Code Monkey
Observer
I am just trying to frame some questions and figure out what is possible with what I have and what I want to do with it, so be patient with me. I've lurked on the forums for some years drooling over your vehicles and trailers and trips and such, but I still have a lot of questions.
I wouldn't mind going on an 'expedition', but for the most part I find enough adventure in my own 'back yard' so to speak. I've had trucks and such before but only when I needed them for more practical purposes. Now I am getting near retirement age and more importantly I needed a truck to haul my dirt bike to the trailheads as a BMW 3 series just doesn't do it in that regard.
So for some months I shopped around for a pre-98.5 Dodge Cummins 4x4 pickup, a flat bed would be okay. I finally stumbled across one that met my requirements - 12V, manual, regular cab, long bed - oh it was a LOOOONG bed. I thought I wanted an 8 foot bed. I wanted a relatively short wheelbase (for turning around and such) and the 'super cabs' and larger are just wasted space to me. But this particular truck was a 'farm' truck - a '97 Dodge 3500, 5 speed, Cummins 12V, 182K miles, with a ~165" WB, DRW and a big honking 8x12 steel flatbed with short steel sides (removable) which will probably be taken off. I believe it is a 3/4 or one ton - curb weight somewhere around 7200# and GVWR of 10K or 11K - I will figure that out as I get more familiar with it.
I saw potential in this, because I had been thinking of building a 'camper' of some sort for traveling up and down the west coast of the US and Canada riding my dirt bike different places. Not much of an 'expedition', but about all my aging body and finances allow for.
I went ahead and bought it - probably for more than it was worth, but water under the bridge.
Basically, my requirements are that the vehicle sleep one, maybe two people. It should haul as cargo one maybe two off-road motorcycles to a trailhead or other riding area. In dirt mode the bikes are about 7 feet long and 4 feet high and 3 feet wide (all at their widest/tallest points) and you can usually fit two together in a smaller space than their combined sizes if you load them head to foot so to speak. But... I also want one of these:
And as you can see that is much longer than a typical dirt bike.
So, some of the preamble out of the way, let's start with the naive questions:
1) Right now, I have duallies. I am not particularly enamored with this setup. I've driven rigs like this before and found them a bit rough riding with a light load. I know there are suspension mods you can do to make it all work better, and the load rating is better, but I was thinking of dumping the existing 16" wheels and tires for 19.5" wheels and tires.
I noticed that Rickson wheels has a setup for converting from DRW to SRW. I was thinking that having a SRW would give me more flexibility all around and with the 19.5" wheels and the right tires I would have even more weight capacity than I have now - at least as far as wheels and tires go.
However, if I went with 19.5" DRW then I would have yet more weight capacity.
Okay, I have to think about that and it is something to consider when I figure out what my loaded weight will be, but here is the first question:
The current DRW setup gives me a foot print of 16" from the inside of the inside tire to the outside of the outside tire. Even a larger 19.5" SRW tire will probably give me a footprint of at most 12" tread width.
Weight ratings aside, the DRW setup would probably be more stable, than an SRW setup, with regards to the handling of weight on the bed in crosswinds and around corners and so on - especially of a load with a higher COG like a camper.
Right?
How much more stable? Significantly? A lot? Not much? Just trying to get some basic idea on this issue.
To me, the advantages of the SRW setup would be:
a) Maybe a better selection of tires - I don't have to worry about the DRW tires rubbing against each other.
b) Easier handling of inflation and tire changing.
c) Two less tires/wheels to worry about.
d) I don't have to worry about rocks and such catching in between the DRWs.
e) Less wheel/tire weight (less unsprung weight) and probably better handling of bumps.
Thanks in advance.
I wouldn't mind going on an 'expedition', but for the most part I find enough adventure in my own 'back yard' so to speak. I've had trucks and such before but only when I needed them for more practical purposes. Now I am getting near retirement age and more importantly I needed a truck to haul my dirt bike to the trailheads as a BMW 3 series just doesn't do it in that regard.
So for some months I shopped around for a pre-98.5 Dodge Cummins 4x4 pickup, a flat bed would be okay. I finally stumbled across one that met my requirements - 12V, manual, regular cab, long bed - oh it was a LOOOONG bed. I thought I wanted an 8 foot bed. I wanted a relatively short wheelbase (for turning around and such) and the 'super cabs' and larger are just wasted space to me. But this particular truck was a 'farm' truck - a '97 Dodge 3500, 5 speed, Cummins 12V, 182K miles, with a ~165" WB, DRW and a big honking 8x12 steel flatbed with short steel sides (removable) which will probably be taken off. I believe it is a 3/4 or one ton - curb weight somewhere around 7200# and GVWR of 10K or 11K - I will figure that out as I get more familiar with it.
I saw potential in this, because I had been thinking of building a 'camper' of some sort for traveling up and down the west coast of the US and Canada riding my dirt bike different places. Not much of an 'expedition', but about all my aging body and finances allow for.
I went ahead and bought it - probably for more than it was worth, but water under the bridge.
Basically, my requirements are that the vehicle sleep one, maybe two people. It should haul as cargo one maybe two off-road motorcycles to a trailhead or other riding area. In dirt mode the bikes are about 7 feet long and 4 feet high and 3 feet wide (all at their widest/tallest points) and you can usually fit two together in a smaller space than their combined sizes if you load them head to foot so to speak. But... I also want one of these:
And as you can see that is much longer than a typical dirt bike.
So, some of the preamble out of the way, let's start with the naive questions:
1) Right now, I have duallies. I am not particularly enamored with this setup. I've driven rigs like this before and found them a bit rough riding with a light load. I know there are suspension mods you can do to make it all work better, and the load rating is better, but I was thinking of dumping the existing 16" wheels and tires for 19.5" wheels and tires.
I noticed that Rickson wheels has a setup for converting from DRW to SRW. I was thinking that having a SRW would give me more flexibility all around and with the 19.5" wheels and the right tires I would have even more weight capacity than I have now - at least as far as wheels and tires go.
However, if I went with 19.5" DRW then I would have yet more weight capacity.
Okay, I have to think about that and it is something to consider when I figure out what my loaded weight will be, but here is the first question:
The current DRW setup gives me a foot print of 16" from the inside of the inside tire to the outside of the outside tire. Even a larger 19.5" SRW tire will probably give me a footprint of at most 12" tread width.
Weight ratings aside, the DRW setup would probably be more stable, than an SRW setup, with regards to the handling of weight on the bed in crosswinds and around corners and so on - especially of a load with a higher COG like a camper.
Right?
How much more stable? Significantly? A lot? Not much? Just trying to get some basic idea on this issue.
To me, the advantages of the SRW setup would be:
a) Maybe a better selection of tires - I don't have to worry about the DRW tires rubbing against each other.
b) Easier handling of inflation and tire changing.
c) Two less tires/wheels to worry about.
d) I don't have to worry about rocks and such catching in between the DRWs.
e) Less wheel/tire weight (less unsprung weight) and probably better handling of bumps.
Thanks in advance.