When did dually pickups start?

[TwoFiftyShifter]

My dad is old and wants to know. I figured sometime in the mid to late 70s.... or was it in '73?

[79gmcc15]

Well ive seen duly trucks back to the 20-30's. Now if your talking about the modern day truck. then.......lol I am waiting too lol

[63chevyll]

Im pretty sure the dually beds werent out till 73 or 74, but Dually Utility beds and flat beds have been around for many years.....

people have been buying 6 tires since the 20's

[TwoFiftyShifter]

Pickups in specific.

[72 CustomCamper]

1973 was the first year for a pickup bed dually


Chuck

[bikes&bowties]

Om mot sure on the specific year but I know a few years prior to that they came with narrowed axles and could fit the duals mostly under a normal bed.. from the factory... i believe that would be the 68-72 section though...

[Keith Seymore]

Originally Posted by 72 CustomCamper

1973 was the first year for a pickup bed dually


Chuck

I would agree; the "modern" C/K dually started in '73.

Incidently, the dually pickup was developed as a "lark", or a joke.

One of the things we do during the development process is take road trips off of GM property, like to Pikes Peak, or Death Valley, etc, usually in support of powertrain, brake or engine cooling development.

Invariably we bring a support truck of some kind, like a camper or a tool truck, both so that we have a rolling break room and any necessary tools to fix a breakdown (or try out something new).

On a whim a couple of the development engineers directed that a wide track dual rear wheel axle be installed in one of the "chase" trucks, which then had a camper installed.

After driving the truck through the mountains, the engineers were so impressed with the stability of the ride that they brought it to their boss's attention. He was equally impressed; the package was submitted as a proposal for a production vehicle and accepted - and the modern era GM "Dooley" pickup was born.

K

[djinva]

I remember seeing a photo of a Dodge 1 ton dual wheel truck with a pick bed from the 60's, it was used by a top fuel team. I will try to find a photo.

[rare86]

Keith, its the little stories we get here and there from you that reminds me how blessed we are to have you on this forum. Fortunately for you, Im to far away or Id be a regular at your house just to hear the stories. This one made my day. Thank you

[Dooley]

Originally Posted by Keith Seymore

I would agree; the "modern" C/K dually started in '73.

Incidently, the dually pickup was developed as a "lark", or a joke.

One of the things we do during the development process is take road trips off of GM property, like to Pikes Peak, or Death Valley, etc, usually in support of powertrain, brake or engine cooling development.

Invariably we bring a support truck of some kind, like a camper or a tool truck, both so that we have a rolling break room and any necessary tools to fix a breakdown (or try out something new).

On a whim a couple of the development engineers directed that a wide track dual rear wheel axle be installed in one of the "chase" trucks, which then had a camper installed.

After driving the truck through the mountains, the engineers were so impressed with the stability of the ride that they brought it to their boss's attention. He was equally impressed; the package was submitted as a proposal for a production vehicle and accepted - and the modern era GM "Dooley" pickup was born.

K

The modern day dually pickup arrived in the 1973 Chevy/GMC model year in C configuration. The K model arrived in the 1977 model year.

[TwoFiftyShifter]

Anybody know the first year of Dodge or Ford?

[80SPORT]

I remember the first year of Ford duallys as 1980....with the new body style.
Interesting to hear the history of the development of the Chevy.....those engineers that came up with the wide track dually pickup started a new trend....I had one in the early 70's and it was the only one in town....now all the racers/boaters/ranchers/travel trailer owners have them.

[Keith Seymore]

Originally Posted by rare86

Keith, its the little stories we get here and there from you that reminds me how blessed we are to have you on this forum. Fortunately for you, Im to far away or Id be a regular at your house just to hear the stories. This one made my day. Thank you

Thank you, and thanks Dooley for posting that pic of the brochure. Very cool (the colors and the clothing are very 70's!).

There is a similar story for the creation of the Blazer, only in that case the guys were hunters. A group of them would go out to Montana and hunt "game" (whatever people like to hunt in Montana) once a year.

I picture them sitting around a campfire at night and brainstorming the requirements: obviously 4wd, a super short wheelbase (for manueverability), more seats than a pickup, and a removable top would be ideal.

The truck based wagon, the Suburban, had been around since the mid 30's but the shorter wheelbase version, with a removable top, was a new idea for the C/K model lineup.

K

[Keith Seymore]

This is a little off the subject, but - do you guys know who invented the pickup truck?







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That honor belongs to some early unknown customers of the Ford Model T.

Early in the 1910's, farmers were removing the rear "turtledeck" portion of their Model T bodies and replacing them with homebuilt, fabricated "boxes" for hauling light cargo.

Henry Ford and his engineers took note of this and decided to offer it as an additional bodystyle in their product offerings.

Farmers (or "street rodders", depending on your perspective ) were responsible for creating this whole new line of vehicles!

K