IMO, a dually will give you more stability when towing a larger load.  I had a Ford F250, 4X4, single rear axle.  I used to pull 2 horse bumper-pulls and then graduated to a 2 horse straight load, 4Ft short wall finished LQ GN.  The Ford was fantastic.  However, I have since gone to a 4HR, 8ft Short Wall LQ Sundowner, and it didn't feel stable at all.  In fact, going down-hill, I felt the trailer pushing me.  I now have a Dodge 3500 4x4 dually and I feel so much at ease.  I guess it depends on your own peace of mind.  Yeah, my Ford did pull this current trailer, but I was white-knuckled, and nervous pulling with it.  Now I can just go along, and be excited about the next trail ride/camping trip I am head for!

Good luck!

It's all about STABILITY! I  pulled a Bison 3 horse 12'shortwall Lq 8'wide with a GMC 2500HD Allison.  I had to put Super Springs on the back of the truck to make it sit level with the trailer.  The truck pulled o.k. although you ALWAYS knew you had that big trailer behind you.  We always felt as if we were being "pushed" down some of the mountains around here.  That trailer was so much wider than the truck.  Although I LOVED that truck (I won't have an ugly truck), I traded for a GMC 3500 Dually.  My husband was skeptical.  But what a BIG difference!  I now feel like my truck/trailer is one unit instead of truck & trailer.  If you can understand what I mean by that statement.  I think if my trailer was only 7' wide, I'd have felt o.k. about the 2500.  That extra width makes a difference without those "big hips" on a dually

The Dually will be very much more stable, especially in high winds.  I think N2Ridin described it best, the truck and trailer will feel like one unit.  Our SRW truck pulls the trailer fine, but suspension wise, the dually doesn't even know the trailer is there.

50ft???

Total Braking Distance = Perception Distance + Reaction Distance + Brake Lag Distance + Braking Distance...

Since the best reaction is 3/4 of a second reaction time...at 40 mph you would be traveling at 58.66ft/sec...the distance you would travel before applying your brakes would be 44 ft

Then your braking distance would be depending on your truck and trailer total weight...

http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/Drives/FullTests/articleId=46349

Lifted from above review...

Of course, the main point of all this heavy-duty hardware is to facilitate towing. And best-in-class trailer-tow ratings were the goal for GM engineers. They accomplished that goal as, depending on configuration, the Silverado equipped with the base 6.0-liter engine will tow from 9,200 up to 10,500 pounds with its standard 4.10 rearend gear ratio.

Stepping up to the Vortec 8100 motor with either 3.73 or 4.10 gears (our tester had 4.10s) nets an impressive 12,000-pound towing capacity for all configurations, regardless of cab style or bed length. The diesel is rated to tow the same amount in all configurations with its standard 3.73 rear axle ratio.

With a Fifth Wheel trailer, the numbers go even higher; our truck would be able to tow a 15,500-pound trailer of this type. That rating goes down 2,000 pounds with the taller 3.73 ratio. The truck with the highest Fifth-Wheel towing-capacity honors goes to a regular-cab long-bed Silverado 2500 HD with the Vortec 8100 engine and 4.10 gears. It'll tow a whopping 15,900 pounds — more than any of the one-ton trucks or even any of the diesels.

The above quote is very misleading.  Unless one knew from whence that rating was derived,  It seems to say the 3/4 truck can handle more trailer than a dually.   When we're speaking of Horse trailers... that is a "crock-o-that which promotes plant growth"

For those that are saying Hosspuller has finally hit the crock: look at the Gross Combined Vehicle Weight Rating as published by GM.  Then look at the Gross Vehicle Weight Rating of each model of truck.

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The overlooked facter is the weight of the truck.  The 3/4 ton truck is the lightest while the GCVWR is the same.  So while the most weight can be towed by the 2500 truck, it can't handle the hitch weight of the 14' short wall LQ 4H trailer with the ceramic tile floor.  And the 2500 shimmies like a hula dancer...

Dually is the better choice.

As Reg and Hosspuller know,I had this same discussion with them a couple of years ago on here.

Didn't realize the difference either,until we tried it.Oh,yeah,our f250 powerstroke could pull the trailer without any problem.Pulling it wasn't the issue.It was: the way it felt when you were pulling it! There wasn't much stability.The trailer was wider,and too much for the rearend.It squatted it bad,especially the shorter wheelbase.We had not had the Ford very long,either,and knew we would be "upside down" pretty much if we traded.But one trip through some hills ( I'd hate to have been in some real mountains,these were the Ozarks in North Arkansas) had me convinced.The trailer fishtailed once or twice,we were not speeding,ect.But it gave me a sick feeling.Luckily we caught Chevy at their "family and employee" sale or whatever that promotion was called,and traded off our beautiful Arizona Beige f250 for a BIG WHITE DUALLY.

Well,it can be a pain for me to try to drive,I am only 5'2 and can't see over too many steering wheels to begin with except my Honda.But the difference is worth it.There is a lot more stable "feel" to the trailer and truck.

You might know somebody that has a dually set up to tow that would let you test it out with them to see for yourself.I dug my heels in at buying a dually,argued that our truck could pull it,ect.I don't get into the stats on weights,ect.even tho those are important considerations which we also looked into.

I just know how it feels! Hey,that's women for you.Not to say we don't know the particulars,but,my female intuition tells me we did the right thing.Not to mention that I like having something as wide as my trailer pulling my trailer.I just know they are set up for heavy kingpin weights because the rearend is more stout.

Is that simple,or what???Hosspuller,Reg,I know you will laugh,but understand what I mean!

CRgirl... Your post is not "simple" at all.  I'm glad you choose to post.  It bears the strength of experience.  All the data tables on the Internet aren't worth the "simple" fact that you've tried the single rear wheel and can compare the difference a dually makes with a heavy trailer.

Hosspuller...send your complaints to Edmunds...

I'm just the messenger...

I'm not going anywhere with it.  I feel better, safer, and happier pulling my big trailer with my big truck PERIOD!!  I don't give a rats butt what my pin weight is, or axles, or anything else as far as that goes.  I've pulled this trailer with both a SRW 2500 GMC Allison, and my Dually.  Dually wins hands down

thats certainly an interesting attitude towards safety.  seems like if you felt youre pushing the limits a trip to the scale is in order, so you would at least know.  if youre not going to bother weighing anything then i whole heartedly agree you need the biggest truck.  seems like most people take the easy way, just recommending the big truck. that way you dont have to know what youre talking about.  i just get a chuckle out of some peoples logic.

You people are WAY TO SERIOUS about all of this.  Just having some fun with  WHY I PREFER MY DUALLY!  "Bigger is Better" is a JOKE Reg!  YOu know . .. bigger house, bigger bank account, bigger body parts ... Just a joke, just a funny since the initial question seemed to be pretty simple, my initial answer was pretty simple.  I like the feel of the bigger truck with my big trailer!  Simple enough.  I don't need nor do I care, about all the engineering aspects about the difference between a 2500 srw and a 3500 drw.  I've owned them both, and pulled the same big trailer with both and I prefer the big truck.  Chill people, chill! 

To coin the phrase of the wise old rabbit . . .  That's all folks!