Best or Best looking 19.5 Rims to carry slide in

[JPM]

the rig

 

[brillmtb1]

Those are nice but can you still find them, did they stop making them? You also have the same truck as mine, same year even, different color. I see you have the non slide Lance. Any other suspension mods. How does it ride and do you switch out tires when not carrying the camper or just leave them year round

 

[brillmtb1]

There are other sites that discuss the offset of 1.5 inches in some cases causing premature wearing of the front end? Is this a real concern and/or are there 19.5 with and offset closer to OEM

 

[JPM]

Those are nice but can you still find them, did they stop making them? You also have the same truck as mine, same year even, different color. I see you have the non slide Lance. Any other suspension mods. How does it ride and do you switch out tires when not carrying the camper or just leave them year round

I did bilstein shocks, hellwig sway bar, lower stable loads, and hellwig 5300 helper springs (they did not install upper overloads from the factory on 2017 3500 SRW trucks ). Its a pretty good rig and I do tow a 14ft enclosed trailer using a superhitch and 28" extension . I do not think if there is any diff in offset that it is a problem, but you will have hard time finding forged aluminum 19.5" Rickson wheels.

 

[JPM]

There are three sets on craigslist, two in steel and one cast aluminum Visons. I think they fit.Be careful of old used tires, they age out before they wear out.

SET OF 6 - Vision Rickson 19.5 wheels & Michelins 8 on 6.5 lug... (craigslist.org)

Rickson Medium Duty (super single) Wheels - auto wheels & tires - by... (craigslist.org)

19.5 RICKSON WHEELS - auto wheels & tires - by owner - vehicle... (craigslist.org)

 

[Tuesdak]

While we discourage exceeding the GVWR/payload rating of your truck, there is one little-known trick employed by more knowledgeable pickup truck owner’s to squeeze out even more cargo hauling capability out of their trucks.

So you found one of the last holdout websites that still dare to post this: the salesman's guide to commissions on campers regardless of what your pickup is rated for. A lot of these websites have "gone away" since I was looking at campers on 2016 and for good reason. I walked down this road "upgrade tires to 19.5" etc. to bitter disappointment: what I wanted my pickup would not carry in any sane way. You can upgrade the tires, suspension, etc. all you want, but, at the end of the day the door sticker is still the limit without exceeding the GVWR.

These sites instructing you to "just use the axle ratings and ignore the GVWR" don't warn you of the consequences. It's gross negligence to overload your vehicle. This allows your insurance company especially in The State of Arizona using the "stupid laws" to walk away from paying any claims. It hands the other side an easy win no matter what the cause was "Because YOU should not have been on the road". (Stupid laws cover: like driving into a flooded wash and YOU pay for the rescue. Also not wearing your seatbelt and insurance doesn't pay for injuries caused from not wearing it.) Do a Google search of Overloaded RV accident and seeing all the lawyers ... Don't take advice from the internet: call your lawyer that will be defending you. Mine, when asked about overloading my pickup for the slide equipped camper I liked, cited a case where a GN trailer wrecked and the insurance refused to cover it.

As you own the truck you should get a camper that works with the ratings of the truck. Otherwise get a truck that can handle the camper you want. The slide is DRW territory heavy of an option. I had just put a rebuilt engine in my 2003 so trading trucks for the slide equipped camper I liked wasn't a road I was going to go down.

Myself I would look at a Northern Lite when my journey with a 2 slide roomy 27' 5th wheel is done. The Delamanation repair cost is why I like the fiberglass design.

 

[AH64ID]

@JPM upper overloads went away when the 4th Gen came out. I had them on my 05 and they were useless with airbags, even with a RAW approaching 9K.

The auto-level 3500 beats them all for stability and handling thou, at least from what I’ve seen.

@Tuesdak It depends on where you live. GVWR isn’t a legal limit in many states, most from what I recall. For example in Idaho the term GVWR only exists in the glossary.

GVWR is more of a vehicle class rating than a weight rating. Look at the 3500 DRWs FAWR and RAWR and how far short of the combined number the GVWR is.

Also, it is federally legal to get a new GVWR. Despite not needing it here in Idaho I did make a new sticker with a 14K GVWR for my 05 after some modifications. The 9900 GVWR on that truck was a joke, even if it wasn’t a binding rating.

