Rickson 19.5's and Michelin XZT's

[Whitmore]

I am almost ready to make a commitment toward a set of Rickson 19. 5 steel wheel powdercoated black with Michelin XZT 265's and am wondering if anybody has this arrangment ? I want to hear likes and dislikes so I can make the final decision. I have a concern for clearence when turning,they are 34. 5 inches tall. any problems? Any pics out there of rigs like this?



cheers, Kevin

 

[Whitmore]

TTT, hello hello

 

[Jeff Clark]

I ran 245/70-19. 5 XZT's with Alcoa's on my 98 dually when I first got them. I wore the XZT's out prematurely on the front and switched over to the XZE's on the front and left the XZT's on the back. Put a ton of miles on them and I liked them. I have already started looking at 19. 5's for when I get me new truck, but I will use XZE's all the way around as the truck will be 2wd.



As for clearance, I don't know. I thought the 245's where kind of tight but 265's may clear. If not, look at leveling the truck out.

 

[Whitmore]

The 245's are 33. 8 diameter and the 265's are 34. 5 and you say the 245's were tight? I really want the 265's if they will fit.



I see in the 245 size that Michelin makes a XDE-MS, looks like a good tire to me , anybody hade that one with luck?



Jeff, why did the fronts wear prematurley, was your frontend out of line?



cheers, Kevin

 

[BigUgly]

Kevin;

I have the 19. 5X7. 5 steels and the 265/70/19. 5 Goodyear G124s. Mine fit fine. Now, I haven't gotten them crossed up yet when turning, so I can't tell you the clearance there. They are real close at full turn flat, but, from what I can tell from the front suspension geometry, when it goes upward, it'll also slip foreward a bit, that should help some. I have some pics of mine in my reader's rides section, check it out to see how it'll look. One day, I plan on upgrading to 285/70/19. 5s, when I do, I'll have to either level out the front end, or go with a 2-2. 5" lift all the way around.

Hope this helped some;

Josiah

 

[Whitmore]

Josiah, thats the look I am after, what have you done for centers, I cant tell from the pic ?



How many miles on them ?



cheers, Kevin

 

[BigUgly]

Kevin;

Contrary to what rickson claimed, my stock centers did not ft. Actually, they did fit, but they weren't flush with the wheels, they had about 1/4-1/2" gap between them. On the road, they rattled something fierce. I took them off and painted the hubs black (make sure it's really dry before re-installing the wheels or it's tougher to get the wheels off... don't ask ) I then installed some cheap chromed plastic lug nut covers on there. I got them from www.berubes.com for about $0. 30 each. They look really nice with the addition of the Rickson's Chrome ring.

Now, my wheels were from the first batch of 19. 5X7. 5 steels for 2000+ trucks, they may have changed things so that the covers now fit, but I wouldn't change back to the stock centercaps on a bet.

I also have about 15K on them, the only wear was that the little fuzzy casting marks have worn off, that and maybe a very small amount of wear on the edges of some of the blocks from a few times I've lost traction .

Josiah

 

[Pit Bull]

Just wondering what the weight difference is between these and the stock tire/wheel?

 

[BigUgly]

Pit bull,

The stock wheel/tire combo was at 72 lbs, the Rickson combo was at a back-breaking 156 lbs each!

The UPS guy is still ****** at me about that.

Josiah

 

[Jeff Clark]

Originally posted by Whitmore





Jeff, why did the fronts wear prematurley, was your frontend out of line?

I drove the truck hard. With the stiff tires and "training wheels" the truck handled like a rocket ship on rails in the corners. The XZT's weren't up to the challange, but the XZE's were. The frontend was always in line. The tires just feathered a bit on the outside edge. I only got 30,000 miles out of the set of XZT's on the front, but 70,000 out of the XZT's on the rear.



As for the fit, I remember the 245's being close to the fender liner when the tires were turned. 265's should fit but might rub when stuffed. I've seen 35/12. 5-16. 5 BFG's on a 2500 4x4 with no lift at all so anything is possible.

 

[Pit Bull]

Originally posted by BigUgly

Pit bull,

The stock wheel/tire combo was at 72 lbs, the Rickson combo was at a back-breaking 156 lbs each!

The UPS guy is still ****** at me about that.

Josiah

WOW I bet he was :-laf There are a lot of people out there that could not change a tire/wheel that weighed that much. How long did your suspension parts wear carrying that kind of weight? How did the truck handle? That is a whole lot of unsprung weight.

 

[BigUgly]

Pit Bull;

So far all of the suspension and steering systems have held up fine. The stiffer side-walls really help on the cornering. It's much better than the 285/75/16 BFG MTs that I had on there in the past. However, with the 19. 5s, you WILL feel every bump in the road.

I learned the first time I went to rotate the tires not to jack the truck up very much, I've gotten so that I can just slide the wheels on and not have to lift them any.

Josiah

 

[JohnMcIntyre]

An alternate view.....

Kevin, this is all I have to say on the subject



19. 5s, steel, 225/70R, Yokohama TY303 Rubber. 35K miles to date and barely scrubbed in!! Three rotations at 10k intervals and tire wear minimal but equal all around at 55/60psi. 35% of mileage covered with slide-in camper onboard and a GVWR of 12,500 lbs measured on the scales. No complaints and plenty of smiles!! The ONLY thing I am not real happy with is the tendency to occasionally follow/track heavy duty "tramlines" on major highways caused by the big trucks travelling across Europe, but overall I'm pleased with the package.

 

[roadranger]

Ok, here's my setup, just got this month;



Rickson 19. 5 steel 6. 75in wheels

Dunlop SP431A 245/70R load range H



Truck lite weight 7640

Camper full up weight 4160



total gvw 11,800



the 245's don't rub in the wheelwells, and she sits down a bit on the springs



the factory hub caps fit on, but set out 1/4" from the wheel face- no rattle noticed yet



I got the 19. 5's to handle the weight, but the stock 16in. Michelin 265/75R's even though overloaded actually handled on the highway better-- these skinnier 19. 5's follow the lane ruts more, and seem to 'rear end' steer more.