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19.5 wheels and tires

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Blinkers on the fenders?

Jacobs exhuast brake

I will be towing a pretty heavy 5er, about 16,000lbs, 3500lbs on the pin.

I was thinking about going to 19. 5's to be a bit safer.

I thought the advantage was better load capcity, but it seems all the rimas are rated for 3,000lbs. Isnt that what the stock rims are?



Is it worth the cash to upgrade, or is it just a cosmetic thing?



Thanks in advance!!
 
Get hold of Rickson wheel. They're in Maryland I think. Just do a search for Rickson and you'll find them. Their 19. 5 steels wheels are rated at 5,000 lbs. The larger 19. 5 tires (G's) are rated more than that.
 
I think the 19. 5 do offer more stabalization and are a better and longer lasting tire, but I don't think you could ever justify the cost unless you just wanted different tires and rims.



This is what I figure:

16" rims already on truck=free

16 tires @ 150/each x 6(dually)=$900

If you get 40K out of a set of tires, that's about 7 tire changes for 300K and how many people keep a truck that long? 7 x $900 = $6300



Now figure the 19. 5 using Ricksons:

Rims about $500 x 4Alum + $230 x 2 = $2500, so far you would have gone 130K on 16"s

Tires about $300 x 6 = $1800

For $4300, you could almost 200K on the 16s before you could start to justify the cost.



This is just my opinion and what I decided when I was going to do 19. 5s. Now if I was looking at different rims to buy because I didn't like the alcoas, then I would think about it.
 
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My opinion is that if you are looking at putting the 19. 5's on a 3500, you will not gain much for the large cash outflow. Installing 19. 5's on a 3/4 ton which already has it's tires loaded at over 90% of rated capacity gives a large tire capacity (safety) increase.
 
The steel wheels, though heavier, are substantially cheaper. I got a set of four 7. 5 X 19. 5 powder coated silver delivered to NV for less than $1400 and the Hankook DH01's in a 265-70 load range G were about $230 each, balanced and installed. Whole deal was somewhere around $2300. Not cheap, but $2000 less than the example above. Of course, with the 19. 5's you really don't need a dually, so mine's just a SRW. Also, I figure since I still have the stockers if I ever get to the point where I want to change trucks I can just put the stockers back on and transfer the Rickson's, tires, wheels, automatic balancers and all to the new rig. Just need to make sure I don't want a HD Ford 'cuz the bolt pattern would be different. Course, the newer HD models of those are coming with 19. 5's stock.
 
The only steel 19. 5" wheels manufactured that I've found were made for a bread van... with the right bolt pattern and you'd need to modify the center... . see my post on the other thread about the real truth about 19. 5" wheel... I'm having 2 custom protypes made from a wheel manufacturer who is making them for the 235 or 245 tire I run on my F550 in a load range G I think... that's 4050 lbs each... . I personally wouldn't put a wheel rated at 3000 lbs on my trucks... we pull heavy trailer all the time at 22K lbs...



We are gearing up for DRW and SRW designs. And the samples are to be in the air freight on the 26 of this month...



We also had to put air bags under the rear axle to get the thing level so that the lights would work at night so you could see... .



To sumerize what I said before... . my F550 gets 100K miles on rear recaps at 110 each and about 90 K on michelin fronts at 228 each... and you can buy the 19. 5 anywhere... we're using caps on the back, the same ones that the recaper in town does for UPS... . its proven to be a very good tread for traction and give us excellent life... we don't accept some casings however... we are picky about which tires the recaper has... . however UPS doesn't care... . a real surpise to me...



For me... its about cost per mile, saftey and service life, and the cost of repair on the road... I win with new steel wheels and 19. 5 tires... will pay for themselves in one set... I run all my small trucks for 500K miles before we sell them... .
 
I bought 19. 5 steel wheels from Rickson and you do not have to modify anything. Just bolt them on. They made a big difference with my 5k camper. Well worth it to me.
 
I bought my steel wheels used for a lot less than the new price. Rickson installed tires and balanced them for me during a trip to Maryland. I had to buy one new wheel to replace a bent one, so now I have a bent one to use as a spare.



I agree that it's hard to justify the 19. 5's economically, but I wanted the additional safety factor and the appearance.



I'm now looking to get a set of Rickson's aluminum wheels. If you are interested in steel wheels with fresh re-caps, send me a pm. I would consider selling my steel wheels to get aluminum.



Loren
 
another question about wheels

I also have a question to you guys. I also am thinking about upgrading to 22. 5 Alcoa wheels but am worried about he height while towing my 5th wheel. It is a 37' toy hauler by KZ with a dry weight of 14000# approx. I have a Banks Big hoss bundle w/ duals on it so not worried about the power aspect just the height difference. The tires mounted on the 22. 5's are 37'' tires from Goodyear. Now I am strictly upgrading for cosmetic appearance only and not for ride. I know that the wheels and tires far exceed the weight rating for the truck. In answer to the above replies the Rickson 19. 5 wheels exceed stock as well. Alcoa also makes the 19. 5 direct bolt on.



Has anyone experienced towing with the 22. 5 as far as height truck to camper ratio? Thanks.
 
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JMartynowski said:
I thought the advantage was better load capcity, but it seems all the rims are rated for 3,000lbs. Isnt that what the stock rims are?

I have the Rickson 6. 75" X 19. 5" steel rims which are substantially heavier than either the stock rims or Rickson 6". When fully loaded, my pin weight exceeds 7K. I had no probs with my factory rims and I have no idea what they are rated for. Duallys run into trouble with ratings due to the "offset" design inherent to duallys.



My first set of Mich 19. 5's went 105K, with 15-20K left. I took them off 'cause I wanted more tread for winter. I'll probably put them back on this spring/summer. Factory Generals went 35K. My rims are already paid for.
 
I just wish they would get the offset and backspacing for our trucks on those forged wheels, I think they would sell a lot more.
 
I'm looking for a set of four good condition used or new 19. 5 inch Alcoa's with or without tires.



I'm trying to go taller ( 34-35. 5 inches ) for better gear ratio with my 3. 73s.



Thanks for any replies



Ray
 
One thing to consider- if you upgrade to an Alcoa 19. 5" aluminum wheel... is wheel hub stud length on dually's. I haven't been able to find longer studs so I can retain the OEM lug nuts.
 
2600 lbs???

Why do we run 3400 lb tires if the rims are only rated at 2600? Are you sure you'r not looking at the front GAWR and dividing by 2? Rims should always be rated for more weight than the tires. On 16 inch rims I would think that you would at least want >3000 lbs to support a LR E tire. IMHO Ken Irwin
 
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