1500 Dually

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drebravos

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Just got a 2021 1500 eco diesel. Looking to see if anyone has converted to a dually or if I’m going to be the Christopher Columbus of this endeavor.
 

TBONE 2018

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I don't think it's that stupid look at all the old Toyota 2 wheel drive trucks that had the built on huge campers on them they were dually ,and I still see a lot of them on the road today. To each their own, that's what makes the world go round.
 

JoeCo

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I don't think it's that stupid look at all the old Toyota 2 wheel drive trucks that had the built on huge campers on them they were dually ,and I still see a lot of them on the road today. To each their own, that's what makes the world go round.

Or like the dually square body suburbans some people have done:
images264.jpg

Not sure how it would turn out on a 1500 ram, haven't seen that one done yet.
 

dhay13

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If you are doing it to be different then have at it. If you are doing it to gain towing capacity don't waste your time and money. No matter what you do your max towing and payload will not change. In fact you will lose capacity due to the curb weight of the vehicle being higher. If you NEED the higher tow capacity then get a different truck
 

CanRebel

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If you are doing it to be different then have at it. If you are doing it to gain towing capacity don't waste your time and money. No matter what you do your max towing and payload will not change. In fact you will lose capacity due to the curb weight of the vehicle being higher. If you NEED the higher tow capacity then get a different truck

Not even close to being true... You can do many things to change max towing and payload...
What he wants to do might not increase, and could make it worse.
But the max payload and towing are based on stock truck with certain options. Period.

Once you start changing things. You affect those numbers. Good or Bad. And depending on what you change.
 

JayLeonard

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Just got a 2021 1500 eco diesel. Looking to see if anyone has converted to a dually or if I’m going to be the Christopher Columbus of this endeavor.
I would ask "why do you want to do this?" before I make comments based on assumptions.

Please enlighten us now that you have our attention.
 

JoeCo

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Not even close to being true... You can do many things to change max towing and payload...
What he wants to do might not increase, and could make it worse.
But the max payload and towing are based on stock truck with certain options. Period.

Once you start changing things. You affect those numbers. Good or Bad. And depending on what you change.

I might be mistaken, but I believe what he was saying was more in terms of legality. As in, get pulled over and whatever the factory door sticker says is what you can legally tow, regardless of any enhancements you have made. Correct me if I am wrong though @dhay13
 

dhay13

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What I'm saying is that your payload is calculated by taking your GVWR and subtracting curb weight. Let's just say your GVWR is 8000lbs. Your truck weighs 6000lbs off the assembly line. That gives you a payload of 2000lbs, which is what your yellow and black door jamb sticker will say. Now add a bigger rear axle for the dually, heavier bed, beefier rear springs, etc, and now that 2000lbs might be down to 1000lbs. Your truck is still restricted to that 8000lb GVWR. If it now weighs 7000lbs then you only have 1000lbs of payload left over.

Now let's look at towing capacity. Towing capacity is derived by taking your GCWR and subtracting curb weight. Let's say your GCWR is 15,000lbs. That means the truck, trailer, and everything else in or on the truck or trailer cannot weigh over 15,000lbs. So let's say your truck weighs 6000lbs. of the assembly line. That means your max tow is 9000lbs. Now you add the dually axle, tires, wheels, bed, etc and your truck now weighs 7000lbs then you have now reduced your max tow capacity to 8000lbs. It will still read 9000lbs no matter where you look but regardless, your max combined weight can't be over 15,000lbs so you have effectively reduced your max tow capacity. Thus why I said he may even reduce his max towing and payload capacities by doing this. You can't change your max payload or towing capacities so unless you remove the bed and bumpers you cannot increase your payload or tow capacities
 

GTyankee

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There is no way LEGALLY to Tow or Haul more than the door tag/sticker states
UNLESS
you beef up the frame & get it Certified
You also have to install larger brakes & they have to be Certified
Then it has to be towed or hauled to a person appointed by the DMV, ie: Highway Patrol. They create paperwork that begins the process to make it a Special Class of Vehicle.

