Buying too much truck?

[SouthTX]

For me it's do I get a brand new, never farted in gas dually or a 4 year old diesel. Will I wish my wallet was 9k lighter to go faster up hills?

If you're dead set on a gasser, DO NOT test drive a 6.7. I hadn't driven a diesel pickup in at least 20 years. I went from a 6.2 to a 6.7 and was very surprised not just by the brute power, but by how refined it is.

If you decide on a diesel, there are a lot of us on this forum who can share the excuses we gave our wives for needing one.

[jasonl78]

Just going through this myself, though my question is diesel or not. I am leaning towards a DRW because I can't find an F350 SRW or any 3500 series that can do 3k pin weight for my 317 and leave enough left over to account for hitch, passengers and general stuff in the cab without being over on at least one of the "legal" weight ratings. I say legal because the components on all of these trucks are up for the challenge, it would just suck to get called out on it for some reason. I just figure if I get a dually, I'm good for whatever tow job comes my way!

For me it's do I get a brand new, never farted in gas dually or a 4 year old diesel. Will I wish my wallet was 9k lighter to go faster up hills?

I saw written here the other day the cheapest thing is to get a prius and stay in hotels.

Good luck with your decision.


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A couple things I feel worth noting here. I'm not questioning anyone's reason for buying what they feel is the best fit for their situation. I have a '17 Ram 3500 Megacab SRW with 6.4L Hemi and my yellow sticker payload # is 4,006 lbs. Not sure if you'd be interested in a Ram or not but my truck is rated for the numbers you're looking for. You'd surely want to opt for 4.10s instead of 3.73s to pull a 317.

As far as DRW vs SRW goes, I don't have the cross country towing experience like others here but I know for the traveling I do in my home state, a SRW works very well with my 11k loaded trailer. I have pulled in some decent crosswinds and felt completely in control. And other considerations for me echo what a few others have said: I like my SRW fits in my garage, parking spaces at work are kind of tight, driving in congested city traffic is a bit unsettling due to width, I can't use any local drive thru car washes and the fact I have 6 tires to consider replacing instead of 4. For those reasons for me personally is why I'd stick to SRW if i didn't absolutely have to go DRW.

[Agpopp]

[QUOTE=jasonl78;186469]A couple things I feel worth noting here. I'm not questioning anyone's reason for buying what they feel is the best fit for their situation. I have a '17 Ram 3500 Megacab SRW with 6.4L Hemi and my yellow sticker payload # is 4,006 lbs. Not sure if you'd be interested in a Ram or not but my truck is rated for the numbers you're looking for. You'd surely want to opt for 4.10s instead of 3.73s to pull a 317 [QUOTE]



That's a lot of payload. What's your gross weight vs unloaded weight?

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[Aridon]

The biggest cost difference on trucks is going diesel.

Once you go there, the difference between 250, 2500 / 350, 3500 trucks isn't really material. Then you have the DRW vs SRW. I love my DRW. I love the fact that I've got over 6k LBS payload. I can can feel good about towing the fat boy I have behind me and if I want that 100 gal tool box tank I can throw it in there. Few extra people or some extra junk in the trunk? NBD. All for what? Extra set of tires? You get used to driving the DRW the first week you own it. You drive RV's, getting around isn't a material concern.

If you're just farting around town, hey anything will work. Get yourself a Prius. If you like to tow big things why are you going to limit yourself when the cost difference really isn't a big deal?

[jasonl78]

My truck GVWR is 11,400. My payload is. 4,006 so doing the math my UVW weight is 7,394 lbs. I weighed my truck at a CAT Scale a while back. Truck was fuel of fuel, had myself 230 lbs, Andersen hitch 40 lbs, rails and brackets 100 lbs, about 50 lbs of tools in my Ramboxes and my tonneau cover and the truck weighed 7,980 lbs. That's a 586 lb increase over UVW. If I add my wife, kids and generator I'd add roughly 330 more lbs to the truck.
So when I travel the cargo and people add up to around 916 lbs. Add a 3,000 lb pin weight and I'd be close to that 4,006 lb payload sticker. My rear axle GAWR is 7,000 lbs. My front GAWR is 5,500. So if you choose to use axle ratings over GVWR then I still have a lot more capacity. Hopefully that makes sense. My real limiting factor is axle ratios. I chose 3.73s when I ordered my truck so that coupled with the 6.4L gasser is what limits me. But for me and my situation for the foreseeable future fits my needs very well.

[Rapid1]

Hello all.

I currently have an Imagine 2150RB towed by a 2005 Dodge Ram 3500 short bed SRW.

The truck has close to 200,000 miles and I know it will last, but I may sell it while it has value to buy something newer for retirement.

I'll likely keep the next truck for 10 to 15 years.

I know I can tow the current trailer with a correctly equipped 1/2 ton and certainly with most 3/4 ton trucks.

Not knowing what the future will hold I'm considering a 1 ton dually for extra stability, factor of safety and to prevent having to change trucks if our trailer changes to something larger.

Is it even possible to have too much truck?

Has anyone here considered a similar purchase?

Thanks and good day.

Joe

Generally no, but if you can't park it where you want, or feel comfortable driving it where you need to, then yes, you should look at a truck that isn't too wide or long for you. That, and if the extra two tires you get for GVWR are what you need to weigh out. There are other, more subtle differences you should also consider but I think that is kinda the bottom line...hard to get too much truck.

[JCZhome]

I haven't read all the posts above but by the title.....there's no such thing as "to much truck". As fas as DRW vs. SRW.....a dually isn't any wider than the mirrors on a SRW. People freak out about the rear fenders but don't think about their mirrors. You drive a dually for a couple of weeks and you'll be fine.

6.7 L Ford diesel is incredibly quiet inside the cab, fit and finish are top drawer and power and torque are second to none. Go test drive one and you'll be buying it.

[SouthTX]

.....a dually isn't any wider than the mirrors on a SRW. People freak out about the rear fenders but don't think about their mirrors. You drive a dually for a couple of weeks and you'll be fine.

Ugh, while I agree with what you say, I would point out that in most parking lots/garages I hit one button and the mirrors fold up. The mirrors don't get door dings, either.

[alanhenson]

I was driving across the bridge in Louisiana over the causeway when we were hit by what felt like a 60 or 70 mile-per-hour wind. I was so glad I had a new F350 dually with sway control.

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