Who's got 19.5's and how are they wearing?

[Kyle]

I'm seriously considering 19. 5's for my pickup. I'm currently running 315-75R16's with a 2" lift. I get about 25,000 miles on $800 - $1,000 worth of tires. I rotate, balance, and allign often every 3500 miles. I'll keep the truck until it dies (or I die, whichever comes first). My motivation is purely cost/benefit. Rumor has it I can get more miles per dollar using 19. 5's -- even with the cost of the wheels. Is this true?



If you've got 19. 5's please let me know what size tire/wheel, what brand/model tire, and how many miles you're getting out of a set. Do you rotate 4, 5, 6, or 7 tires?



I definately want an agressive tread (I'm thinking Mich. XZT but I'll listen to advice). I don't care about the road noise, they just have to perform in the mud. Any other input from those with experience would be most appreciated.



By the way, what happens if you drive faster than 65? Tires melt down? Tread flies off?



Thanks for your input.

 

[Dave Fritz]

Kyle,



I have Rickson 19. 5x6. 75" rims with Toyo M-608-Z 245/70R19. 5G tires.



So far, they have 20k miles on them and about 1/2 of the useable tread remains. This compares favorably to completely eating a set of 255/85R16D's every 15-20k miles. How people manage to get 40K miles on a set of LT pickup tires is a mystery to me. None of my trucks have ever managed to get past 22K.



I rotate all five 19. 5" tires every 6-7k miles. They were balanced by Rickson and have not been balanced since then. The front tires begin to feather the edges slightly after 5k miles.



The Toyo M-608 is a mud/snow tread, which works very well in snow and most off road terrain. The tire does not handle deep sticky mud well. For 99% of my use, the 608's are fine - I just avoid the bottomless mud pits. FWIW: I would not recommend 608's for frequent or serious mud use; they are much better as general on/off road use tires.



I have run my 608's for hours at a time at 73 mph (2000 rpm) with no problem. I always feel the treads and sidewalls at stops, and the tires run cool. Other tread patterns may heat more - I just don't know.



Dave

 

[Kingsbury]

19.5 tire wear

I'm running Bridgistone 245/70 R 19. 5 and have about 60k on them and they are just about worn out. I see that now Rickson say you get about 3 or 4 times wear out of 19. 5's than 16" tires. This hold very ture for me. I was wondering about Michelin "XZT" or "XDE-MS" does anyone have experence with theses tires????



Thanks, Paul

 

[nickleinonen]

to keep the same overall diam to what you have now with the 315's, you're going to have to run 285/70/19. 5's. . bridgestone makes a nice looking one in that size [tread similar to bfg a/t], but their online thing says it is for trailer use... who knows. .

 

[Todd G]

I used to buy Bridgestones for my small fleet of medium-duties. I could get over a 100k out of a set of 19. 5's. These were NOT an agressive tread design and were very heavy. I can't remember the actual model but they were about $250 each. Agressive tires=poor tread life.

 

[fest3er]

I've got 65K miles on my TY303's now and there's still lots of tread left. The tires have ribs on the outside edges and lugs in the middle. Now that I've lowered the pressure and have the front tires running more on the ribs, the lugs have stopped feathering.

The truck drives like a sports car with these tires (225/70/19. 5, about 31" tall). I really have no complaints with them, and would likely do it again.

Fest3er

 

[ssurdahl]

Consider what Earthroamer has to say about his experiences with the Michelin XZL's. Their top speed is limited to <70 MPH due to concerns over failure caused by excessive heat build-up.

 

[BCFAST]

I'm running Yokohama 303's, which are a pretty aggressive pattern. They sing a bit on the road but not terribly. My tire size is 265/70 and at about 12k miles they show no visible wear. I expect to get 100k + if they continue like this. I run them pretty soft at 50lbs. all around.

Brian

 

[RADdodge]

We run Michelin 285/70R19. 5 XZA tires on 19. 5x7. 5" Alcoa wheels. The XZA tires have been superceded however by the XZE2 tires. One thing to remember about 19. 5" tires is that their load rating is considerably higher than LT tires. Last year we went through AZ (speed limit 75) and outside temp over 100 degrees with a fully loaded Lance camper (>4,000 lbs. ) Even fully loaded, we only are at 50% of the rated load of the tires at 70psi. The tire is rated for a maximum speed of 65mph. They have an XDE M/S tire that is 245/70R19. 5 that is rated to 75mph. We have a little over 10,000 miles on the ZXA tires and there is no noticeable wear.