This might be a stupid question, but has anyone ever run a dually with a single wheel in the rear? Would it be safe? Would it affect fuel mileage?

Reason being, I'm going on a road trip soon and won't need the weight capacity of the duals(of course I would bring the other wheels also). I saw a Dodge dually riding around like that one time, but never really thought about it til now.

Any input would be appreciated.

 

Why would you want to? Only thing I can think of is your track width would not be as wide so it won't handle the curves quite as well as normal. Then again not everyone drives like me. I really don't think you will see the difference in mileage.

 

Bridge tolls would be less maybe? $2 for my F250 SRW, $13 for the DRW F350 at the same weight. Made me wonder if I might be able to pull the inner wheels and just put in a spacer. Never really thought about it seriously, but I've thought about it some times when I had to go back and forth over the bridges frequently. Theres a reason the SRW gets taken more frequently on those trips. BTW on the turnpike where they charge by weight I pay the same on both trucks.

 

I never thought of bridges never been across a toll bridge. I know on turnpikes they charge by the axle. Really sucks when pulling the triple axle, I get charged the same as a 18 wheeler.

 

I've heard of others doing it, but the narrow single tire in the back might make it squirrely

 

Michelin makes a truck tire (The X One ) that uses one wide tire to replace two dual tires. You'd have to step up to a wide 22.5 inch rim to use these tires, but it'd look bitchin'.

 

I had always heard that (In the case of a flat) you should only run with your outer wheel off. Due to the load your placing on the wheel bearings. But if your not carrying a load!?!?!?

 

You say you will be bringing the wheels with you. Thats still the same weight. I don't think I would do this, but thats me.

 

i used to have a dodge dually. quad cab 4x4 v10. i worked in new jersey and lived in pa. i removed the inner wheels. the firs couple of days, i had to argue with the toll guy that i was only a srw truck that has dually fenders. the weight is the same but they only charged because of the dually tires. i ran the truck that way for thousands of miles and had no troubles. i drove it like i stole it almost all the time(loved that v10 and 4.56 gears) and it still handled like it was on rails. i had 285/80/16 tires. then swapped them with Q78/16. ran them both with 4 and 6 tires.

 

See this thread http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fu...0.cfm#21500760

 

Thank you Mmaxed...that's exactly what I was looking for. Very interesting discussion there.

And thanks to everyone for chiming in.

miller_feed, I meant rotating weight in the rear wheels, not total weight of everything(cause those dang wheels are heavy!!).

Of course, I will do more research before actually trying it. I like to err on the side of caution.

Keep them coming people, the more the merrier!

 

RACERX7775 Looks like you're just down the street from me. I'm in Southampton Pa. Nice to see some one local. Yeah, we have to argue with the toll guys on our one flat bed at work thats on a SRW truck but has a dually width bed. Some times it seems like easypass would solve all those issues, but I refuse to let them hold my money in case I need to go to Jersey.

 

dsw, yeah, i totally agree. now that i have my X, i dont have to worry about that. the only thing i do have to worry about is when i do jump on the turnpike, it registers my X as class 2 sometimes. and especially when i have a full tank of gas, its almost a given that im a class 2. i have fought that my truck is registered as class 1, being a station wagon. i actually gave up...... i mean its .25 here and there, but i am sick and tired of filling out the forms to get my $$$$ back.

 

My 2000 F250 diesel runs class1/ class2 on the turnpike. I've made several runs empty to pick up supplies in King of Prussia and been class2 going out yet with the load class1 comming back. Truck must be right on the line and the scales are out just a bit. Never thought to fight with them over the money. My new truck weighs just about 500-800 lbs more than the 250 does, so I expect it to go class 2. Just sucks to get wacked on the bridges with a truck that weighs almost the same as the 250 but I get to shell out 6X more in tolls.

BTW if you pull into the handicap marked lanes you frequently seem to get a lower weight for some reason. Another trick from trucker I deal with is to ride the curb as you pull in. It keeps more of the tire off the scales and will read a bit lower also.

 

lol, i usually blow through at about 1130 pm on the way home from work at about 35mph. i just dont want to blow one of my mirrors off the X. i get on at willow grove and off at norristown or mid county.