[Cracker]

I switched the rear spring pack on my dually to an alternate softer pack offered by GM. I believe that the alternate pack was commonly used on ambulance setups and, as such, it reduces the rear axle load-carrying capability of the dually by about 2000 lbs. When hitching a long-bed, crew-cab dually you get very little "unloading" of the front axle. I've reported my scale weights before, but suffice it to say the front axle and rear axle weights for the rig are very close when hitched. Truth is, with 4WD, and the Duramax/Allison combo, the front axle could use a little "unloading!" Afterwards, the ride was softened considerably but I was still using 1,000 lb Husky bars - with a hitch weight of 940 lbs. Note that this is for the 2000 30' Excella herein. As others have pointed out, the dually can "dead load" carry 1,000 lbs. Accordingly, I stressed the bars very lightly with no noticeable bending. After reading and studying some earlier threads (---and heavily based on Andy's suggestions) I decided to switch to the 600 lb bars and put them to work with a proper bend when hitched up. The improvement in ride was immediately noticeable! As for sway control, the rock solid handling of the long wheelbase chassis with dual wheels is similar to what I would expect if the rig was riding on rails! I do not use any form of sway control.

I just made another 2,200 mile delivery tow for my son with a very heavy 18' box trailer. The tongue weight was 1,000 lbs and the dual axle weight for the trailer was 7,000 lbs. I once again used the 1,000 lb bars - this time with little concern about overstressing the trailer - but with due respect for its' 10' high "billboard" sides and the desire to keep every bit of weight I could on the front axle of the truck. It rained for over 1,000 miles - but I never experience any handling problems in spite of heavy truck traffic.