Duals VS. Singles

G,Mornin everyone...

Well after towing my wildcat just a few times with my 6.0 gas Chevy I knew that a deisel would be in my future...It did ok towing 40 miles or so up into the white mountains of NH but our yearly trip out west is nothing I want to do with that truck...

I've been starting to test the waters on GM products...I really like the Duramax Ally combo...I know opinions will vary on make but I've tried the others and ended back up with GM...so for me thats what I'm looking into. My father in law has a 3500 cummins and I towed my WC home with that so I do have some hard facts for comparison...its not just a name thing for me...

Around here 2500hd GM's with the duramax are like gold but one thing I've noticed is that you can buy the same Crew Cab 3500 dually for considerably less if you search around... my guess is that they are just not as desirable as the singles...

Now I dont really need a dually with the WC I have now and I dont ever think I'm going to want a monster FW either...so i'm on the fence as to wether or not consider the duallys...

My main concern Is milage milage milage! do any of you have any input on the Duramax ally combo with duallys and without...I'm sure that economy will suffer to a degree but is it that much...maybe the extra stability and capacity of the 3500 would make me look the other way for a few MPG's

A few other things for comparison, It must be a crew cab and a 4x4 bed length is not to important to me I dont mind the shortbox slider combo thats what I have now...

just want to gets some thoughts from you Duramax owners...or even if your not Dmax owners

You can see my tv in the signature below. I love my Duramax/Allison combo. In 2009 over 7,000 miles of towing including two trips over the Appalachians in WV/MD I averaged 12.6 MPG. No experience with a dually.

With the truck in our signature we get between 10 and 13 mpg towing and around 18 to 20 solo depending on trip and terrain. I have not weighed the cat loaded but I am guessing it's about 10,000 lb. I have a friend with a 2009 GMC dually with the Duramax. He pulls a 14,000 lb. Keystone Everest. He says he gets around 11 - 13 mpg while towing and around 14-15 mpg while solo.
KH

I don't drive a GM, but I do have a 4x4 dually long bed. While I am no where near the 15,200 towing limit on my truck, I got the dually for the stability it offers. My combo is about 19,000 lbs, 9 for the TV and 10 for the trailer. I was driving on I-15, south of Barstow, heading for the Cajon Pass when we got hit by a microburst. It pushed the rig over one lane , but never did I feel that I was out of control. Man was I glad to have the duals that day!

For my combo (see below), I get 9-10 MPG towing over the mountains and 11-12 towing on the flat (cruise set at 58 for the wonderful Republic of California). Empty, I've gotten 14 on the highway but as my daily driver, I get around 10-11.

We have the Dodge 3500, see sig, pulling our Monty which weighs in at 13,200, we get 11 - 12 pulling, and 14 or so solo, but we only have 6300 miles on it too. As far as the difference between the DRW verses SRW, we are definitely more stable, worse MPG's, stiffer ride, but a sweet looking ride.

Its all up to you, we didn't have any plans on upgrading the Wildcat either, till we got the deal on the Montana, then of course, we had to go but a new truck too.

mattebury wrote: My combo is about 19,000 lbs, 9 for the TV and 10 for the trailer..

That seems too light. I'm at 21,000lbs. 10,500 for the TV and 10,500 on the trailer axles. I do have the west coast model with the heavy Onan and extra water tank and excessive carry-ons (i.e. tools and cargo)

THEHIWAYMAN (aka Tim) wrote:just want to gets some thoughts from you Duramax owners...or even if your not Dmax owners

Tows fine with singles. 10-11 mpg averaging 65-70mph mixed. Empty I can get to 19-20mph at 58mph. 16-18mpg at 65-70mph. Handles great even in the wind.

I'd stick with a SRW truck. Personal preference.

jetskier wrote:That seems too light.

Nope, I'm ~19k (actually 18,800 on the CAT scale) -

	Loaded	Unloaded	Trailer
Front Axle	5,220	5,180
Rear Axle	5,520	3,980
Trailer Axles	8,060		8,060
Pin Weight			1,580
Total	18,800	9,160	9,640

We have had both a drw and srw. The pro's to the drw is that it is very stable, and if you do get a flat on a rear tire, you have another tire to keep the rig stable. The con's are, less fuel mileage, higher cost for tire replacements, and our dually was a nail magnet.
jmho...

The reason we chose to stay with single Vs dual didn't really have anything to do with gas mileage, although that would have eventually been a factor. We did it because we use the truck every day, and thought the dually would not be a practical choice because of that.

TC

I have to agree with TC. I drive mine everyday and it is big enough as is (single rear wheel). The dually would have been a much bigger pain to deal with on a daily basis. As far as towing and stability, I have never felt uneasy with my setup at all. I recently had my rig weighed (all wheels individually weighed) and found I have plenty of room to spare with all weights.

Ok this has been some good input, Thanks

Unlike TC, Jim & Lisa I dont have to use my truck everyday...as a matter of fact I have to struggle to drive it once a week its nothing for it to sit idle for month...I used it to tow my old TT's before the suburban wreck and to plow...thats it. I've only put 30K on it since 05...it will make a nice truck for the next owner...

I have driven duallys many times so that doesn't bother me to much...I agree my SRW truck handles the weight just fine and I feel completely comfortable pulling it...for me its more a matter of cost of purchasing the vehicle...it still seems like the 3500 duallys are much less for comparable year and milage...used that is.

I'm not sure what this adds to the thread but here it goes.

While I was out today wandering around, I came up behind what was obviously a dually Ford; obvious because the the wide rear-end fender skirts. But it did not have duallies. Instead it had one massive tire that spanned a dually width on each side. I was intrigued because I had never seen this before. Gotta be a home upgrade.

schrowang wrote:I'm not sure what this adds to the thread but here it goes.

While I was out today wandering around, I came up behind what was obviously a dually Ford; obvious because the the wide rear-end fender skirts. But it did not have duallies. Instead it had one massive tire that spanned a dually width on each side. I was intrigued because I had never seen this before. Gotta be a home upgrade.

I've seen dually trucks without the outside tire before, but never one wide tire.

I had vision of drag strip tires under those quarter panels. He didn't smoke'em coming off the green light, did he?



TC

They are called "super singles" and you are starting to see them more and more on commercial rigs. They have the carrying capacity of duals, but are slightly cheaper, both to purchase and maintain. Downside, they are much heavier than a single, so you need special equipment if you get a flat on the road.

TC wrote:

schrowang wrote:I'm not sure what this adds to the thread but here it goes.

While I was out today wandering around, I came up behind what was obviously a dually Ford; obvious because the the wide rear-end fender skirts. But it did not have duallies. Instead it had one massive tire that spanned a dually width on each side. I was intrigued because I had never seen this before. Gotta be a home upgrade.

I've seen dually trucks without the outside tire before, but never one wide tire.

I had vision of drag strip tires under those quarter panels. He didn't smoke'em coming off the green light, did he?










TC

No way, he would need a Chevy to be able to do that