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Re: [RC] truck lengths & "druthers" - Lynne GlazerOK, I get to vote as I drove a Dodge 3500 DRW daily for 194,000 miles, and have 36,000 on a Dodge 3/4 ton SRW. Both diesels, both standard cabs, both pulled my 22 ft 4 horse aluminum gn.The 3/4 ton is considerably more agile, in fact it's nickname is the "wiggly truck". On the dually, I could "set a course" and motor down the road. The dually survived a blowout without me noticing the tire had blown out. Not so the 3/4 t. My dually got stuck in sand, slid around on slick road, was completely impervious to the high winds we get out here. The 3/4 ton "notices" wind, and the back end doesn't kick out on turns with iffy "footing". The dually got 19 mpg when not towing. The more powerful 24 valve 3/4 ton gets 18. They get the same mileage towing. The transmission-engine combination on the dually was poorly matched, I would run out of gear long before I'd run out of RPMs. They fixed that in the newer truck 3/4, hence it has tons of power for the toughest grades. I still had my fenders on the dually at the end, and it was worth $11,000 to a guy who now uses it daily to haul a flatbed with 2 vehicles up the Cajon Pass daily, a tribute to diesel life--he would not have been interested in the 3/4 ton. I parked it on an end space once, and someone came around the corner without judging properly, wiping out the marker light and leaving skid marks on the side. It was not a socially acceptable truck in parking and narrow hill situations. People ought to compare the newer duallys rather than rely solely on the experience they had with the older ones. Like Alison, I got at least 40,000-50,000 miles per set of tires on the dually, but it was a PITA to have to pay for 6 tires. Lynne P.S. Jim, you're lucky you've never blown a tire!
Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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