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question: 99 ram 3500 dually to single rear wheel

19328 Views 19 Replies 6 Participants Last post by  Wyocoyote
im looking into doing a s.r.w. conversion to my dually. best thing to do is to replace my dually rear axle with a single rear axle my question is will the axle bolt up or will i have to modify it? thanks. and has anyone done this before out there let me know any good tips. thankyou!
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I think it will bolt up, what are you going to do with the front axle? Is it 2wd or 4wd?
Why replace your rear axle? You have the Dana 80 now and the SRW tires will bolt right on with no modification. They will stick out a little bit, but nothing crazy. I would take the extra stoutness of the Dana 80 over the fact that it will stick out a little (maybe an inch or two more) anyday. If you really want the swap, yes I believe the axles will interchange with no modifications. Just make sure you get the same braking system, you can't swap drums for discs or vice versa without some modifications.
Why replace your rear axle? You have the Dana 80 now and the SRW tires will bolt right on with no modification. They will stick out a little bit, but nothing crazy. I would take the extra stoutness of the Dana 80 over the fact that it will stick out a little (maybe an inch or two more) anyday. If you really want the swap, yes I believe the axles will interchange with no modifications. Just make sure you get the same braking system, you can't swap drums for discs or vice versa without some modifications.
i was told that the dana 80 is shorter then a s.r.w. and u cant just put single rear on it? not sure why i was told that or if its even true? thats why i was wondering if anyone has done this. thank you for your input!
I think it will bolt up, what are you going to do with the front axle? Is it 2wd or 4wd?

i was planning to take the hubs off in the front..its 4x4 and i shouldnt have to do anything to the front besides removing the hubs. again as i was told.. not sure if its true or not.... thank you for your input!!
The Dana 80 is 4" wider than the SRW. The Cab and Chassis model is narrower, so in that regard it would not work. As for the front, just take off the adapters and bolt on the wheel, no need to remove hubs.
The Dana 80 is 4" wider than the SRW. The Cab and Chassis model is narrower, so in that regard it would not work. As for the front, just take off the adapters and bolt on the wheel, no need to remove hubs.
so u cant just bolt a set of s.r.w. rims and tires in rear and just be 2inch out on each side? dont understand why it wont work?
Whether you put in the Dana 70 or stay with the 80 are you going to swap the bed as well or leave the dually wide fenders on it?
If you just plan to take the dually fenders off, check what is behind them first.
I think you will have a huge gaping fender well.
Something else to look at is the lug nuts on the dually.
Mine has the lugnuts with the flat slip washer and I don't think they will work on SRW rims if you keep the 80.
Consider all the details carefully before converting the 80 to SRW.
Whether you put in the Dana 70 or stay with the 80 are you going to swap the bed as well or leave the dually wide fenders on it?
If you just plan to take the dually fenders off, check what is behind them first.
I think you will have a huge gaping fender well.
Something else to look at is the lug nuts on the dually.
Mine has the lugnuts with the flat slip washer and I don't think they will work on SRW rims if you keep the 80.
Consider all the details carefully before converting the 80 to SRW.
i built a custom flatbed and the tires stick out about 4 or 5inches on each side, so not worried about that, im just wondering if anything will be affected if i just put s.r.w. on the back without swapping the dana 80 knowing i will be 2inches out on each side then the front will it matter?
i built a custom flatbed and the tires stick out about 4 or 5inches on each side, so not worried about that, im just wondering if anything will be affected if i just put s.r.w. on the back without swapping the dana 80 knowing i will be 2inches out on each side then the front will it matter?
why not get the flathead tires, they are the same as a drw but its a single tire, my buddies has them on his tractor.

He says they give better towing and mileage.
why not get the flathead tires, they are the same as a drw but its a single tire, my buddies has them on his tractor.

