Dually

["guest@endurance.net" <guest@endurance.net>]

Kim aliakey@yahoo.com


About the dually pro's and con's...

In the post, the expected weight of the gooseneck trailer was about 10'000 lbs.
As a rule of thumb, about 15 to 20% of that total gooseneck's weight (statically) 
will be transferred to your pickup.  So, using 20% as the guess-timate, that would be
2000 lbs (at a stand-still), or one ton.  

A dually has four tires on the rear axle, which will distribute that weight across
four "footprints" (the surface area of each tire contacting the pavement).  So, as
another estimate, each tire in a dually would bear 500 lbs of the transferred weight 
compared to 1000 lbs per tire in a single setup.  Note that I am not considering the
weight of the truck itself, or the forces applied during movement.

Another benefit to a dually is that if you blow a rear tire on the truck, you *do* have
another one on that side to temporarily hold the load until you come to a slow stop.  For
the sake of cussin' and grumblin', you should pray to the Tire Gods that it was an outside
one that blew and no the inner, for ease in changing out :-).

If you live out in the boondocks and don't do a lot of city-driving, then a dually is 
manageable on regular roads.  But, lots of cities have tight, narrow roadways and even tighter
parking spaces which are hard enough to park a 3/4 ton single with a longbed in.

Your fuel mileage will suffer a bit with a dually, since the extra two tires add more
resistance on the pavement = more power needed compared to a single.  The added stability
in the rear is nice though!

Just my 2 cents, for whatever they are worth!

Kim