SO we had our first snow of the year this morning and my first in the dually, didnt even notice the ice and drove normal with no problems. I get to work and a guy tells me that they are harder to handle in the snow than normal trucks because the size, My rebutle was" there is more rubber to the ground"

Am I :confused: or is he full of it??

Oh and do i need sandbags in the bed when empty as in a 1500??

I'm thinkin', and I have a 3500, that you have the weight distributed over a wider area....4 tires instead of 2.....and this would make the dually less capable in the snow. My house is on a well and I have a water-softner/filter and need to keep salt on hand to add to the softener. This salt comes in heavy plastic bags in 50 & 80lb sizes. I use 10 bags in the back of my dually and it's like there isn't anything back there...especially the 50 lb bags. To make things worse...well maybe not that bad.....is the fact that there is no locking diff. in the front this would help a bunch. Also, the tires on mine ain't that great in mud and snow (Wrangler AT/S). My $.02 worth.
JP

I haven't owned one myself personally but basically, the outside tires are going to drag you around. The rears don't come close to tracking with the front whatsoever...

I don't know about the snow but in mud it seems the rear tires are right on each edge of the front track. This allows mud to flow between the two rear tires as opposed to flowing in front of the rear tire in the front track. As far as which is better well who knows. I am sure there are advantages/disadvantages both ways.

Duallys are just as good in the snow if not better than single tires.

I may not drive my current dually in the snow but I drove two 6.5's from 1993 to 2001.With the right tires and rear I hardly needed 4x4. The added weight and the 4 narrow tires made for MORE contact on the road surface.

My Friend (tractor trailer driver/owner) only buys a two wheel drive for added fuel econo.Has never had ONE problem in the winter.

I drove a single rear 2500 WT in 95 for about a year after my 93 6.5 was stolen,while waiting for my 98 and hands down in 2 wheel drive the dually would walk away from it.

You have to remember it isn't one big wide wheel back there.Good All season to a traction tire are a gimme

My 02 cents

The taller more narrow the amount of rubber you can put on the ground the better. Dual wheels spread the contact patch out and put more rubber onto the road than a srw tire width being the same. Most times you arnt comparing same size tires though....dualy tires are generaly thinner but when you add the 2 thin ones you still genneraly have more width than most SRW. You see plow guys pulling 2 tires off the back when the snow strats flying, must tell ya something;)

If you are runnning a good tire though I wouldnt say that the difference will make you suddenly unsafe. And even with a dual if you throw some weight behind the rear tire and run some good tires she will go like a tank

You are both full of it. :) More rubber to the ground isn't necessarily a good thing in snow. However I have owned a 2WD dually for the last 7 years and with good all terrain tires on it I had very few problems. I usually have at least 500 lbs in the back. My new used truck is a 4WD because it was a good deal but if I was ordering a new truck I would have gotten a 2WD.

Jim

Duallys suck in the snow. Too much contact patch is not necessarily a good thing.

These trucks cost too much to drive in the snow, no matter what configuration. I drive the landrover to work when the road is white. If you have room for sandbags, do you really need an 8foot bed?

I throw about 1000 lbs of sand bags in the back and never have a problem with my dually. The weight also makes the truck rider better. Hardly ever use 4x4 unless I am pulling someone out of the ditch. Alot of it has to do with the driver capability too.

Hop

Notice those saying they suck aren't drive one? Floating on top of the snow gets you where?

The tire MUST clear the snow and bite to where the traction is.Weight over the front wheels in four wheel drive works why?

Narrow tires are best in the snow why?Where is the contact that gets one moving in the snow?

Hoot as usual you are full of Censored

Lived in Summit Co with duallies and I din't get another dually untill my move away from the snow country. A few things do help like those mentioned above. In my case, living off-road by miles from hwy9 on the Lower Blue tires seem to help the most along using 4x4 till spring thaw like mid May. Having to plow my and at least my good neighbors roads took a toll, especially tires. So I got to try a few and my best luck has been with the michelin m/s 10ply. I learned to drive a bit less spirited in the winter months without any problems. Interestingly I'm Denver today with my dually, setup the same way, will see how goes it :).

good luck

IMHO if you are driving on packed snow and keep your head out of your Censored it doesn't make much difference. I never have gotten either of my CC long wheel base duallys sideways driving around Denver on snow and ice while watching other cars fall of the road. The length helps a lot.
Now in deep, 2' or more, untracked snow I would take singles any day as with the dually you need to break more trail. Same goes when trying to get to hunting camp in the mountains, those wide wheels don't fit the ruts worth a hoot. Back when I was a kid the mail delivery guy in the country in west Nebraska would get out his modle A to make deliverys when the snow would get much over 10". The clearance on that car and those narrow tires let him go where our old 2wd pickups would get stuck.

