Help with tire choice

Those XDS2's look like a nice tread pattern.

I have the Toyo M608z and they have done very well in snow/ice so far. They are quite aggressive for a 19.5" tire and more aggressive than many LT AT's.

The OP being a SRW has the advantage of good psi on the tread, even with 19.5's.

Redsky wrote:
With the 19.5 tires I am also limited to a commercial truck highway tread which is fine for the pavement but poor for anywhere else

At the beginning of winter, I had a set of 245/70R19.5 Michelin XDS2 tires installed on one of my F-550 trucks at work. I was very impressed with their poor traction performance. I was driving it in about 6" of snow, and came up on a stuck F-350 with the OEM tires. We chained up the F-350, and made it to the turn around, I walked back to my truck with the Michelins, and drove right through. I was really impressed, the best 19.5 traction I have seen. I drive F-Series trucks with several 19.5 tire brands on a regular basis.

As a trade off, I did notice some tread squirm at freeway speeds.

Problem with the Vision is zero offset and I was not interested in screwing fender flares on my new truck, nor interested in throwing rocks into the windshields of cars behind me either, plenty of yahoos on the highway already doing their bit for the windshield glass companies.

Rickman also requires a 245 or larger tire on the steel wheels which means a 33" plus diameter tire and taller gearing. With the 19.5 tires I am also limited to a commercial truck highway tread which is fine for the pavement but poor for anywhere else.

Fortunately the majority of campers do not weigh 4,000 lbs. dry so 3750 rated tires are more than enough for my truck and its load. I would go with a Class C motorhome instead of a super heavy camper on a DRW truck. Lots of advantages to a fully integrated RV once you get to that long and wide a rig.

I'm a fan of Rickson wheels also. I have the Toyo M608Z tires in 245/70/R19.5 on the 2012 version of the truck you drive. I really like the combination. It did take close to 3 months to receive my order but they came as advertised, my son put them on at his shop, he said waaay heavier. Just getting them broke in probably 10K on my set.

Ductape wrote:
Buzz, what kind of lead time are you seeing on those Ricksons? Seems to be a lot of reports commenting on that. I called several times today and could not get them on the phone...

While I am not Buzz, but I do have a long time business relationship with Rickson, as well as a proud owner of their steel wheels/rims (7 rims & tires). One thing that the Rickson Wheels do have, is the correct offset for your specific truck, unlike other wheel manufacturers, mentioned in this thread.

Yes, my biggest concern with Rickson, is their ongoing phone service. Essentially two people are handling these incoming and outgoing calls. As you might imagine, there is considerable time spent with each customer in handling their concerns, needs and a good understanding. Basiclly a lot of “hand holding,” as this thread proves. They do go the extra mile, for their customers.

If you genuinely would like to reach someone, send Heather an email to; heather@ricksontruckwheels.com

My wheels and tires were shipped to me, for less than what the sales tax would have cost me. Thus, negating the shipping costs. They arrived in great condition, on one pallet (7 tires mounted and wheels). I drove to a nearby parking lot (disclosure, I don’t have a home or driveway to do my work), installed them, in about 1 ½ hours. Loaded my OEM Tires/Rims and drove away. (I sold the rims/tires/spare for $2,200 on Craigslist, 2 days later, as well as my OEM Front Bumper for $250) Right from the moment that they were installed to present day, not a problem, they tracked perfectly and no alignment issues from the moment they were installed on my truck. Love my Rickson, but hope they will someday solve their phone issues.

b

Area13 wrote:

Those are stock Super Duty rims, 7" wide? I wonder if wider rims would have helped with those wider 285's?

Les Schwab checked the Rims and said that they were within the approved size for that particular tire. I remember looking at it with them in Dec but I can't remember if it was stamped 7.5 or 8.0 for the width

We have hijacked this thread enough. I'm done

Buzzcut1 wrote:

ah64id wrote:
I ordered my alum Visions on ebay, best price I found and here within a week.

To me the added weight of the steel isn't worth the cost for 350lbs gain. The 245 gets you 9000, the DRW RAWR is 9350 with a 10,912 axle and 12K worth of tires. IMHO, stay at 9,350 or less.

Buzz, what psi where you running in the 285's? Slow leak, or road hazard? I really doubt it was weight related unless they where under inflated, or heavier than you thought. Just thinking out lout... I see all kinds of overloaded 265/70R17, by thousands of lbs, and rarely see a blowout. Not condoning, just saying. I run 19.5's and rarely top 6200 on the rear axle, so you know where I stand.

I check them every time we start out. they were at 80 cold 150 miles earlier. I cat Scaled my rig loaded. I know I was under the rating. We had left a rest area 30 miles before the failure and in my walk around all the tires looked good. The MFG has the tire and is trying to figure out why it failed.

Those are stock Super Duty rims, 7" wide? I wonder if wider rims would have helped with those wider 285's?

Buzzcut1 wrote:

ah64id wrote:
I ordered my alum Visions on ebay, best price I found and here within a week.

To me the added weight of the steel isn't worth the cost for 350lbs gain. The 245 gets you 9000, the DRW RAWR is 9350 with a 10,912 axle and 12K worth of tires. IMHO, stay at 9,350 or less.

Buzz, what psi where you running in the 285's? Slow leak, or road hazard? I really doubt it was weight related unless they where under inflated, or heavier than you thought. Just thinking out lout... I see all kinds of overloaded 265/70R17, by thousands of lbs, and rarely see a blowout. Not condoning, just saying. I run 19.5's and rarely top 6200 on the rear axle, so you know where I stand.

I check them every time we start out. they were at 80 cold 150 miles earlier. I cat Scaled my rig loaded. I know I was under the rating. We had left a rest area 30 miles before the failure and in my walk around all the tires looked good. The MFG has the tire and is trying to figure out why it failed.

Very interesting, I am curious what they claim if it was a road issue or defect.

I too check my tires often, too often for the wife, but I'd rather know what is going on.

I really want to get an IR gun.

Oddly enough 285/70 and 285/75 for the 17's of the Toyo ATII's are only rated at 3195, not the 3750/3970 (respectively) of the AT.

ah64id wrote:
I ordered my alum Visions on ebay, best price I found and here within a week.

To me the added weight of the steel isn't worth the cost for 350lbs gain. The 245 gets you 9000, the DRW RAWR is 9350 with a 10,912 axle and 12K worth of tires. IMHO, stay at 9,350 or less.

Buzz, what psi where you running in the 285's? Slow leak, or road hazard? I really doubt it was weight related unless they where under inflated, or heavier than you thought. Just thinking out lout... I see all kinds of overloaded 265/70R17, by thousands of lbs, and rarely see a blowout. Not condoning, just saying. I run 19.5's and rarely top 6200 on the rear axle, so you know where I stand.

I check them every time we start out. they were at 80 cold 150 miles earlier. I cat Scaled my rig loaded. I know I was under the rating. We had left a rest area 30 miles before the failure and in my walk around all the tires looked good. The MFG has the tire and is trying to figure out why it failed.

Ductape wrote:
Thanks, John for that detailed answer. You can always count on this place to find some great information. Good point about the change in offset- I had not considered that. IIRC that gives about 3" more track width, which should help with stability too?

Buzz, what kind of lead time are you seeing on those Ricksons? Seems to be a lot of reports commenting on that. I called several times today and could not get them on the phone...

Ricksons are 3-5 month lead times. Mine were ordered Feb 7