Trading 1500 single wheel for 2500 dually

presnewt · May 18, 2017

Good day, first time poster. I currently drive a 2008 Sierra 1500 4x4 with about 180,000 miles. Live on a farm out on a dirt road so 4wd comes in handing every once in while. Also pull a 26 foot camper a few times a year. The truck rides good but does have 180000 miles and does eat some oil up. My mother in law is selling her husbands 2005 2500HD Diesel dually truck, with only 30,000 miles on it. It is not 4wd, but it is and extremely nice truck. Loaded, leather etc and would be much better to two the camper than the current truck. Would probably be much more dependable based on miles on the truck also. One of my concerns is lack of 4wd on the dually. Do they tend to get easily stuck? I dont have to use my current 4wd very often but I do live on dirt road that can be a mess when it rains and we do have 150 acre farm I have to drive thru sometimes. What is your opinion of one truck over the other. Just so you know, mother in law is making me a nice deal on the truck. She will sell it to me for $15000 and I can probably get that same amount for the 180,000 truck. Thanks for your input.

newdude · May 18, 2017

For starters welcome!

Second...if its a dually its a 3500 and not a 2500HD. Dual rear wheels are 3500 only.

30,000 miles? 2500 miles/year, I'd be looking it over closely. Sounds like it sat a lot which isn't always the best for a vehicle. I would look it over heavily underneath, etc.

As for dual rear wheel trucks, yes there is somewhat a loss of traction as you are driving two sets of narrow tires per side instead of one tire per side. Great for handling loads and trailers. Do you get snow where you live?

Also, do you have any further specs on the truck you have now?

aseibel · May 18, 2017

do you have a tractor/ ranger that you could use to drive around if its too muddy?

I've gotten a dually stuck in a snow drifted driveway. the problem isn't the narrower rear wheels, as its just the fact that you are pushing the front wheels through creating a lot of drag. Having 4wd with crappy tires gets you through more crud than 2wd with big mud tires.

If you need 4wd, That 2wd dually will get really annoying when you have to pull it out with the tractor.

And, you should check kbb.com to get a real value of your existing truck. I get the feeling you are WAY overvaluing it. Its probably worth closer to 10k.

davester · May 18, 2017

Yeah, if you need 4x4 around your farm, a 2wd dually isn't great. The dual rear wheels tend to get stuck easier (at least for me) than even a regular 2wd truck.

It is possible to add 4wd to the truck (I did this for my '04 Sierra), but you need pretty good fabbing skills and a cheap donor 2500HD truck to get the parts from [might not be so cheap for you, as you need a diesel transfer case and possibly a 4wd versoin of the transmission]. You need to fab the mounts for the front diff and the manual shift lever, everything else just bolted in. It may be different for your truck, as it's a duramax, and mines a gas.

Silverado4x4 · May 18, 2017

A dually truck is the worst in the snow and being 2wd is worse yet, snow will pack hard in-between the rear tires and will not let the rear tires dig in the snow. If your worried about snow traction don't get a dually.

kstruckcountry · May 19, 2017

I would get the dually and a cheap 4x4 beater... The diesel has had a good life so far, no reason to tear it up in the mud.

Duallys work fine in mud and snow, much better than people give them credit for. Many company trucks in snowy areas are duallys, just like everywhere else. Lots of duallys on farms here. They aren't going to work as well as a half ton in mud though, due to the weight.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

Raptordude · May 19, 2017

I'd get the dually to haul your camper and keep your 1500 to do mud work

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

presnewt · May 19, 2017

Just to add some more info for y'all, snow is not really an issue as I am in Georgia so rain and mud is more of a concern for me. With my current truck I very rarely use 4wd. My current truck has 180k miles on it and i am not comfortable pulling our camper with it, I just dont want to find out that "normal" muddy conditions will be a major problem for me. The truck I am thinking about purchasing is a duramax deisel, extended cab, tow package, SL edition.

Raptordude · May 19, 2017

I will say, my 2wd has the G80 locker and even when locked it has a hard time getting out of damp grass.

2wd trucks are horrible. A front wheel (2 wheel) drive car will go way more places than a 2wd truck

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Buckwheat · May 21, 2017

Hi I agree with some other folks, I would get the dually for the camper and get a beater 4x4 for the farm and off road use. I have a diesel 1994 7.3 IDI turbo dually f-350 and a Sierra 2002 2500HD( 4x4- and hardly ever use it) and they both pull well, but where the Sierra might struggle a bit with the 6.0 gasser. the dually doesn't and is my "go-to truck" for big pulls, especially in mountains.

If you were pulling that much camper with a 1500, you probably felt some anxiety at times when doing some hills in Georgia, Im in South Carolina and have experienced some of the same with the 6.0....that diesel 3500 will lower your blood pressure "stress level" a lot better...

Just keep the dually out of questionable areas which might get you stuck.

If you need a one size fits all situation, get a 2500 or 3500 duramax 4x4 and never look back. But that will take your checkbook out of your pocket and stomp that sucker flat. Personally, and of course only 2 cents worth of opinion, I would get the dually and make do (if only having one truck is in the budget.)

There are lots of trees in our region, lol put a winch on the front of it and as much cable as you can wind on the reel.