5th wheel : Dually or SRW?

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andman2002

andman2002

Member
Joined
Aug 27, 2011
Posts
5
Location
Prince George, BC Canada
Ive been looking to buy a 5th wheel toy hauler, 32-40 feet. Ive been looking online at 2008 and up, will most likely live and work from it full time for the next couple years.
i bought my truck with this intention in mind and have never owned an RV before- let alone a 5th wheel.
When it comes to the longer units, is it really necessary to have a dually rather than a single rear axel? Since I will not be changing my truck should i limit my searching for a smaller unit? all I intend to haul in it is a quad and a sled (or maybe a couple of quads).
i live in northern BC so will be faced with some hard core winters and a lot of mountainous travel. Some gravel resource roads to contend with too.
For that matter, what other considerations should I put as priorities when shopping for a 5th wheel(other than full winter package)?
Thanks!
 
I have done it with both SRW and Dually. I had the SRW first in a 3/4 ton,  then traded up to a 1 ton dually. I did it so the truck could handle the pin weight of the 5ver.  Your biggest consideration is how much pin weight your current truck and handle, and what the overall weight combo will be. 

These days manufactures are making SRW 1 tons that will rival the weight carrying ability of the duallys. You don't NEED a dually to pull a heavy 5ver, but I do think they are a bit more stable.  The trade off is that the truck alone is more difficult to maneuver in city traffic with the wide hips of the dually.
 
Thanks for your quick response!
When it comes to pin weight and calculating for a 5er hitch, what numbers am I looking at that are listed on both my truck and the 5er?
It just occurred to me that the numbers listed for my truck would have to do with bed load and the hitch under the bumper- not that of a 5th wheel hitch mounted in the box.
Am I over thinking this?
 
SargeW said:
You don't NEED a dually to pull a heavy 5ver, but I do think they are a bit more stable.
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One friend tells me that the dually's are much better in heavy cross wind situations.  Another friend pulls a 5er with a SRW 3/4 ton that is slightly overloaded and states he never has a problem even when on two lane highways with tractor trailers going the other way. 

So I have no idea.    :)
 
Pin weight is the reason for  a dually. The truck's payload (bed capacity) has to be able to carry  it, since it mostly falls on the rear axle. Rear axle Gawr is the key to Payload. A dually has about 1000# more axle capacity than a similarly equipped SRW.
 
Gary RV Roamer said:
A dually has about 1000# more axle capacity than a similarly equipped SRW.
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Well, that depends Gary. Unless a heavier axle is used on the dually, sometimes the extra weight carrying ability is eaten up by all the extra weight that is required to make the dually chassis. I had a 04.5 Dodge dually one ton 4X4 with a six speed, and when it got down to raw numbers there was hardly any difference in the dually and SRW models that year. I think is some configurations the SRW may actually be able to out payload the dually. 

Tony: I have pulled the same 5ver with both a 3/4 ton long bed and a 1 ton dually, and the dually was more stable.  Not dramatically mind you, but enough to be noticeable.  A 5ver in itself pulls and handles better than a TT because the pin weight is right over the rear axle and kind of glues the truck to the road.  You will still feel the gust of wind when passed by a larger vehicle, but it is less pronounced in the dually.  On the trade off, the dually usually gets worse MPG due to the rolling resistance of all of those tires.  It comes down to what you really want and what will work best for you.
 
SargeW said:
Tony: I have pulled the same 5ver with both a 3/4 ton long bed and a 1 ton dually, and the dually was more stable.  Not dramatically mind you, but enough to be noticeable.  A 5ver in itself pulls and handles better than a TT because the pin weight is right over the rear axle and kind of glues the truck to the road.  You will still feel the gust of wind when passed by a larger vehicle, but it is less pronounced in the dually.
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Ahh, now that's the kind of comparison I was looking for quite a while back when I asked a similar question.    However an even better comparison would've a one ton SRW vs DRW of the same make and year.  :)

I see no compelling reason to go with DRW so long as weights are within mfr limits.
 
Unless a heavier axle is used on the dually, sometimes the extra weight carrying ability is eaten up by all the extra weight that is required to make the dually chassis.
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Yeap, that's a concern.  The difference between an SRW and DRW (asuming otherwise identical trucks) is the extra tires and wheels plus the flared fenders to accommodate them.  Typically that's 300-400 lbs of the extra 1000# capacity, so the net gain is somewhere around 600 lbs of payload and trailer tongue weight. That amouint can easily be lost in other minor differecnes between two models.  You have to look at truck configurations very closely - you really can't generalize very much.
 
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