Pickup Trucks

[RoamingGnome]

Originally Posted by ruuman

But why not make the bed bigger at the same time?? You get a more practical car that does everything better than it's smaller rival then.

They do, well at least they did. While it can be more practical the dually is about pulling. While the one with a short 6' bed is no nimble car, that 8' bed makes a lot of difference, the damn thing is massive. So if you don't really need (or want it) it makes perfect sense. I used to drive one (with an 8' bed) fairly often and it was like driving a city bus. So for those who don't like that yet use the truck the 6' just might be the ticket.

I'm not going to go into the small-penis-compensation arguments, let's just say that there are yuppies who'd drive a big ass pickup "for no reason" same as there are yuppies who'd drive a Porsche while a decent sedan would do. Whatever floats your boat.

As for the duallies, I don't believe they're actually rated any higher than single wheels 3500 but when you're going 80pmh on the highway hauling 18k lbs behind you, and that rear tire goes (and it will, it is just a matter of time)...well this is where you thank the good fortune. I know I did.

Anyhow,on impressions, I really like the 2005 MY Dodges, the design of the new one somehow does not do it for me.

[Spectre]

Originally Posted by ruuman

I like pickups, there really useful. What I don't get with these massive trucks is the rear axle. To make it super duty they stick a big double tire under the back and throw on massive wheel arches!!
So great you can carry loads more, you don't get any more space to carry it with???

Why not make the bed bigger to cover the wheels and then get all that extra capactiy too??

Even if you widen the bed, you're still going to have a lot of dead space. It will also make it difficult for the dually truck to do what it's supposed to do, which is tow what we call a "gooseneck" or "fifth wheel" type trailer, which attaches not to a rear mount hitch, but to a pintle mounted in the bed over the rear axle. Here is an illustration of a "fifth wheel" hitch:


Here's a good example: The 2004 (last year I have ready data for) Dodge Ram 3500 High Output Cummins Turbo Diesel truck with single rear wheels has a maximum rated payload of 3421lbs.

The same truck with the dual rear wheels has a max payload of 5047lbs, which means it can tow a trailer around that has a *1500*lb greater tongue weight.

In many states, you cannot legally tow a gooseneck trailer on the roads *without* a DRW truck.

This is about the biggest thing you can tow with a Single Rear Wheel truck:

Note that it is connected using the conventional rear mount hitch.

This is a gooseneck trailer. Notice the beam in the front to attach to the pintle in the truck bed, as well as the much larger size of the trailer (and corresponding payload:


Here are several other examples, none of which are light enough to be pulled about by SRW trucks:



Notice that the truck will pivot about the hitch in the last one, and the width of the bed is an important issue for being able to turn it.

DRW trucks also lend themselves well to slide-in campers, which are much heavier than they look: