Who's running 19.5' wheels.... Feedback needed please

[R.Taylor]

Well, I'm ready to bite the bullet and possibly go with some Rickson 19. 5"s. To be exact... . Black 19. 5" x 7. 5" wheels with the Bridgestone M729F or the Michelin XDE+2 in a 285/70R19. 5 size. Who's running a similar size on a SRW here on TDR. I'm curious as to how much the ride and steering will change. My driving is all freeway... Sometimes pulling a 9. 5k boat and in the winter I do take it to the snow. Why is it that all 19. 5 tires have a max speed rating of 75 mph? If I'm empty that's the slowest I go. Are these tires going to come apart at 90 or 100 mph? How often do you rotate? I've heard of people getting over 50k miles on these. When I got my truck the previous owner put 18x10" rims and 35x12. 5" tires on it after only 438 miles. Now that I've run through the 35"s I've put the stock wheels with the Michelin pizza cutters back on the truck. I'm not going to bother with the 18x10" wheels as all the tires that I'd be interested in are close near $400 a pop plus I really don't like the rims as they are a pain to keep clean. The stock wheels look to spindly on a mega cab and I'm not a fan of the OEM wheel so they are not an option. Are the 19. 5"s harder on the front end and steering gear? What's the average tire pressure on them? Any input would be great.

 

[jelag]

I run 19. 5" steel wheels on 3 trucks... (2) 3500 dually's and (1) 5500... they all use the 225/70 tires... . We buy recaps for the rear at under $100 each and new Bridgestone rib tires for the front... . we get between 90-110K miles per set... to date (5 years) have never had a blowout but have had 1 flat...

We have extra wheels with studded tires for the winter... again recaps...

We use the same recap as UPS does here in Spokane... .

We often tow up to 20K lbs of trailer weight and tow across ID, UT, AZ, NV were we can legally run up to 75 MPH with no problems... .

The ride is rough compared to the soft sidewall stock tires... My son also runs them on his 3500 SRW... . again with great results...

We made the move for the cost aspect..... we see at least 50% reduction in tire cost using this method... and we have the knowledge that we are running rubber designed for lots more weight than we'll ever put on the trucks... so we have this huge safety margin...

 

[Schumacher]

I just installed 245/70r19. 5 toyo m608z tires on vision alloy wheels 400 miles ago, so far so good. The ride is similar to airing up E rated tires to max inflation but, not bad. I have increased my following distance. My old tires would last 28-34k I should get more with the 19. 5s. I tow a trailer every day about 8k an it handles a bit better. The true test is when i load my slide in camper which over loaded the stock wheels but, not the tires. Now I will have a safty margin with both wheels and tires. I also picked up 3/4mpg. bonus!

 

[rMetzger]

I've had Ricksons on for about the last 10-11 years (from 38K to about 250K)



Pro: they wear tough!

Con: you lose about 50-75% of your tire-shop choices



Pro: confidence about anything you want to carry

Con: when not carrying, they're kind'a stiff



Pro: when they're good they're real good (goodyear unisteels, sumitomos and kumhos have felt good)

Con: when they're bad, they're friggin' unbearable (hercules)



Pro: the unisteels tracked straight, and rolled hard even @ 105mph

Con: when the blowout happened @ 93mph/accelerating it smacked the passenger side nerf bar hard enough to loosen it



Pro: the other 3 didn't explode

Con: HEAVY! HEAVY! HEAVY! to wrestle around during tire change @ side of I-5 near Ontario, CA. on Father's Day.

 

[jelag]

rMetzger.....

I don't think any of the 19. 5" are rated much higher than 75 MPH as a truck tire... . your lucky at 93MPH..... Am I the only one using re-treads... .

 

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

I looked into 19. 5 tires before but it looked like most everything had a low speed rating. Being I like to blow past 100 sometimes I didn't think it would be a good idea.

 

[SRadke]

I run the yokohama ty-303 in the 285 size. No real disadvantage that I can see. 1. 5 mpg better than 35x12. 5 Toyo MT's at the same diameter. They're big, they're heavy, and they're stiff. Good thing is your truck is too. It's not a porsche. The hardest part is getting them balanced, once you get that you'll be happy.

-Scott

 

[RWood]

I have toyo m608z 245/70-19. 5 on Vision wheels. I put dyna beads in them and smoothed them out. I really like them, much better when hauling the trailer around. I'm not an expert but the speed rating, I believe has to do with a full load. My tires are rated at 4500 apiece at full pressure I run 10 under full.

 

[EricBu12]

Vaughn!, metzger, and Taylor!. . up to 100? seriously? . . 25 over if 75 miles per hour is wreck-less driving! I'm a professional driver . . over 2 million miles in the last 15 yrs safe. Even empty over 85 is dangerous in a pickup not designed to go that fast. the 19. 5" tires are designed to carry heavy loads safely. . not go fast like a sports car. Now I am not real old but not young either. with all the stupid drivers out there doing very dangerous moves, I am being more and more cautious as I go now. I do the flow and watch out for the other guy. being aggressive is the best way to a wreck.