That’s all personal use. Once you get into commercial use the game changes.

 

[Cummins12V98]

14k GVWR keeps you out of the Commercial class for licensing and Insurance purposes. Example the Ford 450 DRW pickup is rated GVWR 14k also.

My SD registration simply covers whatever the weight is on my 6 tires as long as I don't surpass either the tires capacity of the axle ratings, not sure but basically my 16,130# on my 6 tires is covered.

 

[Tuesdak]

Despite not needing it here in Idaho I did make a new sticker with a 14K GVWR for my 05 after some modifications. The 9900 GVWR on that truck was a joke, even if it wasn’t a binding rating.

Can you detail how you did a new sticker? I even looked for an upfitter here to try and do that. Like the ones that put DRW's on Suburbans.

The 2500's low rating lets you run "normal" plates in AZ. On my 3500 I have to run "commercial plates"

want to go to a slide in that will be a wet weight of 4300lbs on my 2017 3500 SRW and I guess the stock are somewhere between 3400-3700 rim capacity.

As another post you are looking at the AF 811. Wet weight said to be 4569 Lbs.

Your truck may weigh slightly more or less than my 2018 3500 LB.

Scale weight of mine full of fuel with passengers and Giant Dog is
5280 front axle
3380 rear axle
8660 Total

Door sticker is only 12,300 Lbs GVWR
So a loaded slide in camper can be 3640 Lbs.

Door sticker is also:
6000 front axle
7000 rear axle

(A 13,000 Total would would find 700 Lbs. That's still 200+ Lbs short of what you need IF you don't bring more than 500 Lbs of "stuff"...)

The OEM LT tires only need to carry 3500 Lbs each. The LT Coopers I have now are rated at 3640 Lbs each. (An extra 140 Lbs per tire.)

I would suggest you look closer at the Northern Lite as the same length as the AF 811, Northern Lite 8-11 EX Special Edition Wet Bath, is 3645 Lbs Wet. Of course this varies on how much stuff you do bring. Just giving up the slide on a AF isn't enough as a non-slide 865 is 4254 Lbs Wet.

 

[AH64ID]

I’ll have to find the CFR’s that allow it. I know I’ve posted them before, just need to find those posts.

New and empty, plus me, mine was 5250/3300.

 

[JPM]

@JPM upper overloads went away when the 4th Gen came out. I had them on my 05 and they were useless with airbags, even with a RAW approaching 9K.

The auto-level 3500 beats them all for stability and handling thou, at least from what I’ve seen.

@Tuesdak It depends on where you live. GVWR isn’t a legal limit in many states, most from what I recall. For example in Idaho the term GVWR only exists in the glossary.

GVWR is more of a vehicle class rating than a weight rating. Look at the 3500 DRWs FAWR and RAWR and how far short of the combined number the GVWR is.

Also, it is federally legal to get a new GVWR. Despite not needing it here in Idaho I did make a new sticker with a 14K GVWR for my 05 after some modifications. The 9900 GVWR on that truck was a joke, even if it wasn’t a binding rating.

That’s all personal use. Once you get into commercial use the game changes.

I had factory upper overload springs on my 03 3500 SRW and aftermarket air bags, once I engaged the overloads with Torquelift upper over load stops the necessity of air bags went away. Stability vastly improved and the riding on balloons sensation went away .If the super beefy upper factory springs never were engaged then they were useless. When I went shopping for a newer truck there was no consensus on factory air bags and slide ins so opted out. So they might be better .

 

[AH64ID]

I had mine engaged a time or two and it wasn’t an improvement over airbags and the main springs, so I quit using them. I fully understand why Ram dropped them from the SRW lineup.

The only time I’ve ever experienced the “balloon” sensation with airbags was on other peoples rigs who overinflated their airbags. At the proper pressure I never once experienced that feeling.

 

[lpennock]

I had factory upper overload springs on my 03 3500 SRW and aftermarket air bags, once I engaged the overloads with Torquelift upper over load stops the necessity of air bags went away. Stability vastly improved and the riding on balloons sensation went away .If the super beefy upper factory springs never were engaged then they were useless. When I went shopping for a newer truck there was no consensus on factory air bags and slide ins so opted out. So they might be better .

I had the same experience on my 06 using the torqlift stable loads. After adding them to bring in the upper over loads it road better with less sway to the point I mostly quit using the bags.