Just my opinion... don't make it right. :)

hoppyinak:exactly:

Duels are much better in snow then singles. I can plow with Duel in 2wd. You can't with single in 2wd. My Duel plow trucks plow get stuck less then the singles.

Need tall skinny tires 235/85-16

Duallys suck in the snow. Too much contact patch is not necessarily a good thing.

WRONG
I will never buy a non duel plow truck again.

WRONG
I will never buy a non duel plow truck again.

Thank-you ;)

Regardless it does take some driving skill in the snow .Take this from a guy who parks his 4x4 in the snow and drives a limited slip studded rear wheel drive car that passes front wheel cars on hills! :eek: :exactly:

The only thing that ever stopped ( or should I say didn't) stop my duelly plow truck with a 2 yd. sander was rain on top of 2" of ice . Then I put the chains on and went for another 6 hours:grd:

It's all about weight boys. No doubt you are all loaded up when you are doing so well. Drive it unloaded and watch out it's like having slicks. You end up with the same amount of weight spread over four contact patches instead of two... which means you tend to float over snow unless you have the added weight of salt or ballast.

Mac you are correct.... skinny tires on street snow rules. Wide tires tend to plow snow in front of them. You can extrapolate it by putting a set of tires as wide as slick on instead of dually tires.

I digress... I should have been more specific.

You got me again


Jazman never mentioned a loaded truck or plowing :bleah:


Another one is true locked four wheel drive. It's totally uncontrollable. Some people think it's the ultimate.

whatchya all need is a good old fashioned tug of war. settle it once and 4 all. myself i have a dually, mostly cause of the boat and camper. hardly ever get snow here so it hardly makes much difference for me.

Really haven't noticed that they are worse on ice or snow. I agree with the "they will get stuck easier" though!:muahaha:

Worse...

Ya gotta buy SIX chains on a 4x4 in CA! :D

Nope no plowing, but i am concerned about runnin empty over ice and i dont really want to move 1,000lbs of sand bags every other day.

I did notice when I parked on a solid piece of ice, truck was still movin forward after I got out:eek: damn near fell on my ass tryin to hold it back

Dual = bad in snow. My dad a daully verision of my truck and could not go any where in the snow with 2wd. I don't know where you guys live but up in the white mountains I have seen more duallys suck spinning even when they are in 4 wheel drive. Remeber a dual spreads its weight over 6 spots vs 4 spots on a singal rear wheel. I would never buy a truck for snow country without 4x4. Your nuts if you do... Either that or you don't live in true snow country. I have never gottan my singal rear stuck. I dug out my dad's dual so many times on the slighiest of hills...

Also with a dualy the center of gravity is inbetween the two tires on the rear. Weight is evenly spread between the two tires. On a singal rear wheel truck its right on that one tire.

Those plowing do you have a sander in the back? If so there you go you got weight!

Dooley's work very well, generally better than single wheel trucks. I drive snow plows in the winter and they are single and tandum....Dooleys!

Weight on the rear axle and good tires are key to snow driving with a truck. A couple hundred pounds of sand bags work great for a pick-up!

I live in mountainous snow country. I have had single wheel 2 and 4 wheel drive and 2 and 4 wheel drive dooleys. All work well if weight is distributed properly and you drive sensible!

When it is time for chains, put them on! Outside drivers on the Dooley is all you need and easy to install.

Drive beyond the limits, your in the ditch!

I'm starting to get the feeling some people really don't know how to drive

I'm starting to get the feeling some people really don't know how to drive

Might be part of it MAC.

Duals are for load and do add tons of traction on when loaded properly, especially on dry road. Most if not all 26,000 lb med duty trucks are duallys.... for load, not traction.