OK off my soapbox

 

[HBellmyer]

I put on a set of 19. 5 Rickson aluminum early this year. 245X70 Michelin's XDE. There was an adjustment period getting used to the handling. The XDE's felt like you were riding on marshmellows. Kind of squirrley. I beleive if you go to 265's you will have to put on a lift for clearance. I keep mine at 80lbs air and the ride is not that bad...

 

[RMachida]

I have no experience with the size the original post mentioned but have been running the Bridgestone M729F in 245/70-19. 5 on Rickson steel rims. They may be a bit stiffer than stock but I don't notice it anymore. For about the first couple of hundred miles, they felt a little squirrely and really wanted to follow any groves in the road. My current concern is how they are going to work in the snow. I've noticed a little more slipping when the road is wet and am guessing that it is due to harder rubber. I'm very happy with the tire/wheels and even picked up 1 mpg. Not too concerned about the 75 mph since I never go anywhere near that fast anyway.

 

[Jeremiah]

I agree with the squirrely comment -- and that there's an adjustment period. But I like the new handling. However ... I only got 40,000 miles out of the first set (sorry, but I forget the brand). I'm now running Bridgestones 245x70x19. 5. I recommend changing out the OEM shocks for a good set of Bilsteins. I am a careful driver, no spinouts, etc. , and no reason why the first set of tires didn't get more miles. Rickson didn't understand either. Front end lined up, always in balance, never had a flat, etc. Just wore 'em out. They didn't last any longer than the original 17" tires.

 

[Barry]

I bought my set of 5 Rickson steels with Goodforayear 225/70/19. 5 load G used from a man out west that had sold his truck. He told me 2 of the tire were like new while the other 3 were marginal.



I thought maybe I could run the "marginal" ones for 10 to 15 thousand miles while I looked for 2 new tires. Well, over 40,000 miles later, I just had them re-grooved and think they will easy go another 40,000 miles.



When I buy new tires, after all the research I have done, my first choice is Bridgestone R250F in the 245/70/19. 5... ..... Load F. The tread depth is 19/32... . deeper than most all other tire manufacturers. With the load F, max pressure is 95 lbs. with a load rating of 4080 lbs.



I now run 80 lbs front and rear... ... ... ... . and only pressure up the rears to 100 when I am going to pull a heavy trailer.



From all that I have researched and experienced, varying tire pressure is the key to long tire life with 19. 5s on pickups.



Keep 'em pumped up tight while running around empty and not only will they ride like a buck board, they will wear out real quick.



Overall, I am very happy with the 19. 5s and would not consider going back to OEM LTs unless it was to trade in the truck.



mi dos centavos

 

[Jeremiah]

I agree with that as well. I run 70 in the front, 65 in the rears. I don't pull but I do haul to GVWR (10,000) once a week for eight or 10 miles. I'm hoping for some big miles out of the Bridgestones. I think (but am not sure) the last ones (that ran 40K) were Toyos.

 

[RWood]

I have heard from a friend that runs 19. 5 on his service truck that toyos were the worst for miles. Cant remember what brand he recomended. he runs a close to full gvw.

 

[Jeremiah]

I remember Rickson saying they'd had other reports of bad mileage too.

 

[RWood]

They are only about 300 at les Schwab and traction is great. I did put ceramic balancing beads in them. It smoothed out a vibration at 60.

 

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

Vaughn!, metzger, and Taylor!. . up to 100? seriously? . . 25 over if 75 miles per hour is wreck-less driving! I'm a professional driver . . over 2 million miles in the last 15 yrs safe. Even empty over 85 is dangerous in a pickup not designed to go that fast. the 19. 5" tires are designed to carry heavy loads safely. . not go fast like a sports car. Now I am not real old but not young either. with all the stupid drivers out there doing very dangerous moves, I am being more and more cautious as I go now. I do the flow and watch out for the other guy. being aggressive is the best way to a wreck.



OK off my soapbox

LOL Eric When I say 100 it's not zipping aggressively among other cars on the freeway or anywhere near other vehicles. . . this is out in the boondocks with no one else near by, and on good straight roads which there's a few of here in the Washington desert. I have slowed down some (older wiser self) but when I had my '01 I topped 100 with it many times, took it up to the speed limiter (118) on 5-6 occasions. These trucks (at least my '01 2wd) have been very stable at 100+

 

[DonFitzwater]

Got Vision 19. 5's and toyo road tires. Great for heavy loads in the bed and towing heavy stuff. Not so good for empty ride and they like to follow ruts in the road. Should last forever the way I use them. Not going to run them in the winter, going back to the factory michelins.

 

[rMetzger]

I've only been past 100 a few times. :need an 'angel' smiley here:



I can't defend having done so, at all, but, I was in a legitimate hurry..... at least 8% of the time.



On a side note, we were thinking of trading this truck in, in favor of an '08 with a 6-speed.



GOOD GAWD those new ones are quick!



As we approached the paperwork preliminaries, however, my wife got tears in her eyes at the prospect of exchanging "Tiny" for some other truck that just wasn't "me".



I was kind of surprised by that, to be quite honest. :shock: