I may just be talking out of my head on this but I'm thinking about turning my single cab long wheel base into a dually. All I should need is dually fenders and rims right? I'm sure the studs are long enough for dual rims. If I go to the junk yard how hard is it to remove and dually fender? Anyone have and pics of a 93 single cab dually?

 

duallies have a wider rear axle. you will either need to replace the axle or get a set of spacers for the correct width.

 

What would be the problem if I just put the rims and fenders on, would it be to short for the fenders? Surely it's possible with out doing that. It would just not look right, right?

 

DRW truck beds are not just SRW beds with fenders bolted on. They have much more of the sheet steel cut out around the wheels. Your project is not hard, but in all honesty you are looking at a rear axle swap, front spindle swap, and bed swap. Also don't forget to get the fuel filler hoses for the DRW, since they are longer to reach the fuel doors in the fender.

 

My current bed has almost litterly been to hell and back so a future bed swap was has been on my mind any way. If I stick with the plan it would be great to put two and two together, thanks for giving me that info.. If I swapped my current axle with a dually axle would that give it a higher or lower gear ratio, I already have a 4 speed manual. Cant go any lower or I'll be going 50 in a 70, lol. I'm in 4th gear at 25- 30. Lol

 

Why would I have to so a spindle swap? Maybe it's a little over my head. Easy task but not living week to week.

 

Gear ratio would be whatever axle you find/put in.

You'd want to do the spindle swap so you could match the front to the rear or else have different rims from front to back.

Unless you need a dually, it's not really worth it, they get bad mileage, handle horribly in the snow & heavy rain, and it's 50% more tires to buy. And if your state is anything like Kalifornia, (I hope not for your sake), it costs a lot more to license it.

But if you need a GVW capacity of 10,000 lbs go for it, or buy another truck.

 

Well, I guess I'm in over my head no that I know I have to do all that. Not hard just financial purposes. Hard to do anything living week to week

 

yeah it's not cheap to convert to a dually unless you've already got a parts truck.
the drw pickup axles typically go for around 600-1k alone.then you need the 800-1k drw pickup bed,or just build a flat bed,then 6 dually wheels with all the matching lug nuts as those are different too.the duallies run shorter and skinnier tires,so you'd need another several hundred in rubber,then to make the front right,some oem dually wheel front hubs or aftermarket front adapters for 200-350 more.
then you'd have a truck with reduced traction,fuel economy,and a slighter rougher ride.she'll tow and haul like no srw can though.
not a mod to do without reason imho.if you ever do it,make sure to start with a srw 4wd truck.no point in building something you could likely just buy outright cheaper now.

 

^^^that^^^
Plus the labor to swap everything. If you found the parts at a flat rate junkyard like the ones near me it's not so bad... A rear axle is a rear axle no matter what it's out of... $150, truck box $175, tailgate $45, spindles $45, steel rim $28... etc., but they only get a few DRW's a year so you have to check often. Given that two such trucks just sold in my area for $1,500 and $1,900 respectively it does not make a lot of sense to convert one unless you trying to create a 4x4 DRW or something special like that. Otherwise just sell and buy what you want. And like Chevy Eater and F250 pointed out, be careful what you wish for. DRW can be a money pit if you don't absolutely need the capacity I'd skip it.

 

you could probably buy a whole dually truck with a blown motor or something like that for $1000 and have all the parts you need. check out this one for parts... I would get myself if I had space/time. so many good parts that I don't actually need, but still seem to want
1987 6.9 diesel flat deck Sooke, Victoria

 

My dad has a DRW 4X4, ~88 single cab.
Of course, they didn't make em like this.
The PO just bolted spacers to each of the rear wheels(spacer bolts in place of wheel, provides studs to bolt wheels on to), and built a custom rubber fender.

He did it because he was hauling a heavy camper. Evidently it worked for him.

For us, it's worked just fine, though we've been running mostly empty -- as a semi-daily-driver truck.
I've pointed out that it's kind of overkill, but my dad likes the extra traction on muddy/slick ground.

 

The most important question is why do you want a dually?

They are right do that to do it right you need quite a few rather expensive and hard to come by parts. The rarest being the front hub/spacer.

But depending on your reasons and goals there's likely a good way to get what you want/need.

 

totally over my head, money wise, I don't haul nothing but a 15 foot boat. I just like the dually look, and I love working on my vehicles. just a thought went threw my head on how easy it would be.