Around these parts tractor trailers get stuck all the time in the snow and they have 18 tires.

If we get 20 or 30 storms a winter we have 10 or 15 different conditions . No one truck or set up is the best for all of them. Weight on the drive wheels , skinny tires . Too much weight in the back of 2wd and you can't steer . 4wd low is too much torque and the most important , the DRIVER.

FWIW they make chains for duel wheels , much better set up than 2 singles.

the snow we get in this part of the country is not the dry powdery type of snow they get at my wife's home in South Dakota ... ours is wet/heavy/mostly ice .... have found that our dually has to break 6 tracks through the snow where our previous 4 wheel truck had to break 2 ... have driven ours in snows up to 10" and managed to get through without major problems but do feel a 4 wheel (4-wheel drive) truck does go a bit better in our type of snow ... as with all trucks, the key is the weight on the front end

Jim

I'm starting to get the feeling some people really don't know how to drive

I see of yahoo in SUV. They might take off faster in 4wd but they still cant stop. I pass a few ever snow storm on their roof or sided in to ditches. As I drive by them in my duel. :lol:

about the chains thing......gm says it voids your warrantee so I dont use them...(when I do venture towards the mountains)

Come on guys. I drive and have driven my Dually in snow for the last 5 years...I do not add sand bags, weight or anything else to the bed. In fact I have driven in 1-2 foot snow drifts without issues. I have only put the truck in 4wd a couple of times. I winch people out of ravene's and ditches on and off through out winter on the hwy 168. I have been in 2500HD's that have gotten lose and they had larger tires and wider wheels. Bottomline....Good tires. Proper driving skills are the key to driving in snow or icy conditions. The tire patch physics and all that other propaganda are well...just that.....

The initial question was not about driving skill, although I agree 100% that this is the key to getting around in the snow, the question was is a dually better or worse than a single wheel....and I believe the single wheel will do better than the dually all things being equal.
JP

http://www.mattracks.com

wonder what the MPG is with those??

Heartbeat,

I agree. I think I answered it fairly. I honestly do not believe there is any difference. I think it may be a perception by some and belief by others but at the end of the day it really does boil down to tire choices and quality driving practices. I personally think the weight of my dually has been a key to me driving through drifts of snow. But again.... Just an opinion.....

Heartbeat,

I agree. I think I answered it fairly. I honestly do not believe there is any difference. I think it may be a perception by some and belief by others but at the end of the day it really does boil down to tire choices and quality driving practices. I personally think the weight of my dually has been a key to me driving through drifts of snow. But again.... Just an opinion.....

Yeah, you're probably right that the difference...if there is one....will be offset by tire choice and driving technique. I just figured that more wheels in back means the weight is distributed over a larger contact patch (25% over each wheel) with the dually, where as the single wheel has 50% over each wheel.
JP

This thread just proves the old saying: "Opinions are like a**holes. Everyone has one."

:lol: :lol: :muahaha: :muahaha:

I worked on a farm where we had a 2wd dually, and I would get that thing stuck as soon as I got off the gravel when I would feed on a rainy day. I would tell a co-worker (who drove a dually as his personal truck) he would wait untill I was not around and dirve it out like it was on concrete. He would laugh and tell me you just have to know how to drive a dually. Of course he never told me the secret.

Now I own a dually one day this young grasshopper will learn the secret. Of course it is 4wd I quit buying a 2wd's when I got stuck in my yard I get too agressive.

BTW my truck ways 7500lbs. If I need sandbags for additional weight there is something wrong.

My neighbor had a duelly and he now has a 2500hd and he thinks that his srw is the **** in the snow. he said that his duelly was a pain because the rear was always fighting to stay in the tracks of the front. he said the back would fishtail constantly. he loves being able to run the same tracks as everyone else without having to drive the thing to keep it going straight. from that alone i would say srw's are easier to drive in the snow. all my uncles seem to think that srw's are the setup for plowing snow. they love the cclb becuase of the wheelbase, but also hate turning them arround.

dura,
I agree with everything your neighbor commented on. I have felt all those occurences. Turning around is a driving technique that takes time to get used too but still is a pain at times. Everything has sacrifices I guess. I still say that I have not had any issues in the snow or mud with mine. I have driven a 2500HD. other than the ride being a bit more soft on a 2500HD the overall seemed about the same.

