High Load Rating Wheels

This is a little thought of subject on the RV.net truck camper forum. The only person I have ever heard have trouble with wheels was Whazoo. His rig ate a stack of 4Wheel Parts wheels, among others until he found some sturdy Alcoas. I've looked over all the razzmatazz wheels on the market today and they have too many negatives to even be considered. I too have had a suspicion of how close I am to the maximum load rating of my wheels under certain conditions. What are those conditions? Heavy duty off-road travel with an occasional stress shot on one or the other tires. I have little fear on the front wheels: stock front Dodge 8" wide aluminum wheels with 33x13.50R16 (305x70R16) Mickey Thompson Tires, because the over all weight on the front axle does not change much with the addition of the camper on the back. Here is the relative width: with the same B.S. a 10 inch wide wheel will stick out only 2 more inches:

The rear is a different story. Currently we sport Mickey Thompson aftermarket rear 12" wide aluminum wheels with a 3600 pound rating stamped on the inside. I've always thought these rear wheels were actually WAY over built as much as I've put them through. The tires are 16 inch wide 33x15.50R16 (375x55R16); load rating 3750, extra wide super singles, which I adore as they offer great floatation, stability, traction, have worn like iron and are relatively quiet. I've never had a stick of trouble with them. Comparo: 285/75R16 v. 375/55R16, unmounted tires:


Unfortunately they don't make this model anymore. I was thinking of contacting the company to see if they could make another run of these, as I would buy them, but there seems to be very little interest expressed by any of you to run super singles. I would impress upon them the value in upping the load rating to say 4000 pounds and marketing it as a true super single to replace dual rear wheels.
Maybe nothing will come of this so I'm on the hunt for some new shoes. Where to go from here? I've been working the Hummer H-1 wheel market as they are plentiful, cheap and very...did I say very? sturdy. The stock H-1 Military wheel is 9 inches across; 8 on 6.5 inch centers; 16" or 16.5" wheels; beadlock with the option of 12 bolt or 24 bolt locks, the 24 bolt being much more sturdy. It simply ain't going to break. Now, the woe for a swap is: the stock H-1 wheel has a 7 inch backspacing. The Dodge II Gen backspacing is 6.25 inches. The H-1 wheel will rub on your brake calipers and maybe tie rod end. I tried to find a 3/4" spacer to use on my front Dana 60 hybrid axle to bring wheel out away from the brakes and still work in the confines of the Dodge II series fender wells. None found. That pesky scrub radius gets in the way if you use a shallow backspacing and the tire will rub on the inside rear of the front fender well. Later issue trucks, say after about 2007 have more space in the fender wells for upping the tire size without the rub.
Now for the rear. I'm still sold on the super single idea. Stockton Wheel will re-center any wheel you bring them and my current thinking is to bring them (5) stock H-1, 24 bolt wheels and have them make (3) 10 inch wide wheels for the front axle (and spare) with a 6.25 inch backspacing, and (2) 11 inch wide wheels with a 4.5 inch backspacing for the rear axle. These would approximate the size I have on there now but with a LOT more strength..oh, and availability. I've seen similar on some very high bucks XTC type campers. The net result will offer a much stronger wheel and push the extreme of the off road truck camping footprint with the ability to have great floatation by airing way down for driving on the dunes or along the beach for miles. Only one other problem I see is that these would add a lot of unsprung weight to the rig...not something I would want to change a tire on out in the boonies.
As a comparison, here are the 10 bolt wheels (with lot of friends) I found on a F-550 chassis Earth Roamer at Bad Water, Death Valley: They are like H-1 wheels but on steroids:

Now, about tires. The current idea is to use the new Cooper SST Pro LT315/75R16 tire: max load: 3860 pounds. Recommended wheel size: 8 inch to 11 inch wide. Diameter: 34.53 inches. Tread width 9.69. Section width: 12.6 inches. This last stat is important when you air down the tires on the sand or snow as it gives plenty of sidewall on which to float. Don't try that with a 19.5 wheel. I'll let you know what i decide on. In the meantime, more grist for your TC wheel mill.
jefe

I started with the 18's and found I was within 50 lbs of the wheel ratings if I packed carefully. I did not worry about it either and went the 19.5's. No problems or worries about capacity until thoughts of a bigger camper made me sell my Ford.

Bedlam, you make a good point about the fields vs roads. But the main point of my advise is that the wheel is not going to break if it is used at, or ever slightly above its rating, unless it is defective. I'm not advocating overloading. The original poster says he is running very close to the limit. Maybe I'm mis-reading, but I take that to mean that he is still under. As an analogy, I don't know about you, but I don't drive 53 in a 55 zone to make sure I don't get a ticket. I go 58, because I know there is a margin of error built into the cops mind. But he says he a worrier, I don't suppose I can change that.

It's a little different loading up the rear of a SRW with 8000 lbs in a farmer's field compared to driving highways cross country with that much weight. I have done this with 19.5's more than once but would not attempt it with the 18's or 17's I had on the truck earlier in its life.

There is a large margin of safety built into the ratings on the wheel. If you are not over the rating, don't worry about it, don't even think about it. I know of farmers who have overloaded wheels by 3x and still keep going.

Vision Heavy Hauler 81 19.5 rims are rated at 4500 lbs and Rickson steel 19.5 rims are rated at 5000 lbs each.

19.5 inch wheels will give you a higher load. What is your RAWR..........your tires are at 7500LBS now.

It would seem you will be overloading the truck before you will be overloading those wheels.