow. I can do most mountain trails in 2wd, a locker really helps there though.



I'll warn you though, lockers hate the road, really eats up your "expensive" off road tires. Gotta pay to play... . Like Dan said, everything has +'s and -'s. I've seen a lifted dually in town, I think its a show truck because it always looks pristine and shiny. I think he's runnin 38's on it but i always see him driving so i can't take a closer look. Truck looks sharp... . but not practical for anything really, chicks dig it i guess. I'll take my landcruiser anyday.