Howdy all,

Just when I think it's time to place my order I get cold feet and decide not to, let me toss a question out there for some opinions if I can?

I'm looking to order a F350 for towing a 16k 5th wheel and as a daily driver/work truck. I thought the best idea would be to get a DRW but that seems like a big truck to be using daily and sometimes offroad to the job site. I was wondering if a shortbed/longbed SRW would suit the same purpose or if the dually is the be all end all.

What do you say? To dually or not to dually. Could the SRW handle it?
Thanks in advance!

 

I went from a SRW to DRW.Don't regret it all.With that size fifth wheel I think you would be pushing rear axle weights w/SRW but truck would pull camper O.K.DRW is much more stable just more at ease when pulling camper. But as a daily driver I still won't park along streets in town and park at back end of lots.

 

For perspective, I'm a guy who flat out WILL NOT buy a DRW truck because of the MPG penalty as well as difficulty as a daily driver.

But in your case I'd get the DRW. 16,000 lbs is slightly over the max capacity of the SRW truck. I wouldn't hesitate hitching that up to my SRW, but if I were buying a truck to tow it I'd want the extra capacity and stability.

How often are you going to tow it? If only a couple times a year might not be worth it, but if more often I'd strongly suggest DRW.

 

We'll be towing quite often as we'll be living in it full-time and using the truck to drive unhitched to work every day when contracted.

 

Not to high jack thread , but what is the max capacity of the 350 srw/cc/lb/psb

 

I have a dually because I previously had a F-250 short bed. It had 18" tires; I still have the same tires but just with the dually. I was right at the capacity of the 18" tires on the F-250 ignoring the truck ratings. So I went with the dually. I could have gone with the F-350 SRW at the time and have been okay.

They have since increased the ratings on the F-350 SRW and the 20" tires have a higher load capacity than the 18". So at this point I have all but made my decision to go with a SRW next time around; which will probably be in next six months.

Everyone said the DRW would be so much more stable than the SRW; I really could not tell a difference. My previous two F-250's had the camper package and that rear stabilizer may have made for some difference.

My DRW was a daily driver until about April of last year when I finally started driving the car to save on the fuel bill. The hips really are no wider than the mirrors. I typically back into 90 degree or square parking so if someone parks next to me there is less chance of them getting the dually fenders as they cut in and out of spot. I park farther out in the parking lot; but I did that with the SRW's too. My 08 DRW has the wide track front axle and I find it more maneuverable than the previous 06 F-250 short bed.

The highest gears you can get on the DRW F-350 is 3.73; I really would like 3.31 gears on my next truck; but if I go with the F-350 SRW it looks like it will be 3.55 as the 3.31 are not available with the 20" wheels. I also want the electronic locking rear differential which is not available on the dually. The new lower first gear of the new six speed TorqShift with 3.31 gears has almost equal overall reduction ratio as the old five speed w/ 4.30 gears; so I'm not worried about getting the load moving.

The biggest reason my dually is no longer my daily driver is fuel economy; therefore my main reason for leaning toward the SRW is the gearing available. If the 3.55 was available in the DRW then I would be considering it more so. If they were still offering the wide track front axle on the F-350 then I would also be leaning more toward the dually.

I will also go with a long bed on next truck; SRW or DRW. I own a slider hitch; but I'm not using it and don't want to go back to same. Less things to worry about when backing into that tight spot; I've done it with short bed and no slider too.

Our fiver is 38.5 ft long (front of hitch to rear ladder); 16K gross; actual loaded is +14K.

You need to know your pin weight and gross weight to help make that decision.

Bob

 

A dually is naturally more stable, but part of that is because DRW trucks almost always come with rear auxiliary (overload) springs and a rear sway bar, along with more street oriented tires. Some years of SWR trucks come with the auxiliary springs, like the 2011's, but you have to order the camper package to get the rear sway bar, but you can't get the camper package with the 20" wheels. The auxiliary springs make a huge difference in stability with a large trailer, but so do tires. I tow a 40' toyhauler that runs just over 16k fully loaded with my SRW, and I recently replaced my Michelin LTX M&S tires with the new Michelin LTX AT2, which has a much more agressive tread. The first time out my truck felt like it had a flat because there was soo much tread squirm with these tires. After a couple thousand miles the tread wore down and now they are OK, but I will go back to the M&S tires next time. If you are considering a short bed one of the automatic slider 5th wheel hitches is a must, but make sure you check into the price of those before you go that route, 'cause they sure are proud of them!

 

I drove a dually a few years ago and then started running F250's. When I outfit an F250 with air bags for extra support on the rear axle I don't think I will ever use a dually again.

If I were in your situation, I would get the 350 SRW, invest in airbags and a good hefty tire. I am continually surprised at how stable these Ford SD's are in SRW form. They handle better than the bowtie dually I used to drive, by far.

Just for clarification, I would never want to suggest something that may wind up unsafe for you, so please make certain that you are reasonably within the weight limits.

 

I don't know where you'll be located, but I understand that unloaded DRW are next to useless in snow.

 

@ruschejj That's what I hear is that the 350 SRW tows quite well once equipped for it. Question is what it'd take to get it equipped. Oh and I'd definitely be in a Fx4.

@blueheron That's a concern with the DRW as well, I'll be in snow often as well as fire trails and offroad.

So I suppose I need to find out what the gvcwr is for the SWR 350 with 20" wheels and what gear ratio would haul 16k - 18k with comfortably. If I can get away without the dually I'd prefer it just due to how much I'll be driving it without the 5ver. But I also want to make sure we tow the 5ver decently as it will be our home.

Thanks so far for the feedback. Keep it coming?

 

I heard the dually would be no good in the snow; I had no issues with snow or soggy muddy fields (or no more than with the SRW's).

I have heard that in deep snow it can get dicey with the duallys trying to track the front tire tracks; however, I did not find it an issue but my front is the wide track.... there were times I could tell the tracking was not the same but not a show stopper. This was deep snow that literally left the low profile 4WD SUV's at a stop because they could not push through it.

I know with my pin weight I could have bought the F-350 SRW in OCT 07 and kept it all under the weight ratings of the truck; I chose the dually for more margin. I could not have bought a SRW GM product as their ratings were too low back then. They raised them this year though.

Both of my previous F-250's had camper package and upgraded front springs; both had overloads on the rear and rear roll bar was part of the camper package.

It gripes me that if I want to go with the 20" wheels I can not get the camper package (therefore no rear roll bar).

The other downside to the dually is you are pretty limited to available automatic car washes; I have found brushless ones but none that actually make contact. Many stay away from same anyway.

Tire rotation is a different challenge too; as the inner rears are steel wheels; so if you want a true rotation you will have to have tires and wheels broke down. My rear duallys with 54K still look great; but, I replaced the front tires at 42K because of an issue with wear on the right side only. No rotation on my part.....

One thing about the SRW vs. the DRW is the back of the F-350 SRW sets about 2" higher than the dually. The height of the steps on my dually are just about the same as they were on my 06 F-250; this was an issue when we bought it as we use to take my wife's 92 year old dad to the doctor, etc. I am hoping a new SRW will drop more with the load of my fiver on it than it does on my dually or the front of my fiver is going to be too high. The fiver has already been raised to ride level with my dually. So something else you may want to consider.

There use to be a TSB about removing the blocks between the springs and axles to get a lower bed height on the SRW; at customer's cost.

Bob

 

It's TSB 07-7-2

Here's a link:

07-7-2 Rear Of Vehicle Is Too High/low - 5th Wheel And Goose Neck Applications - 4x4 - TheDieselGarage.com

 

I pull a 13000 pound fifth wheel with my 2011 F350 CC SB SRW truck. I am under on all weight ratings. I could easily pull a bigger trailer power wise, I could also go a little bigger weight wise. If you load the 16000 gvw trailer to the gvw, you will be considerably over the gvw and the rawr. You will be close on combined rating. The truck will pull it fine but do you want to be driving. It is a personal call, good luck

 

Rickatic,

How much does your bed drop with the weight of the fiver on it?

Thanks,

Bob

 

I never measured it but the truck sits level. It does not hit the overload springs. I am hooking up in the morning. I will measure if I remember.