17" wheels on DRW - is it worth replacing them with 19.5"?
For those of you with 1 ton trucks with 17" DRW's, how do you notice them performing and do you or have you thought about converting to 19.5" wheels.
Forum Discussion
My 19.5s ride fine btw but my truck was designed for them, too. I have Bilsteins and you’d never know they were 19.5s if I didn’t tell you.
19.5s have a stiffer side wall for the same diameter because the tire is equivalent more ply but also because the side wall is shorter. That means they don’t give as much as 17s/16s. Kind of like putting 19/20s on a Mustang to replace the stock 17s. They handle significantly better with less side wall give. You pay for that with ride quality on rough roads and gain 95% of the time on the paved roads.
225s which are about the same diameter as the normal 17s generally don’t have that much capacity compared to the larger sizes. Sure a bit more than 17s, but not that much.
My 19.5s are dramatically more aggressive and dramatically better traction than the standard M+S you see on 17 shod DRWs, so the inferior traction couldn’t be further from the truth. However, I can’t air them down very much either since the beads are a different style and most don’t recommend going below 60-70 PSI which is about the starting point for 17s.
Personally, I wanted 19.5s for the superior strength tire, but got them stock on my F450. If you want 19.5s, that’s a worthwhile upgrade that will give you a stronger rear axle, better brakes, and dramatically better turn radius.
19.5s have a stiffer side wall for the same diameter because the tire is equivalent more ply but also because the side wall is shorter. That means they don’t give as much as 17s/16s. Kind of like putting 19/20s on a Mustang to replace the stock 17s. They handle significantly better with less side wall give. You pay for that with ride quality on rough roads and gain 95% of the time on the paved roads.
225s which are about the same diameter as the normal 17s generally don’t have that much capacity compared to the larger sizes. Sure a bit more than 17s, but not that much.
My 19.5s are dramatically more aggressive and dramatically better traction than the standard M+S you see on 17 shod DRWs, so the inferior traction couldn’t be further from the truth. However, I can’t air them down very much either since the beads are a different style and most don’t recommend going below 60-70 PSI which is about the starting point for 17s.
Personally, I wanted 19.5s for the superior strength tire, but got them stock on my F450. If you want 19.5s, that’s a worthwhile upgrade that will give you a stronger rear axle, better brakes, and dramatically better turn radius.