I had identical 2001 2500HD and 3500 Silverados. Hands down, the 3500 rides better empty or loaded. The overloads give a better loaded ride and the extra weight give a much better empty ride with a lot less axle hop.

Well I have lived all my life in the snow belt at the sothern side of lake michigan, in northern Indiana.
I have owned all types of pickups, and I can tell you that in deep wet snow a stock empty 2wd dually is worthless outside of town, and an extended cab is even worse. And if you really what to do less driving in the deep snow try a crew cab most of the time you can't even back them out of a driveway.
Now as some of you people that have not owned both types of trucks are hopping mad at me for telling the facts slow down and re-read the mans question and re-read what I have said about (Stock empty trucks). We get snow around here in feet not just inchs, and we get high drifts of snow from the lake affect.
Now with all of that said "I" like many others here love the dually and understand the laws of " Pounds Per Square Inch" that is needed to gain some type of traction. Or at least to do as good as a factory empty jeep cherokee. We add weight,Lots of it,(1,000lb) is about right for a crew cab dually, keep good tires on the truck, buy the four wheel drive option. But remember when these trucks do get stuck with that much weight off of the pavement you will need a pay loader to dig them out. But I still love my dually and would not go back to a SRW 4x4. And I will drive my truck in the winter, that is part of the fun of owning it.

I would agree. Now on my 3rd dually, I wouldn't go without the 4x4 option for anything. First was an '88 with an open diff. That thing could get stuck empty in a plowed parking lot. The locking diff in the '02 and '05 dmax duallies is better, but if unloaded, fairly worthless in a few inches of snow.

Now, put these things in 4x4... that's a different story! I left headlight prints in a snow drift in my backyard a few years ago. I didn't want to dig my way through to get some parts out of a parts car out back, so I drove the big boy out to the car. I backed up to the car with the parts inside and climbed out to the bed of the truck. When I dropped the tailgate, it left a mark in the snow too.

We get some really crazy lake effect snow here sometimes, and the drifting can be huge.

Phil

Well I Only Drive A 2500hd 4x4 To Get Me To The Job Site. I Think A Dually Would Be Just As Good!
But Then I Get Into A Tandom Axle Ih With Abt 10 Ton Of Salt On It, Front And Under Belly Plows And A Wing.(side Plow ).. Needless To Say, We Are Over Loaded Before We Put The Salt On.. There Are Conditions The We Can't Get Down The Road On, And Have To Wait For Weather To Break..
Most Of The Cars And Trucks In The Ditches Are 4x4 Pickups And Suv's.. Mainly From Speeding On Bad Conditions..
We Have 24 Hours To Clear The Roads Once A Storm Breaks. We Seldom Use Tire Chaines And Always Carry A Long Tow Chain To Pull Each Other Out Of The Bad Spots.. Even The Most Exsperenced Get Stuck Sooner Or Later..

Arm

duallys suck when it comes to winter and unloaded, had one a few years ago, and once the snow got hard, that dam thing would get stuck all the time, ended up parking it and using the single wheel 4wd, as for the ride, if it was empty, hang on and make sure to have your coffee lid on, road like a tank

but then the purpose for duallys is not the same as a single wheel, wife also found iit to big for her liking

I'm starting to get the feeling some people really don't know how to drive

I own a dually, live at 10,200 feet, and I plow commercially. We get 200-300+" of snow a year

Duallys are not the best in the snow that most of us encounter (highway/road less than 8-10" on the road)

Don't blather about not knowing how do drive.

I would rather drive my beater honda accord with 4 studded snows than any dually/ 4wd with a high center of gravity. I can rally all day and drive circles around it.

I own 3 4wd vehicles

Excursion, 77 bronco, and a GMC 5500 4x4. The excursion is the best cause of the weight, the bronco is too nice to drive in the weather and I plow 15 miles of road and 10acres of parking lots with the 5500.

If the 5500 is loaded with sand it is good in the snow. If it is empty it is all over the place.

Single wheels with proper tires are the best (cooper M+S) Ask some plowers who take off the inside duals how they feel.

I have never see any one take off the inside wheels to plow. All I use are mason dumps to plow with. I have some 2wd mason dumps that I plow with too. I have never seen and one plow with a 2wd SRW truck.

