19.5 DRW Upgrade

Hello, it gets discussed regularly. Scroll down or search, since you don’t have a specific question.
Fundamentally, I can see zero benefit to that “upgrade” with your setup in your signature
You’ll not financially recoup the gain in tire life for personal use and you won’t be able to tailor your tire pressures to the load except from heavy to more heavier than the truck is able to carry on the rear axle.
Only time it even comes close to making sense on a 1 ton dually, IMO, is if it’s very high mile commercial use like hot shot trucking. And even then, LT tires for a dually are so cheap and easy to come by it’s still not likely.

And you don’t want to run traction tires on the front axle, so if you do any driving that really needs 4wd, the front axle traction will be much less than what you’d get out of a good LT tire vs a rib steering tire.

Why? The dually wheels usually have weight ratings 30% higher than the axle.

Seems like a lot of people who don’t use 19.5s don’t know much about them. Go figure.

There are lots of reasons to buy 19.5s or trucks with 19.5s. Of course, there is a reason that F450 pickup types come with 19.5s other than them looking great..

You can gain capacity for the front tires. 19.5s are a much tougher tire sidewall. That short tough sidewall helps cornering with a load, but also makes a rougher ride. That tough sidewall can be beneficial if you don’t want a flat from sharp objects. Yes, you can run traction tires on the front. I’ve been doing it for 14 years, and others have been doing it longer. Compared to the tires that usually come on DRWs even a minor traction tire is far superior to what comes on a 3500/350 DRW. They generally last a lot longer with usuable traction because they start out much deeper. Yes, you can also buy winter tires as well.

However, there are disadvantages. They can’t be aired down for sand use. They ride rougher unloaded either on road or offroad. They are heavier which I expect will impact MPG and stopping ability.

Jimh425
Thank you for the great response. I am looking to make it better then what i have. I have no problems at all.. I did just put a 1150 camper on it and had an old 990 before and 30k miles handled great. Looking at the Roadmaster on/off road tires

PS. I really don't care about Billy Big Rigger and 22.5"

Keyteg1

Has more to due with then just load. Helps with side wall flex on cornering.

ADA6969 wrote:
Keyteg1

Has more to due with then just load. Helps with side wall flex on cornering.

I suppose if hauling the camper is the primary use then it could make sense, for the heavier duty front tires, mostly. (Because duallies are always about maxxed out on OE pizza cutter LT tires up front.)
But I don't see it helping much if any in back.
If you have 17" wheels, you're stuck with a chitty selection of low load index tires (cant get over a 121 load index in 17s).
Upgrading to 18s or 20s will be similar cost, though, to 19.5s, but your selection of styles and tire/rim sizes and treads will be vastly greater than 19.5s.
That said, 19.5s are the bulletproof answer, so you don't really have a question for the group. It's whether you "want" choices or the bulletproof option.

ADA6969 wrote:
Keyteg1

Has more to due with then just load. Helps with side wall flex on cornering.

What's the advantage of less flex, when you have no traction?

Kayteg1 wrote:
What's the advantage of less flex, when you have no traction?

Kind of a nonsense argument. It only takes a bit of a search to find plenty of 19.5s that have great traction.

Sorry,

Why again will I have no traction?