SRW 5th wheel towing concern

[boyscout]

But we would prefer a SRW vs DRW as it will be our daily driver, exploring back roads etc. However, thoughts of safety come to mind. Has anyone experienced a tire blow-out/flat on a SRW TV while on the road towing a 5th wheel?
Thanks in advance.

Welcome to the forum.

There are people here who tow with SRW trucks and believe that's all they need. There are other people here who (like me) after towing for a while with an SRW vehicle would like to have a DRW vehicle. There are people here who have acted on that desire and upgraded to a DRW; they invariably report significant improvement in the towing experience and strong satisfaction that they made the change to DRW. Finally there are the smart people here who started out with a DRW vehicle and are happy they did.

DRW isn't just about having backup tires in case of a blowout. Stability in curves and sidewinds is another big plus, and on some trucks the DRW option comes with more-robust steel and rubber parts that may give longer life towing heavy loads.

@John303 gives good advice above. I wish I'd had that advice before I bought my truck.

Good luck with your decision.

[terryriddle]

I had one dually tire go flat and never knew it until I saw that tire on a rock and noticed it had no air. One other thing, the sway with four rear wheels on the ground is better than just two, especially in high winds. If you are going to spend the money on a crew cab, long bed...get the dually.

[traveldawg]

I'll say this, having owned both a SRW and DRW diesel pickup truck, ...... ....I would really start at (advice I should have taken myself) "Can I make a DRW work for me" as the decision point rather than "Will this SRW tow my rig".

I kind of think Overtaxed summed it up with "...can I make a DRW work for me...". In my case the answer was no (both times when I've purchased a fifth wheel and SRW truck to tow them).

No doubt that the DRW gives one more of a safety margin. And no doubt that it is a much bigger truck. So it comes back to - can ya live and play with it (for shopping, touring when not towing, etc).

[KBear58]

I pulled a 5’r with a single rear wheel for years. We upgraded to a 397TH and had to go with a dually. I can’t tell you how much better all aspects of towing are now. No side to side shimmy at all. When I pulled our old 5th wheel to trade it was amazing the difference. No mileage difference either. I work out of mine and have no trouble on the backroads. Just my opinion. Best of luck.

[RWFSAF]

We just bought a 2021 F350 Dually, 6.7l diesel. After the 1,000 mile break-in period, I hooked up my 10,500 lb (approx) Reflection 295RL and towed for a few miles just to "get the feel".
My previous truck was a Nissan Titan XD, gasser.
I just got tired of "little more truck, little more camper, repeat".

I am so thankful I went "all out" and got the dually. It drove/towed like a dream.
The weight was no issue (of course), but the stability was like night and day different.
I received lots of unappreciated grief and comments from the "big riggers" with that Nissan, but I am a believer now!
A Solitude 375RES (16,000+ lb) is in the near future for us, which is why we bought the truck.

Here are a couple of thoughts from a recently converted "small" truck owner:
Why get "just enough truck" and then stress every time you hook up?
Don't fear duallies, if your mirrors fit through the space your rear fenders will fit also (if your straight).
Always drive/maneuver as if you are towing a trailer, then when you are towing, it's not a big deal.
Park out in the "north 40" and enjoy the walk; you can take 4 spaces and no one cares.
Put some 5 gallon buckets of sand just in front of the hitch to smooth out the ride when you are not towing; I have 4 buckets/240 lbs. in my 14,000 GVWR truck and a Curt A25 Hitch @ ~187 lbs.

Not related to this thread, but I am getting 22 mpg @ 60 mph, much more fuel efficient than I was expecting.
"You know you are getting old when putting your truck in ECO Mode doesn't increase your mileage at all" 😉

[Overtaxed]

I pulled a 5’r with a single rear wheel for years. We upgraded to a 397TH and had to go with a dually. I can’t tell you how much better all aspects of towing are now. No side to side shimmy at all. When I pulled our old 5th wheel to trade it was amazing the difference. No mileage difference either. I work out of mine and have no trouble on the backroads. Just my opinion. Best of luck.

Feel the same way. I've towed my entire life with lots of different vehicles, trucks, SUVs, even a minivan! And lots of different trailers, utility, dump, landscape.. The difference going to a dually was shocking for me, I could not believe how much more stable it felt on the road and how well it controlled the load. And it was noticeable on everything I hooked up, big trailer more so, but even a trailer that my wife's SUV is rated to tow, it's just markedly better than anything I've used before. And in tough situations? It's very confidence inspiring, that's for sure. My first big tow with the 450 was up 81, at night, in terrible rainstorm, all the way from NC to NJ. The conditions were awful, and let me tell you, when we hit NJ, the only thing I could think, "Man, am I glad I spent the money for this truck". I'm sure I would have made it in the 250, but I'm equally sure I'd have a lot more gray hair today from the experience.

