I've been researching trucks and campers for quite some time - with the hope of purchasing a truck soon followed by a camper at a later date (likely next season) - but I'm really on the fence regarding a DRW versus SRW truck. I realize that this topic has likely been discussed ad nauseum, but I'm thinking of the trade-off in terms of safety margin and stability with the potential inconvenience of driving and parking (and so on) a dually as opposed to pushing the limits of GVWR.

The campers that I'm looking at are in the 2500# to 3000# (dry weight) range. I also occasionally tow a trailer (2 horse trailer with 2 ~350# llamas) which I'd like to combine with camping. Using the 1000# rules of thumb that I see mentioned, that puts a potential payload of #3500 to #4000 on the truck pretty easily. Even for a 3500/F350 class truck, this is beginning to get pretty close to the maximum GVWR of these trucks.

My question is, how reasonable is it to operate a truck near it's GVWR? Especially given that the weight is not evenly distributed? Most of the weight of the camper is on the rear axle and that weight is likely not centered side-to-side.

My inclination is to just get a dually to gain enough margin in GVWR so that I'm not potentially bumping up against the GVWR. Then, if we decide to get a heavy camper, tow a trailer or add more than a 1000# to make the camper "wet", I might be all set. It seems to me that "more is better" might apply in this case.

On the other hand, the camper and truck dealers (not to mention family and friends) are all suggesting that an SRW truck is adequate - almost to the point of ridicule when I suggest getting a dually.

In their defense, they point out some of the shortcomings of driving a dually - mainly parking - especially when running empty.

So my other question is - for those of you that own dually pickups - is the additional hassle of driving and parking a dually pickup (especially when not used with a camper), combined with the added costs (of the truck itself, reduction in fuel economy and increase in cost of tires) worth it?

My fear is that if I accept the argument and buy into the relative convenience of driving and parking an SRW truck, I will be disappointed with the experience once I get a camper and load it up.

For a frame of reference, we liked the Northern Lite 9'6" Q Classic Special Edition(2625#), but we also looked at the 10'2" CD Special Edition (2980#) and my wife liked the Eagle Cap 850 (3117#) - I'd prefer to not have a slide (but you know how that goes ;~). But the truck will be used as daily driver for the near term (until I can justify the purchase of a 3rd vehicle). In other words, I will find myself driving this truck empty 80+ percent of the time.

Any experiences with owning and driving a dually while not camping, along with thoughts about payloads under the GVWR are greatly appreciated.

Thank you,

Kevin