On my 18 drw with factory bags it took adding a roadmaster rear antisway bar to get the sway with the camper down to at least what I had with the 06 srw with the stableloads.

 

[JPM]

I had the same experience on my 06 using the torqlift stable loads. After adding them to bring in the upper over loads it road better with less sway to the point I mostly quit using the bags.

On my 18 drw with factory bags it took adding a roadmaster rear antisway bar to get the sway with the camper down to at least what I had with the 06 srw with the stableloads.

good to know! ( and I wish the 2017 SRW 3500 had the factory upper spring overloads)

 

[seafish]

There are three sets on craigslist, two in steel and one cast aluminum Visons. I think they fit.Be careful of old used tires, they age out before they wear out.

SET OF 6 - Vision Rickson 19.5 wheels & Michelins 8 on 6.5 lug... (craigslist.org)

This is a decent deal on a set of good wheels.

If I didnt already have the forged aluminum versions I'd be all over them.

 

[User113]

My truck was a DRW. The original tires were LT235/80R17-E, max rated at 3,086 in a single configuration (front axle) and 2,756 in a dual configuration (rear axle). That adds up to a max of 6,172 lbs total for the front axle and 11,024 lbs on the rear axle using 6 tires.

I converted it to SRW by replacing the factory wheels with some steel Ricksons, made in October of 2014. The wheels each have a 5,000 lbs DOT stamp on them. I also changed the bed to SRW, but left the original DRW axle. I bought the wheels with 265/70R19.5 Hankooks, AH11 for the front and DH01 for the rear. The AH11s have a max rating of 5,512 lbs @ 110 psi each in single configuration, or 11,024 lbs on the front axle. The DH01s have a max rating of 5070 @ 110 psi, or 10,140 for the rear axle. Total tire rating is now 21,164 lbs; total wheel rating is 20,000 lbs, with only 4 wheels/tires. Front axle is limited by the axle itself, rear is limited by the wheel rating. They are really stiff at 110 psi, but I usually run 65 psi when empty, which at that pressure has a rating of 3,478 lbs per tire which mitigates the harshness somewhat. Of course, once I throw a thousand lbs or more in it, the ride becomes much more comfortable. The wheels are not that pretty, but they do fill the wheel wells nicely with no rubbing. Oh, and they also have a 75 mph speed limit (not a problem for me).

In response to the comments on balance issues, Rickson did what they call "match mounting," where they first match the 1st radial harmonic high spot of the tire with the 1st radial harmonic low spot in the wheel and then after that the tires were trued (looks like it was done with a belt sander) to reduce any remaining radial run-out. They then did a standard dynamic wheel balance and finally they added balancing beads. With all this they roll perfectly smoothly on well finished highways, like a pool ball on a pool table. You can get this work done at places that put tires on semi trucks.

The aluminum Ricksons have not been available for many years now. I'm not sure the steel ones still being made either. I had to wait about 8 months for them when I bought mine.

I really like my steel Ricksons, but there have been issues with the powder coating in the joint where the center was welded to the rim. Rickson actually took two of the wheels back and re-coated them, but the problem returned. So on all of my wheels I soaked the joint area with Evapo-Rust for a few days, washed and dried it, primed the joint with Rustoleum Rusty Metal primer and then sprayed the whole wheel with black spray paint. After that, no more problems.

 

[JPM]

My truck was a DRW. The original tires were LT235/80R17-E, max rated at 3,086 in a single configuration (front axle) and 2,756 in a dual configuration (rear axle). That adds up to a max of 6,172 lbs total for the front axle and 11,024 lbs on the rear axle using 6 tires.

I converted it to SRW by replacing the factory wheels with some steel Ricksons, made in October of 2014. The wheels each have a 5,000 lbs DOT stamp on them. I also changed the bed to SRW, but left the original DRW axle.
.......
.

Wow ! You did the exact opposite of what I wanted to do , convert my SRW 3500 CC SB to a DRW. (BTW they don't make em.) I chickened out.

Good job, To each their own!

 

[User113]

Wow ! You did the exact opposite of what I wanted to do , convert my SRW 3500 CC SB to a DRW. (BTW they don't make em.) I chickened out.

Good job, To each their own!

Yeah, I didn't really want to do that either, but my wife refused to drive it as a DRW; said it made her butt look fat?!