Converting a dually to a SRW

You have to change the front spindles out for the ones on the 2WD, as well as possibly changing out the front calipers with the 2WD SRW. This is where the SRW and DRW differ. The DRW has bigger brakes, and a bigger rotor due to increased payload and pulling ability. Might I inquire as to why you would want to change back to a SRW? The DRW offers better stability when pulling, and increased payload capacity in the bed. I am not goin to put you down here, but to me I would seriously be asking myself "What benefits are there of doing this?".

Ford Tech

I am wondering the same thing, what is the advantage of converting a dually to a single?

It seems easier and cheaper to me to sell the dually and buy a new truck. (where "new" means another, not brand spanking new."

You logic is sound but to some people a truck is like a old worn pair of shoes that fit just right or a chair that sits nice but looks bad. You may want to change the look of them but still want the same fit and feel. If he wants to convert it, it is his call because it is his truck and that said whether you or I think it is wise does not matter because we are not living with it. Nothing wrong with asking about the feasabilty of it. Though I have never done it to that model ford I have seen it done to other trucks and usually it is mostly a hub change up front and that with brake change in rear or a bit more (depending on axle design you are dealing with and with a brake chage you may have to change master cylinder too)

----------------- TheSnoMan.com

What's the purpose of such a change though?

A dually has greater load capacity, so the "improvement" there seems to be a giant leap backwards.

I get the whole, "old pair of shoes" thing, but a huge part of my shoe selection is the work I intend to put them to. Sometimes I need a new pair of shoes because dancing in my steel-toe boots is a bit awkward. Stripping the steel toes out of my boots makes them useless for the other job I want them to do, and it makes for crappy dancing shoes too.

Surely there can be a reason to convert a dually downward to a single. I just don't know what the reason is, and want to understand. It makes more sense to me to get another truck and deal with the change.

I question that because they share same basic frame and axle design. I have a 1 ton K3500 SRW (sorry it is not a ford as I could not touch one for the price I paided then new) and I have carried some very seriuos loads in it with no issues at all. I use it to plow snow and one time I had 4100 lbs of salt on it and plow and would guess my weight than at around 10.5 to 11K. I have never wished it was a duallie in 7 years and thankfull it is not in tight places. You either like dualies or hate them and while they have some application a SRW with propruuuuuuuunsion and 265R16 10 plys can safely acarry over 7000 lbs on rear axle without exceeding tire capacity. Now if they would make a dualie P/U with a narrower rear axle like on a stack bed I might bite but I do not like to live with the wide rear axle behind me all the time. To each there own.

----------------- TheSnoMan.com

You're missing my question.

I get the whole thing about not liking the wide axle all of the time. My question is about the cost/benefit of changing a dually to a single. It seems easier and more cost effective to simply sell the dually and buy a new truck with the proceeds.

If the dually is worth $10,000 and a year or two newer 1-ton with a standard axle costs $12,000, and the conversion of the dually costs a grand plus time to do the job yourself, or $2000 to pay for the job, then it seems to me that trading the old truck that has a feature one does not like to get a new truck with a feature he prefers would be the smart thing to do. (I just pulled a few random numbers out of my ass, I have no idea what the costs are but I need to paint a picture, apparently, so that the question is framed in such a way that an answer can be formualted.)

I can't really argue the point that one truck is better than the other, clearly there are personal preferences here that play nearly an equal role in truck selection as the physical qualities of the trucks themselves. Personally, If I was going to get a truck in this class, I'd be using it primarily for camping and my inclination (without full research) would be to get the dually so that I could get the biggest possible camper to put on it, and connect a trailer that could carry my Jeep. So, my personal preference seems to point me to the dually, but the dually has serious baggage -- its width -- that one has to weigh against the perceived benefits. My perception is that with a tall load, like a camper, the wider axle would provide a level of stability that might not be present in the single.

It occurs to me that the OP doesn't like the width of his truck, therfore he wants to convert it. Fine. I am not asking him to justify why he likes the narrower truck, I'm asking why he thinks it is feasable to convert his exisiting truck instead of selling it and buying a new truck that fits his needs. Not only does he have issues relative to both the front and rear axles, it seems to me that he has a bit of body work to deal with too because the rear fenders on the dually are remarkably different than on the standard axle. Yes, one can drive around with the empty fenders sticking out, but from my perspective, that would defeat the purpose of the conversion.

It just seems to me that the cost here for the conversion that is under consideration is not balanced by benefits. That is, it seems that the benefit can be attained with less headache and greater future value if the benefit is acheived through a sale of the undesirable vehicle to create the cash to get the more desirable one.

If you farmed it out I agree it would not be very cost effective but if you like to tinker and do it for the sake of doing it is quite feasable. Stranger mods have been done and I have seen more than one GM Suburban with dualies on the rear that was done nicely and looked stock. (makes you wonder why GM never tried to "float the boat" too.)

A dualie can have a edge with a heavy 5th wheel but so would a single wide based tire and rim as I see BP fuel tank semi running here now for a few years (no duals on any axles) A single tire has less rolling resistance when you are spliting hairs in a MPG game and less tire scrubbing in turns because duals take different paths in turn and take turns skidding a bit. One clear advange with dual is if you get a blow out, you rarely have both tires fail at once but modern tires do not fail much if rated for load and carying proper pressure too.

You make some good points. A bed change would be in order.

Another good point unless you are like me and you keep them until they are flat worn out.

----------------- TheSnoMan.com

I also keep 'em until they're worn out, or until I have no use for them. This particular discussion would indicate that the use has gone away, and another use is at hand. I'd change to a new truck, not change the truck so it is new. My instinct is that the value just isn't there to justify this modification.

I've not see the justification yet for this. I am not dissing the OP, I just do not think I've seen the justification yet.