Rickson Wheels & Tires

[BWooldridge]

I'm looking at the Pro's and Con's of the Rickson 19. 5" wheels for my 2500. I'd like any feedback from those in TDR land, cost, mileage, performance, Etc.

 

[Scooby]

I don't have the Rickson's myself, but have been looking into them and I can only find a few drawbacks...

1) You need to watch the tire size or else you won't be able to fit a spare in the spare location

2) Price (which could be offset by selling your existing wheels and saving money on buying tires less often)

3) If you go off-road, you can't air down to a low psi to absorb some of the bumps and save your suspension from working so hard... not to mention the better traction over rocks, etc... But then again - these rigs are too big for the really serious stuff - unless you don't mind doing a lot of body work!

4) Weight - I think they weigh more than stock wheel/tire combo



The positives I've heard are as such:

1) Greatly improved handling

2) Loooong tire life

3) Improved load carrying ability (in terms of safety and handling -I don't think you could saying improved capacity since that's determined by DC)

4) Cool looks (and face it - that's the biggest seller for any wheel and tire combo!)

5) I'm not sure if mileage increases or not



Don't know if this helps, but.....

 

[BCFAST]

Have seen posts saying, essentially, that they suck in the rain, but on dry pavement offer a far superior ride. Seems to me as though one could find a tire that works better in the water than what Rickson et al are offering. What's keeping me back? A: $$

 

[BWooldridge]

A buddy has them and says they work great in the snow and rain. I think it depends on what the lug designs is. I'm also wondering what the size will do to my 3. 54 auto. If I had to guess, which I am it would hurt my pulling power.

 

[NVR FNSH]

My buddy has a '00 2500 with 5spd/3. 54s and runs the BFG 295/75R16s (~33 OD) w/o any problem towing his 24ft TT. As long as you stay 33" or less OD you should be fine.



Brian

 

[JohnMcIntyre]

Rickson feedack



I have the Ricksons on my 1 ton dually ( 7 in total including the spare under the bed in the stock factory location ). I sold my original factory 16 inch rims and tires on the TDR for a fair price and the guys at Rickson shipped them to the new owner, who last time I heard was ecstatic about his deal. I'm using Yokohama TY303 rubber. ( see the link in my sigfile below)



This was a win-win-win situation all around.



Please give either Matthew or Dan a ring at Rickson in Sparks Maryland. They'll happily tell you about my set-up. The aluminium 19. 5's weren't available when I bought mine, just the regular steel wheels.



So far I've covered 11,000 miles on my Ricksons and they still look brand new.

Handling, ride, stability, looks are everything they claim. I'm off to the French Pyrenees mountains snowboarding with my son at Christmas and have no fears about this set-up. This is a no-brainer upgrade and should be a factory option from DC

 

[Red360]

Rickson Tires

I have them on my 1 ton and I love them. I'm running the Cooper C-140's which are very aggressive. . thread that is. The truck handles better than stock. They are very good in the rain and far superior in the mud. They are alittle skinnier than the stock tires, but in the mud the get down to the hard stuff better. The truck handles corners a helleva alot better. Well worth the money!!!

 

[Loren]

I also have a set on my year 2000, 2500 model, 4x4. They are the steel wheels and have the Toyo M-608Z 245/70R19. 5 - Load Range G tires.



I bought the wheels used (without tires) via a classified ad on this web site and delivered them to Rickson to have new tires mounted. One of the wheels I bought was so far out of true that Dan and Matthew couldn't get a tire to balance on it. I had to buy another new wheel from them.



The one good deal about the bad wheel was that I got (not from Rickson) a free 19. 5" tire and they mounted it on the bad wheel for a spare. It will not fit between the factory hitch sides, but it will go in far enough. I'm pretty sure that it would fit if you don't have a hitch that attaches to the inside of the frame rails.



Rickson's service was first rate. I was in the Washington, DC, area for only a short time, and the guys at Rickson bent over backwards to get the wheel in the right color and have everything mounted and balanced before I had to leave for home.



I finally was on my way home, towing a trailer, with the new wheels. I know it sounds like heresy, but I could barely tell the difference between driving the truck with the old wheels and the new ones. The odometer correction was only 4%, meaning that the change in gearing was slight compared to the factory set-up.



I now have several thousand miles on the new wheels, mostly unloaded, but also towing. I don't like the traction on the Toyos. I think the suspension isn't set up for a wheel that weighs about twice as much as the original, but the new tires slip and bounce. I'm hoping that some Edelbrock shocks will cure this, but we'll see.



I haven't driven through a winter with the new tires yet. I'm hoping for good performance on the snow.



The entire switch was very expensive, even buying the wheels used. If the truck's mileage had improved, or the ride had gotten better, or the traction had improved I would feel like it wasn't wasted money. As it is, I'm disappointed. Because the tires should last at least 100,000 miles, I'll probably recoup this money eventually, but the main reasons for buying the wheels were improved mileage and better handling. I haven't seen either of those.



Most drivers have really liked the Ricksons. I wanted to give you a second opinion.



Loren

 

[Extreme1]

Loren, I suspect you will see a significant inprovement with new shocks.

 

[CCahill]

Be sure and check your speed rating... most of the 19. 5's that I looked at, were only rated at 75 MPH... although most people claim it's "OK" to go faster on these tires... I wonder what the tire manufacturer would say