Who from the mountains/snow country has experience with 19.5 traction tires?

[GShail]

Just came up with a really decent set of P 30 van wheels. My buddy blasted off the old paint and the centers have been machined to 4. 773. After getting them powder coated this week I am going to need some good tires. Traction tires I have been considering are the Michelin XDS2, Hankook DH01, Goodyear G124, and Sumitomo ST 918. I use my truck for Auto Transport hauling and need something that will deliver excellent traction in snowy conditions as well as perform well on the highway. Who has experience with 19. 5 traction tires? Where can you get a set of 6 for a reasonable price? Oh yeah, the size, . . . 225/70/19. 5 or maybe 245/70/19. 5. I am leaning toward the 245/70/19. 5 even thought they might be a teeny bit pinched. Marty1 seems to have had good success with the 245's if you read his posts. I know there is a difference between an all position, drive and steer tires. It seems to me that on these 1 ton trucks most people go with a drive tire even on the fronts when your need is traction? What tire will give good traction and wear fine on the fronts?

 

[jelag]

We are in Spokane and run our trucks in the northwest and into Canada in the winter... we have 225/70?/19. 5" on our trucks... we used to run a F550, but now have 3 - 3500 duallys and a 5500...

We chose the 225 because the F550 ran them... so we'd be buying one tire... and that size is only about 1/2" - 5/8" taller than the stock 17" dually tires... we get a little speedo correction and they fit well... and our chains from the 17" wheels need to be altered but not replaced with the move to 19. 5" tires and wheels. .

We made this move because of very low cost per mile that we were seeing on the F550 over the years...

We run steel wheels on all these trucks with the Bridgestone rib front tire ($220 each) and a retread on the rear... the retread is the same retread from the same re-treader that UPS gets their tires from. . its an all season and runs well in the winter...

We get close to 90K miles on the re-treads and almost 100K on the front which we have capped... We just had a tire dealer go out of business here in Spokane they sold the same tire... its a Bandag cold cap... I bought 12 of them new in a pile for $40 each (normally $125 each) and 4 - 11R22. 5's for a larger truck we have. . (at auction)

Because we are running duals we had steel wheels made, we set the wheels up for 6. 75" wheel width and 1. 5" of offset to use the same tires as the F550 and the 5500. . We wanted some wheels that would hold up to the weights we pull.....

We looked at some GM breadvans that use the same wheels. . actually found a lot of them available in the scrap yards for $30-40 each but passed on them because there were rated at 2,800 lbs each... less than the wheels and tires on the stock truck running 17" wheels...

We put 500K miles on the F550 before we sold it... . and have never had a problem with the retreads...

This has worked well for us... . I'm so pleased I'm now looking for 4 SRW 19. 5" wheels for my 5er to replace the 16" that are very close to be overloaded. .

BTW - were like 6-7 years into this now... Hope this helps...

 

[GShail]

That rating on the bread van wheels has to be some kind of mistake. Those wheels are super burly and at least appear to be stronger than the stock 17's. I have a friend who has these same wheels on his Dodge that he uses for farming and such and trust me I have seen him pulling some max loads! He has over 100,000 miles on these same wheels with no issues.



Just the same where are you ordering your wheels from and where do you get the UPS retread?

 

[jelag]

I ordered my wheels from a vendor in Europe and had them shipped over with a load of goods in a container... .

All DOT approved wheels are to be stamped with the max load when used in a commercial vehicle, you need to look at them... We have a wheel distributor here in town that I also looked at for new wheels... and there wheels were rated the same... remember 6 * 2800=16,800 lbs... not bad for a truck usually rated @ 15,500 or so... . and when used as a bread van will never see 12,000 as a guess... . someone correct me if I'm wrong but as I remember the stock wheels(17" Dodge) are good for 3300, or was it 3600 lbs each...

I'm sure there is a safety margin... but I have no clue what it is... we use all our trucks commercially and can't afford an issue later on... . so all our stuff conforms to DOT standards...

Also as I remember, the bread van wheels need to have the ID of the wheel enlarged to fit our trucks and this needs to be done with some accuracy... as the wheels center by this hub and not the lug nuts...

We sell UPS clutches for their over the road tractors... On one of the calls to them we were chatting about tires and their numbers on the ones they use...

UPS does a lot of things very well... one is excellent cost control and fleet testing and analysis... they really know how to slice a dime and track the quality of the goods...