My dually worked as well in the snow as anything else I've had. Put a little weight in the back and all is well.

Another one is true locked four wheel drive. It's totally uncontrollable. Some people think it's the ultimate.

Obviously you don't spend much time offroad.

Well I own both, The dually is a 91 and the 2500HD is a 05. I have also had An 01 1500 and a 03 1500, All 4x4. I also have a 9' plow on the dually. When the snow in deeper then about 3" the dually feels like I am pushing the snow with the arse end sliding a bit. Wile plowing it is a whole different game. The single wheel trucks go through it much better. As for plowing I couldn't tell you with single wheel. But just driving in the snow the single beats it duall hands down. This is just what I have experianced with the trucks I own. Now with 4x2 and duall rear wheels they just suck. I also have a 03 F-450 tow truck that is horrable in the snow. That has more weight in the rear then 1000lbs of salt or sand or whatever you put back there. If you are going to drive in the snow, and when I say snow I mean more that 2 or 3 inches. 4x4 is the way to go. If you need a dually then it is better then haveing a truck that can't handle the weight you are haulling. Also the guy that said locked diffs are even worse is right. Once you start slipping you are sure going to slide out one side or another.

Just move down to florida and you wont have any problems with snow. lol the only thing you have to worry about is all the hurricanes blowing you house away:ro) :ro) :lol:

Always had good luck with my old dually in the snow. Especially with the 9' Sno-Way on the front.
http://pic13.picturetrail.com/VOL487/437876/521204/6702531.jpg
http://pic13.picturetrail.com/VOL487/437876/521204/5916850.jpg

duallys suck in snow 4x4 makes it alittle better

What is this stuff you guys talk about? Snow?:(

While I do not live @ 10,500 like some of our brethern here, I do live @ 6,000. I get enough snow yearly to comment about how Doolies handle in the snow, not to mention driving to Vegas a couple of times during snow season!

My rig does just fine. I have never gotten stuck, nor had problems with fishtailing, cuz I know that I need to feather the go pedal to keep on track. So, yes Virginia, Santa does need to know how to handle his rig. As was commented earlier, there are other vehicles that handle better in the snow, but I'd rather push my doolie than be seen in a Accord. :eek:

Adding a significant ammount of weight to the bed right over or slightly behind the doolies is helpful as well...that is all! ;)

My 2 cents.

My dually is definately worse in the snow compared to my 83 K5 diesel Blazer which had it beat by miles. That truck has a heavy diesel engine in the front and three fuel tanks, 57 gallons, to anchor the rear. I've never driven a better performer in snow, and have driven in power over 3 feet high except that if I stopped I needed to shovel a 6' runway to get started again. I can't imagine my Duramax Dually ever being able to handle that unless I had chains on all six tires.

The problem is the pounds per square inch on the rear tires means that if the truck is lightly loaded the rear end can break free very easily. Narrow tires, or tires with big lugs will improve this pounds per square inch issue. Both are good ideas in snow but suffer from wear issue in the summer.

On the freeway, a drunk girl hit me in the rear quarter in the rain and broke my rear end loose. I was empty at the time--but she did not hit me hard either--she hit with her side view mirror and broke that off.

This is one reason I put a set of Revo's on the truck. I feel I need the best tire possible. Revos are not the best for snow, but a good compromise between all season and snow.

The other point is you need weight in the back. 1000 pounds is a good mininum. My plan it to put several 55 gal drums in the back that I can fill with water. Given a choice I'd want at least 1500 pounds in the back over the rear axle. I made two 2x12 board to fit in the slots in the bed. These work great to keep stuff from moving to the front of the bed. My idea is to use these to keep the weight were I want it over the axles and still leave me space to put stuff near the tailgate.

My brother has a mason dump body on a regular cab. The weight of the dump body makes a huge difference for him in his plowing ability.

My feeling is you would need twice the weight in the back to get similar performance out of a dually if you don't have a mason dump body in the back. The added weight might be a penalty though if you want to stop when sliding down a steep hill.

Physics class teaches you that there is no difference because surface area and weight are poportional. There should be no difference between a srw and a drw truck. If you give up surface area (single) you gain weight/area and if you gain surface (dually) area you lose weight/area.