19.5 DRW Upgrade

[ADA6969]

Hello,

Any body upgrade from 17" to 19.5 tire/ wheel on a DRW 4WD.

Any input

Thank you, Andy

[jimh406]

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.

[Kayteg1]

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

[Grit_dog]

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.

[Grit_dog]

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.