He says they give better towing and mileage.
i have a set of 20x10 chrome wheels w/ 33x14.5 mickey thomsons on them i have lugs too.took them off my ram 2500 before getting this 99 ram 3500. im just wondering if having the rear wider then the front by 2inch on each side is going to affect anything, guess i might just have to try it out and see.
It won't affect anything at all other than the looks and that is a matter of personal opinion. You WILL need to switch lug nuts. Dually rims are hubcentric, meaning they center themselves on the hub itself, hence the flat sided lugs. SRW rims are lugcentric, meaning they center themsleves on the conical ends of the lug nuts, not the hubs. You are going to need to swap beds, the dually beds minus the fenders have something like 30+ holes in them that would need to be filled, a huge cutout on the top of the fender, and a large cutout where the fuel fill attaches to. It is really easy to do the conversion from DRW to SRW ( I was going to do it myself) in a nutshell, take off the the front wheel adaptors, bolt on your new wheels with their lugnuts, swap out your bed and your good to go, no need to swap out axles or anything else,
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If you just plan to take the dually fenders off, check what is behind them first.
I think you will have a huge gaping fender well.
Unless you are much better at body work than me, changing the bed is easier. I got mine for $300 off of Craigslist in very good condition.



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It won't affect anything at all other than the looks and that is a matter of personal opinion. You WILL need to switch lug nuts. Dually rims are hubcentric, meaning they center themselves on the hub itself, hence the flat sided lugs. SRW rims are lugcentric, meaning they center themsleves on the conical ends of the lug nuts, not the hubs. You are going to need to swap beds, the dually beds minus the fenders have something like 30+ holes in them that would need to be filled, a huge cutout on the top of the fender, and a large cutout where the fuel fill attaches to. It is really easy to do the conversion from DRW to SRW ( I was going to do it myself) in a nutshell, take off the the front wheel adaptors, bolt on your new wheels with their lugnuts, swap out your bed and your good to go, no need to swap out axles or anything else,
also i was looking i can get a set of (2) wheel spacers for the front that will bring the wheels out 2inches it will match the back if i got those, but prob wont do that now.
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This is a write-up I did on another Forum.



The conversion is actually very simple. As far as the front end goes, just remove the wheel spacers and install a set of rims from a 2500. You'll also need different lug nuts. I bought a set of 32 lug nuts from Ebay that were used but in perfect shape for $20. The dealer wanted $8.00 for each one. I bought four used wheels off of a Ram 2500 from Craigslist for $200.
The rear end is just as easy. Pull off the dually wheels and install the 2500 wheels and lug nuts. The only other thing that I had to do was shorten the wheel lugs because they are too long to allow the wheel center cap to fit. You could change the lugs to 2500 lugs but I just cut them with a cut-off tool and then removed the lug nuts to clean-up the treads. It only took 10 minutes and the treads are perfect. The dually axle on the Dodge( I'm not sure about Ford or Chevy) is about 4 inches wider than a 2500 axle. Most people assume it is narrower but it's actually wider because of the large offset of the dually wheels. I know 4 inches sounds like a lot but it's not noticeable. It's fine for stock width wheels and tires but if you are going to run wider tires you might want to consider a SRW axle. The only other difference from a stock SRW is the size of the brake hubs. It's not a functional problem but you do see more of the brake drum. The dually axle's rear brakes shoes are 1/2" wider than the SRW axle. Combine the wider brake shoes with GM brake cylinders and the rear brakes become very strong.

The harder part of the conversion is the bed. You could take of the dually fenders and fix the bed but it would take a lot of body work. If you look at the attached photo you'll see several small holes that the bolts went through, a two inch hole for a marker light, a large hole for the fuel fill and a portion of metal removed above the wheel opening. I found it much easier to replace the bed. I got very lucky and found a bed and tailgate on Craigslist for $300.00. It had one very small dent and the paint was fading on the passenger's side but that wasn't a problem for me because I needed to paint it to match any way. There were just a few other things I had to do. I to cut a few inches off of the rubber fuel fill hose which was done with a razor knife. I also had to swap the fuel fill inlet (because of the large hole needed for a diesel fuel pump nozzle) but that was only 4 small screws. The last thing was to extend the rod that lowers the rear wheel. It needed to be about one inch longer.

I sold all the old parts on Ebay. I actually made more than enough money to pay for my paint job and some body work. The dually fenders are a real money maker. Dodge wants a lot for them.



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This is a write-up I did on another Forum.



