Super Duallies any good off-road

[68camaro]

Anyone have experiense going from DRW to Super Dually's (Duallies???), are they alot better off-road, any problems with them?

 

[DetroitDarin]

better is subjective - I hate to be 'that guy' but to determine what is best we'd have to know what your needs/use is. Off hand, weight is a big thing - that'swhatshesaid - but there is more chance for traction with larger footprints.

 

[DCGibbs]

The biggest issue with Dually's in an off-road situation is a Rock stuck between the tires and eventually causing one or both of the tires to shread the sidewall. The folks at Earth Cruiser prefer Super Single Hubs & tires.

 

[68camaro]

Use would be back fireroads, logging, forest and the like. Will not be rock crawling or mudding but we do get a lot of mud holes here you need to get through.

 

[Buliwyf]

I allows you to select tires more suitable, and larger, than a normal DRW truck ever could. Fire dept brush trucks are often F550's converted with super single wheels.

 

[Haf-E]

Think about it - you rarely see military trucks with dual rear tires - they have all gone to single tires with multiple axles.

Dually's work on highways - but are not good off-road.

 

[68camaro]

Thanks all.

 

[Mundo4x4Casa]

Are you talking about super singles? If so, I have quite a bit of experience with them under my truck camper. I have come full circle from various 285/75R16 to 14.50/65R16's to 15.50/55R16's (375x65R16) and finally to 315/75R16 AT-3's. The question is how narrow a trail do you expect to travel? If just dirt roads with a width of say 15 feet or more, just keep running duals. Oh, and the wag about rocks getting stuck between the tires is very rare indeed and not something to worry about. I can't get my Photobucket to open right now but will try to post some pix later once I get home.
jefe

 

[Peneumbra2]

One issue with running super singles on the rear only is that you'd want to carry two spare tires - one for the front (narrower) rubber and one for the wide ones. Wildland fire rigs (F-550s, Ram 5500s) sometimes run 40-inch or so super singles front and back, but there are issues with all that mass causing steering problems with what is essentially a one-ton front drive axle.

 

[Explorerinil]

Use would be back fireroads, logging, forest and the like. Will not be rock crawling or mudding but we do get a lot of mud holes here you need to get through.

Ran a drw truck for a few years and loved it for towing, hauling and general road use. However they are long and wide, I did get a few flat inner tires and didn’t know it for awhile.. and that’s not good. As someone else mentioned, you will get a rock, mud or something stuck between the tires. I wouldn’t recommend one for off-road use.

 

[Mundo4x4Casa]

I ran with this setup over some of the narrowest, tightest trails using my leftover hardcore Jeeping technique:

compare the super with a stock size spare tire, both mounted:

After a while, it was obvious that something had to go south and it was the 12 inch wide cast aluminum wheels: @ 3600 pound loading they were adequate but not very tough against endless rocks along the sides of the trail:

The next version was Stockton Wheel steel "Power Wagon" wheels. They have a stupid high load rating due in part to the 1/2 inch steel plate center hubs welded both sides onto thick wheels. No cut outs. But they are heavy.


Compare the set up below to the first pic. This one is about 4 inches narrower and fits better on narrow jeep trails:

jefe

 

[highdesertranger]

I have been running dualies off road for about 20 years. the rock stuck between the tires is overblown. after driving many thousands of miles off road it has happened to me exactly 1 time. highdesertranger

 

[68camaro]

Thanks all, I understand dually's are not optimum for off-road, but since the RV I really like has them with 4x4, they may be back in mix. I discussed this with my instructor from recent off-road class and he explained how they train wild fire guys to extract rocks from their dually's.

 

[charlieaarons]

My Unimog protocol when getting stuck is imminent or actually has happened:
1) engage low range
2) lock center and rear diffs (also front if already stuck)
3) lower tire pressure to about 35% (CTIS is a useful luxury)
My question to you dually guys: is it ok to lower dually pressure temporarily below the level where tire bulges are touching?

 

[Buliwyf]

It's better than being stuck, air up ASAP.

The sidewalls will rub through each other.