Hi Benton,
I have seen a couple different types of dual conversions, one use
the stock wheels with long studs and a hub in between, the other uses
a special wheel with another wheel bolted to that one, I can't remark
on either as I have never had any experience with either one. My 78
Odessey had the type you found on the tow truck, when I bought it the
owners said they had never had any problems in all the years they
owned it, had around 74,000 miles, I was still uneasy about the
chances of any problems so thats why I changed to the bigger axle,
safety and piece of mind. I know several people that have the old
duals on Chinooks that have logged a bizillion miles without a
problem, and then others that have had several problems. True the
Chinooks are considerably lighter than there bigger cousins, and in
fact I took the old duals off my Odessey and put them on the 75
Chinook project rig I got, but haven't really put any miles on it
yet, so only time will tell. I guess what I.m trying to say is
whatever you feel comfortable with. I posted it before but will say
it again, when running the old duals a couple of helpful tips is to
check the lugnut tightness often and to run more air pressure in the
inside tire. The tightness keeps the wheels from flexing as much and
air pressure on the inside tire helps hold the load more over the
center of the bearing and less on the outside tire where the leverage
comes from.
I found a couple of sites surfing around if anyones interested in
sway bars or wants to Email them for more info,
