19.5 DRW Upgrade

I have no dog in this. But the same weight truck will put more pressure per square inch on the ground with a skinny tire VS a fat one. I have very aggressive tread on my Ram 5500 tires. They came from the factory.
Continantals I think.

ADA6969 wrote:
Sorry,

Why again will I have no traction?

You’ll have plenty of traction.

Not sure but i think it is a good upgrade. But is it worth $4000.00 I like the BFG KO2 I HAVE NOW. Leaving for Moab in 3 weeks we will see how the truck will handle the larger camper. Thank you, for the input, Andy

jimh425 wrote:
Seems like a lot of people who don’t use 19.5s don’t know much about them. Go figure.

I've run enough trucks with 19.5s to know that unless they were needed for load capacity, I wouldn't run them on a personal rig for appearance or durability sake. Appearance is so limited with wheel styles, it's not even a consideration really, and durability (unless load capacity is needed), unless one is really packing on the miles, won't pencil out financially, ever.
Of course if you own a $150k brodozer jeep then $4k on truck wheels is probably not even a consideration, so go for it!

By the time one spends $4k+ to upgrade, with top quality tires, you could buy 3+ sets of LT tires. You can get new tires before winter before the old ones are completely wore out, vs keeping a marginal set of 19.5s thru the winter because they cost twice as much or more pre tire.

Just my opinion, not meant to be argumentative.

What facts? My rig is 14k lbs what is the problem with going to a 19.5

So you think any body with a 4500 F450 or larger truck that comes stock with 19.5 should take them off due to they have no traction. Again what in the world are you talking about.

Andy, all I’m going to say is that the 19.5’s are one of the main reasons I’ve chosen two F450 pickups over an F350 to haul my camper. I need the “bulletproof” qualities that Gritdog spoke of. My off pavement driving includes the risk of damaging a tire when we are far from help. The 19.5 steel belted tread and sidewalls can take a lot more abuse than the average radial tire. That sidewall stiffness also contributes to more stable handling.

As you said, nobody is going to be doing any rock-crawling or even very serious off-roading with a camper this size in the bed. When the camper starts getting tossed around to point that I have to worry about the tiedowns getting ripped out, that’s when I’m looking for a place to turn around. But if you’ve ever had a tire sidewall get “chunked” by a sharp rock, yet continue to hold air because the steel belts saved you, that’s when you know the 19.5’s were worth it.

:):)

NRALIFR,

This is why I was thinking 19.5's Most off road is just dirt graded type road were a 2wd car can go. Mostly want for better handling on road also.

Thank you for input. It was helpful.

PS. NRALIFR Just read you profile. AMEN!! Your one of us. Very cool