Jounces and Wandering? Ride Quality, 19.5s on DRW Feedback?

I have a 1 ton SRW and that's why I added Rickson 19.5 rims and tires. It cost about $3500.00 for this extra safety margin I wanted. I have had the tires 5 years now so each year I have the camper the cost gets cheaper.

I run them at 75 psi front and 90 in the rear. Truck and Camper weight is just over 12,000 lbs.

I fully agree with "pjay9" above:

"Conclusion: as for safety it is SOOOOO MUCH BETTER. Empty Ride bit of harshness, stability no issues at all (no airbags or special shocks needed, just Stable-loads), tracking no issues much better."

Paul

Question for those with 19.5's . Lots of talk nowadays about tires aging out some where between 3 and 6 years , depending on who you listen to . With the reported high mileage yield of 19.5's it's conceivable that they would time out long before the tread ware . Do the 19.5's have a longer life span , and if so what is it ?

Don't need 7- 19.5 wheels ONLY 6. Your OEM spare will be close to the diameter of 19.5 with 225 or 245 70's...the spare is not for rotation but to get you to a tire place. Plus many of us on RVNET have 19.5's and it is reported that there are very few flats or issue with 19.5 on pick ups...so no need to worry about a spare...do the math even at 900 per wheel x 6 =5400. That gets you 150K miles. At 42000 miles per OEM tire you'd have to buy 3.5 sets of OEM tires to equal the miles of 19.5. At 3.5 tire at 300 each x 6 = 6300...there's your 19.5 spare if you wanted one and you'd be even and so much safer...hummm! If you bought only 3 sets of OEM you are even. If you get only 126K (not likely)out of the 19.5 again you are even.

BUT I know this is a useless auguement for folks that are totally against 19.5's.

Have fun be safe!

jpzeroday wrote:
DRW Tire Capacity Rear Axel on my truck is 11,340
Without trailer and lightly loaded I have 1,440 available

With more load in the TC, and 1000# tongue weight I am now very close to rated capacity.

To get a 1000# tongue weight on the hitch the trailer would need to weigh over 6,000 lbs. so with a extension and the leveraged loading you will also need a Superhitch or something equal to it added to your truck as well.

Pretty expensive to get seven 19.5 rims and tires for your truck. Cost will be around $900 per wheel to get them installed and you will need to determine where to have the spare tire stored.

This is where the chassis cab version of the F-450 or a F-550 starts to look attractive.

I am answering this before I read any of the other responses...so I will not have any outside factors influencening my comments.

I have 3500 2WD DRW TCD with Lance 1161. I experienced a little rougher ride in the beginning of owning the tires, then that disaapeared...maybe due to break-in (not my explaination) but do to the fact that the rest of the ride capabilities had improved so much I didn't even notice the slight change in stiffness. The tracking you refer to is super, even in highways with truck ruts...I don't get the rapid sickening wander feeling as with the smaller tires and having to use bothhands, wonder which way it will go...yes you feel the ruts but the controli s now one handed and does scare me when it starts unexpectedly.

Tha stability was my main reason with all the weight and pulling a boat...it goes where I point it and with out delay of the softer side wall LT tires. I have steers on front...didn't think I would like them and the GY folks told me if I did noyt like them they would allow me credit and can switch to another type tire...no need...the lugs I chose fo rthe back are a bit agressive and sing on hte highway, but they have never let me down since I am a 2WD 3500.

Now for the underlying driving reason to get them...COST! By that I mean, the cost of replacing LT tires around 45000 miles was nuts and needed to be done in the most unreasonable times...I looked at my tires and determined I can do this trip and get back home before having to buy tires...wrong while in NC I had to buy one tire and bring out the spare for the fronts...the 4 backs made it home but I was not a HAPPY CAMPER. So new 19.5's came to pass...the new LT tire is the spare and the other one is sitting in the backyard on a wheel with the other 17" rims. Yes the LT tire is my spare as it has the same stance/profile as the 19.5...so if needed it will get me to the next tire place (Another discussion).

Conclusion: as for safety it is SOOOOO MUCH BETTER. Ride a bit of harshness, stability no issues at all (no airbags or special shocks just Stabil-loads), tracking no issues much better.

It may seem a large investment, but do the calcs on buying wheels and tires that will most likely get you 3 tinmes the miles against buy 3 sets of LT tires...it works and my projected miles is showing that I will be well ahead of the curve in cost effectiveness. Hope this helps! Now I will read the rest and may come back and edit if anything pops inot my mind that needs to be explored.

EDIT: Pressure fronts 85...rears loaded 95 to 100 unloaded not often 85. Projection for miles based on tread depth and mile already gone simple math proportion problem. Front:157250 Back DWR: 167210 ( I figured that if I got 125 to 130K I would be very happy with costs)...so far no tire issues except a steel shard on one rear tire caused very slow leak,between lugs, easy to fix with inside patch, told by Schaub tire folks if it had been a LT tire it would have caused major damage and maybe even a loss of control...VERY HAPPY with my 19.5's

jpzeroday wrote:
Was your blow out a steer or drive tire? You had DRW?

I have the weight, hence the question. Mainly concerned about the fronts as that axel is more lightly loaded per tire than the rear tires.

Rear SRW was just unter the tire load limit at the time.

A TC is only going to load the rears. so yes I have overkill capacity on the front but per the inflation tables 80-85 psi on the 19.5 matches the load as does 105 on the rears. My biggest issue with being near load capacity on a tire is that there is no margin for dealing with sudden road hazards such as debris, potholes frost wedges dramatically altering the tire stress in milliseconds. Now with an extra 500 to 800 pounds of available load due to the 19.5 the possibility of sudden failure seems more remote.

Was your blow out a steer or drive tire? You had DRW?

I have the weight, hence the question. Mainly concerned about the fronts as that axel is more lightly loaded per tire than the rear tires.

My truck rides well and handles better now than it did with the 3750 Load range E Toyos. I think it comes down to load and pressure set up. I had no choice but 80psi all around on the Es I run 85/105 on the 19s which is no where near their max PSI so it doesn't feel like driving on a rock or ice skate.

All I can say is Cat Scale your load then figure out what is going to work for you. There are no simple answers.

I will just put this out. My truck = $50,000 and my TC $30,000 to replace. The sole thing keeping everything on the road is the tires and wheels. I spent the 2k (got a trade in for my existing tires and wheels) to protect the 80k investment. now if you include my family in that figure: priceless. I did almost roll when I had my freeway speed blowout with the E. I don't need that experience ever again.

Like driving on ice skates

I have had my 19.5's on my SRW for 25K now, I think the ride is great with or without a load. Initially they felt much different but with a few miles on them they are awesome.

Subjective yes!

Also subjective whether some one "needs" them or not.