The conversion is actually very simple. As far as the front end goes, just remove the wheel spacers and install a set of rims from a 2500. You'll also need different lug nuts. I bought a set of 32 lug nuts from Ebay that were used but in perfect shape for $20. The dealer wanted $8.00 for each one. I bought four used wheels off of a Ram 2500 from Craigslist for $200.
The rear end is just as easy. Pull off the dually wheels and install the 2500 wheels and lug nuts. The only other thing that I had to do was shorten the wheel lugs because they are too long to allow the wheel center cap to fit. You could change the lugs to 2500 lugs but I just cut them with a cut-off tool and then removed the lug nuts to clean-up the treads. It only took 10 minutes and the treads are perfect. The dually axle on the Dodge( I'm not sure about Ford or Chevy) is about 4 inches wider than a 2500 axle. Most people assume it is narrower but it's actually wider because of the large offset of the dually wheels. I know 4 inches sounds like a lot but it's not noticeable. It's fine for stock width wheels and tires but if you are going to run wider tires you might want to consider a SRW axle. The only other difference from a stock SRW is the size of the brake hubs. It's not a functional problem but you do see more of the brake drum. The dually axle's rear brakes shoes are 1/2" wider than the SRW axle. Combine the wider brake shoes with GM brake cylinders and the rear brakes become very strong.

The harder part of the conversion is the bed. You could take of the dually fenders and fix the bed but it would take a lot of body work. If you look at the attached photo you'll see several small holes that the bolts went through, a two inch hole for a marker light, a large hole for the fuel fill and a portion of metal removed above the wheel opening. I found it much easier to replace the bed. I got very lucky and found a bed and tailgate on Craigslist for $300.00. It had one very small dent and the paint was fading on the passenger's side but that wasn't a problem for me because I needed to paint it to match any way. There were just a few other things I had to do. I to cut a few inches off of the rubber fuel fill hose which was done with a razor knife. I also had to swap the fuel fill inlet (because of the large hole needed for a diesel fuel pump nozzle) but that was only 4 small screws. The last thing was to extend the rod that lowers the rear wheel. It needed to be about one inch longer.

I sold all the old parts on Ebay. I actually made more than enough money to pay for my paint job and some body work. The dually fenders are a real money maker. Dodge wants a lot for them.



thanks i knew u can do it 2inches isnt much looks very good. i have a flatbed on now but i was going to get a s.r.w. bed on craigslist for cheap. thank you to everyone for the help and i will post pics soon im going to get those wheels on there this weekend.
AHA! SO HELPFUL.
esp. edcasey's post, i see he is also on expedition portal and has made a similar post.
for my rig 2002 ram 3500 4x4 diesel dually flatbed:
1) remove 6 dually wheels
2) remove front factory spacers for dually
3) mount 4 "stock" or other appropriate single wheels with correct lug nuts, know that you may need to either shorten or replace rear studs. Know that your rear wheels track will be a couple of inches wider.
In the case of my flatbed I will be done.
I'll try and take pix of this let you know difference in mpg and handling, etc.


note: I read somewhere that other brand/years this may not be the case at all. Think I read some newer Fords the " dually spacer' is not replaceable.
related: I had thought I could perhaps remove the spacers up front and "flip" run the duallies as singles in the rear, maybe even using the spacer from the front.
I combed the forums lat night and saw a post about somebody wanting to use dually wheels backwards all around for a very wide track. It was a very immature thread, the response to his or her question basically being, "that's stupid".
I woke up in the morning understanding why this is unsafe and not really an option for my rear-----to run the duals as singles-------and it is basically leverage. Having the wheel way out from the hub no bueno for the hub bearings studs....too much pressure. If some one can better articulate this that would be cool. I thought ET was just a kind alien until recently. Then I thought it was just so the wheel fould not hit fenders and frame. Now i see you need your wheel load centered on the hub, and that that takes some engineering, makes me question certian "simple" wheel spacers.
for flatbed folks going from dually to srw.
mine is 8 foot wide so I may be breaking a law?
your bed cannot extend 8" past the wheels not sure this is the case will contact a bed manufacturer.
Converting a dually to single wheel dana 60(pics) - Pirate4x4.Com : 4x4 and Off-Road Forum

good pics of dana 60 going from dually to single setup up front. looks like there may be an extra step in this case?
Maybe this is the case of there being no spacer up front but its integrated into the hub?
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