I called the tire shops here in Spokane and found 3 that carried the cold Bandag (brand) cap that are sold to UPS... One of our vendors has the contract for the UPS trucks here in town and offered the tires to us when we started this for around $85 each as my memory starts to go bad... a call to them just before the auction I attended found the current price at $125. 00 each... there was a balance charge and a casing charge is the tire coming off wasn't re-capable. . Of course the first time around we had no casing, as the 17" would not qualify... Our vendor split the cost with us...

Hope this helps...

 

[GShail]

I think the rating for the Accuride # 29015 that corresponds to these P 30 van wheels is actually 2,540 lbs and I hear what you are saying, the stock Dodge wheels are rated at 3,300 lbs. I guess I don't . . . believe what I am reading, lol. There is no way 2,540 lbs makes any sense, these are way heavier duty than the stock Dodge wheel. The P 30 van I took the wheels off was actually a Fed Ex van. P 30 Vans could be Fed-Ex, UPS, Frito Lay, your local bread company, or whatever. These wheels are indeed the same 19. 5, 6 inch width wheels that Rickson sells. Accurides replacement wheels for 17 inch Dodge are rated at 2,600 lbs.

 

[jelag]

I don't know what else to share... we moved away from the van wheels because of the rating alone and our commercial use of the trucks... .

If Accurride is a division of Gunite or the other way around, I chatted with an engineer at a trade show about this... . The engineer told me flat out, there were not as strong as the stock wheels used on the F450 and F550 Fords running the same tires and not to expect the safety level... . (Fords use a different bolt pattern)

The wheels I imported easily weigh 15-18 lbs more than the stock 17" wheels and the dish is 3/8" steel. (where the bolt pattern is)... .

Your numbers look more in line than what I remember, thanks for the reminder that my mind is just not up to speed sometimes. .

 

[GShail]

I figure that they will work and while not as strong as an F450 or 550 wheel, they are going to be strong enough. 60 lbs difference on the Accuride 29015/P 30 van wheels vs the Accuride 17 inch replacement wheel for the Dodge rated at 2,600 lbs isn't enough to overly concern me. With tires rated over 4,000 lbs per tire I think these P 30 wheels will perform well. I still need opinions on the Michelin XDS2, Sumitomo ST 918, Hankook DH01 and whatever other traction tire I should be considering but do not have listed.

 

[GShail]

OK, I found some Michelin XDE M&S for $273. 00. That doesn't seem too bad for that tire. Who has opionion on the aforementioned tires and knows where to score a fair price?

 

[GShail]

Ok, so after reading Kurt Henzler's current post I am really rethinking those Hankook DH01's. They are lower in price, look like they would perform in snow, but I am finding posts here and there that point out some rough initial break in, or outright balance/safety woes. I thinkt the Michelin XDE M&S I have found may be the best value but, . . . . I am really interested in getting some additional input from those running any type of 19. 5 traction tires.

 

[jelag]

GShail

Costco will special order and mount on your wheels the Michelin if you have one close... . right now they are offering a rebate on them... they won't mount the wheels to the truck but will mount the new tires to your wheels...

Before we moved to the USP all season recaps we used a set of Michelin M&S from Costco but it was several years ago and I don't remember the exact tire... we were happy with them.....

Also remember that with our commercial trucks, when the chain sign is out we have to chain... there is no slipping by with 4x4, good tires and excellent drivers... . We just found the UPS retreads to be close to 50% cheaper per mile to run... .


I've never personally tried the Hankook, so I can't speak to that...

 

[GShail]

You know I was in Costco yesterday and the tire guy told me he couldn't get any 19. 5's. I figured maybe he was a bit inept and I will ask someone else tomorrow.

 

[GShail]

So I found some Michelin XDE M&S for $277 per tire. Their replacement, the Michelin XDS2 look a bit nicer and I would prefer to have them, . . . however they are running nearly $400 per tire

 

[Cattletrkr]

So I found some Michelin XDE M&S for $277 per tire. Their replacement, the Michelin XDS2 look a bit nicer and I would prefer to have them, . . . however they are running nearly $400 per tire

I had the XDE M/S in a 245 size. Maybe not as good as a "snow" tire, but pretty dang good nonetheless. The only reason I went away from them was $$.

They have a tall tread and wander quite a bit when new. Takes a while to go away and you won't get used to it. It's definently woth it. If I could have gotten some for the $277 you've found, I would have gotten them.

 

[GShail]

The tire I need must perform well in the snow. That in fact is the number one priority for me. $277 is a good deal but the XDS2's do look superior. Where can I get some XDS2's for a good deal?

 

[GShail]

Found some Michelin XDS2's for a great deal and bought seven of them.

 

[BBoling]

Gsahil, what did you pay and where did you find them? I have the DHo1s and like them, but really like the XDS2's...