There's a reason dually's exist. They aren't great off road, they aren't good in snow, they are nightmares in a drive thru, you'll get sued if you take one into an automatic car wash. They suck at a lot of things. But people buy them, and they buy them because they are exemplary at towing. They are somewhat special purpose, you'd be a fool to buy one if you wanted to just bang around in a truck and go off roading, they aren't good at that like a SRW would be. However, if you're goal with a truck is "best towing experience" then don't even bother looking at anything other than a DRW, you're not going to get the "best" experience any other way (and, honestly, like all things, you can keep going and wind up in a semi, which I'm sure is ever better, but has more significant restrictions on it's use outside of towing).

[Cannon07]

It depends on the truck suspension package and the true pin carrying weight. Bill is correct true pin weight loaded will be close to 3K then add hitch weight and any gear in back. Depending on the model and options your cargo carrying carrying capacity might work, but you will be maxed out. An F350 with the 11400 gvw package might work, As for GM there was another post where the GN rating was only 2600 lbs (5th wheel is the same), so it appears they have a hitch of less capacity the the weight carrying capacity. Also the truck capacity's needs to include you , passenger, hitch, fuel, etc. When shopping check the door sticker. Pin weight should exceed 3K, Cargo capacity should be north of 3500lbs or more and then remember you will need to travel light on the 5er.

Bottom line get a max GVW dually set up correctly and again double check the OEM pin weight capacity of thier puck system. It will tow better. You will get used to the dually as a daily driver - just don't park in the sub-compact spots

hope this helps

Was looking at a 2021 GM 3500 SWR the other day and it was over 3900 for cargo capacity. Not 2600

[TS_Breezes]

We recently went through this process - had a F350 SRW diesel towing a 2930RL. The truck had plenty of power for towing, but "felt" heavy and a bit sloppy with the handling. We were also right at the limit for payload (2950 actual vs, 3118lbs rated max) and GVWR (11,400 lbs actual vs rated max of 11,500 lbs) when very lightly loaded. After quite a bit of research we purchased an F450 and have a little more than 1000 miles towing experience with it. So far it is great. It handles well, we're well within all weight limits, and the improved turning radius over the F350 is absolutely noteworthy. The other benefits I saw with the F450 vs. dually F350 include turning radius, G rated tires, and larger breaks. My F450 does not have built in TPMS, but the F350 did, but everything else is pretty much identical. Price difference between the F350 and F450 is not huge. The theme that became clear to me during my research phase - F350 dually is best for max payload, but F450 is the top choice for heavy towing.

My F350 had a rear axle weight rating of 7230lbs and a visit to the CAT scales with our current rig indicated 7480lbs on the rear axle of the F450, which has a 9900lb rating. We were fully loaded and had just begun this years snowbird trip. Total combined weight was 24,000lbs and trailer axle weight was 11,080lbs. Front axle weight on the F450 was 5460lbs vs. a rated weight limit of 6000lbs.

From a practical "daily drive" point of view I am not seeing significant differences between the SRW F350 and dually. Both need large parking spots, and I would prefer the 450 tighter turning radius over the narrower back end of a SRW.

Lots of luck with your research and then finding the right truck! Once I decided to go for an F450 (September) I emailed and talked with a number of dealers that were advertising an available F450(s). The first five I inquired about were sold within days of an ad appearing, and incoming stock from Ford wasn't predictably available. Hopefully that is changing with release of the 2021 models!

[fez111]

We were pulling a Solitude 379FL (42.5 feet, 14K+) with a 2006 F250 Super Duty 6.0 Diesel. There was some sway and doing the math it proved that the rear truck tires were maxxed out in capacity. I was losing sleep worrying about having a blowout in the Tennessee mountains!!

Looking at options I found that the 2006 F350 SRW has the exact same axle as the F250, and other than a couple of extra leaf springs giving 1k more bed weight, they are within a few hundred pounds of towing capacity. The engine and complete drivetrains were identical. Therefore I determined that I needed dually's, not a new truck.

My solution was to add a dually kit which we bought from Arrowcraft near north of Detroit, Michigan. Please see https://arrowcraftproducts.com . It does NOT add capacity. It just adds stability and halves the weight on each rear tire. The kit (which I installed in about 3 hours), 7 shiny alloy rims, and four new (thinner) tires, two fiberglass fenders, hardware and a body shop to install them totaled about $4200. There is NO MORE SWAY and the rear truck tires don't get as hot. It was a great remedy for us and it looks great!

[Richter]

Really a minor deal, but you might want to consider: Do you like hand-washing your truck? You may not be able to get a dually into a car wash, due to the width. Certainly not saying that this would over-ride safety but, in our case, we didn’t need a dually for our 303. Our 350 goes through a car wash without any issues, so I can have more time sitting outside enjoying the 303 and a beverage...