There are a couple shops in Utah that modify trucks & they are kept very busy
One of them is
 

CanRebel

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There is no way LEGALLY to Tow or Haul more than the door tag/sticker states
UNLESS
you beef up the frame & get it Certified
You also have to install larger brakes & they have to be Certified
Then it has to be towed or hauled to a person appointed by the DMV, ie: Highway Patrol. They create paperwork that begins the process to make it a Special Class of Vehicle.

There are a couple shops in Utah that modify trucks & they are kept very busy
One of them is
I'm in Canada and it's basically the same steps. That is make it legal. It's called NSM.
Part of Transport Canada. Company I work, we pay other registered companies to modify our Fleets of Pickup/Van/Big Trucks.

As I said above, if you make changes to your truck, you are changing the "sticker"
Of course it depends on what you change.

FYI. Old Dodge Rams from late 1995 to Early 2000's On 1500 and 2500's had same frame(certain models any). No clue about now.
Frame's were same. We had at least 30 1500s turn into 2500, legally. That come directly from Dodge.
I can't recall all parts that move back and forth. But frame wasn't one of them.

We change to Ford 15 years ago. So no clue if they are using different frames.
 

dhay13

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There is no way LEGALLY to Tow or Haul more than the door tag/sticker states
UNLESS
you beef up the frame & get it Certified
You also have to install larger brakes & they have to be Certified
Then it has to be towed or hauled to a person appointed by the DMV, ie: Highway Patrol. They create paperwork that begins the process to make it a Special Class of Vehicle.

There are a couple shops in Utah that modify trucks & they are kept very busy
One of them is
I have heard there are ways to do it but that it can only be done by specific shops and the hassle you have to go through makes it easier and cheaper to just buy the right truck from the start? Never went through the process but going by what others have said. I can't modify it myself and get it re-certified, the shop has to do the work and request the re-certification?
 

CanRebel

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Don't know about US. But I would guess it's around same process, depending what state your in. Cali would be bad one :)

Just speaking about in Canada. Just to change payload, is easy... Under $500.
As long as you aren't trying to increase max towing. It's 'usually' as simple as changing axles/springs.
All depends what is on truck already, how much payload you trying to increase.
Otherwise you got do brakes, etc... Payload increase 'within' reason is easy to do though.

@dhay13 Here no. You can do the work yourself, but most shops charge extra fees if you don't get them to do it.
They need to get all documents from manufacture who you purchased the parts from. if you have them do it.
They usually have it already.
 

JNelson

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Man there are a lot of Karen’s in here.

Never forget the bumper sticker I saw on a red Datsun pick-up “When I grow up I want to be a dually”.

Post some pics if you do it. I’d like to see it.
 

BWL

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Seen it done on 4th Gen trucks, but not a 5th yet. Be good for a weekend drag strip rcsb. Think how big a slick you could fit. Apart from that there's no real point to it as far as I can tell. Then again lots of people do stuff only because they think it looks cool.
 

clifford15

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The biggest issue is making a dually with a semi floating rear axle. Those old Toyota’s had full floaters and while it probably could be done on a semi float, the stress is all on the axle shaft so you have the extra set of tires, adapters and any payload.
 

JRs 17 Ram

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I had a 2018 ecodiesel and it couldn’t get out of its own way while pulling my jet skis, I can’t imagine how it would’ve performed with a dually axle and pulling a bigger load. That being said, I love the look of a dually so if you decide to move forward take lots of pictures!
 

Mike Flea

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Just got a 2021 1500 eco diesel. Looking to see if anyone has converted to a dually or if I’m going to be the Christopher Columbus of this endeavor.
To each his own. It's your truck, do as you wish, but, if you're still making payments, I wouldn't do a modification like that until it's paid off.

I don't know if you remember Warshawski & Co, some years ago, maybe 30 years, they changed their name to J.C. Whitney, they use to sell the axle kits/spacers and a simple set of fender extensions to do such a conversion on any make of pickup, and the Suburbans. I've seen dually's on a square bodied Blazer, and on a '79 Bronco. I say Go for It!, Take lots of pics!
 

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