19.5" All steer tires?

[Racer213]

I’m going to make the change to 19.5” wheels and tires. I’m looking at either using all drive tires, or using the combination of steers on the front and drives on the rear. Not sure on which set up to use? What are the pros and cons of each set up? Most of my driving is over the road, some winter driving, but primarily on the highway. I’m concerned with traction when using all steers.

[Bedlam]

Marshfly wrote:
What's wrong with a set of Toyo AT in 285/75r18 ar 295/70r18 ? Both are about the same size as the stock Super Duty 20" tires and have a 4080 rating each. You can keep your wheels and your good ride.

With the availability of 4080# rated LT tires in 18 and 20" sizes I fail to see the need to go to 19.5" wheels on a 3/4 or 1 ton truck. If you need more than 8160# on a single wheel setup, you need a 450/550 size truck.

1. Many OEM rims are not rated for much more than 3500 lbs, so putting on higher rated tires does not help your capacity. Many aftermarket rims are not even rated for 3000 lbs.

2. Going to 19.5" gives you much stiffer tire choices (up to a 16 ply rating) which help with wallowing when you are carrying a top heavy load like a TC.

3. Many SRW rigs are loaded 7-8K lbs on the rear axle. Most people would rather have a wheel combination that has a margin for uneven loading or other factors than to be right at maximum capacity.

4. The 19.5" tires wear much better and are more puncture resistant than LT tires.

[Stefonius]

I'm using Hankook tires all around on my F450. Steer tires out front, traction tires in the back. No problems at all.

[Marshfly]

What's wrong with a set of Toyo AT in 285/75r18 ar 295/70r18 ? Both are about the same size as the stock Super Duty 20" tires and have a 4080 rating each. You can keep your wheels and your good ride.

With the availability of 4080# rated LT tires in 18 and 20" sizes I fail to see the need to go to 19.5" wheels on a 3/4 or 1 ton truck. If you need more than 8160# on a single wheel setup, you need a 450/550 size truck.

[Lyrikz]

Racer213 wrote:
I’m going to make the change to 19.5” wheels and tires. I’m looking at either using all drive tires, or using the combination of steers on the front and drives on the rear. Not sure on which set up to use? What are the pros and cons of each set up? Most of my driving is over the road, some winter driving, but primarily on the highway. I’m concerned with traction when using all steers.

I just went through this.

I purchased some Sampson all steer tires. Those things arent meant for small trucks. They were damn near oblong. No amount of anything would balance them. I put 100 miles on them and am returning them.

I just picked up and installed yesterday some goodyear 622's. They ride SOOOOO smooth and nice. They are a mud and snow tire. You do hear them when driving, but thats not a concern for me.

Whatever you do, dont go cheap.

[SugarHillCTD]

I am not running 19.5 but Nitto Dura Grapplers 285/75-17 rated at 3970# each. (Highway or "steer" tread)

These stay on all winter and we don't use the TC from November through April.

We live in northern N.H., lots of snow and ice.

While our truck is 4WD, I don't use any weight in the bed for winter traction.

Even on days of lower traction, I rarely use 4WD. So I get plenty of traction from the limited slip rear and highway tires.

Put a heavy TC in the bed and that would only improve.

And the tires are quieter on the highway. I will buy the same when I need to replace them.

This has made me think that what a tire looks like to the eye is not how it performs on the road (or on snow, ice or even mud). IMHO, of course.

[Bedlam]

Racer213 wrote:
My truck has OEM Continental 275/70/18 tires. I’m looking at 265/70/19.5 which is almost the same size as the OEM set up. I did use the truck as a daily driver, but with a job change that now includes a company truck, my camper is rarely off my truck! My biggest concern with going to all steer tires is traction. It snows plenty here in Iowa!

The 245/70R19.5 are the same height as your 275/70R18's. I use two of my old 18" wheels as spares.

[Garry_Gayle]

I am running the Toyo 608Z in size 245/70/19.5 all around on my 450, the drive axel is wearing fine but the fronts are wearing terrible. When they are worn out I am switching to steers on the front.

[Racer213]

Bedlam wrote:
Drive/traction tread on all four corners of my 4wd. They wander more, make more noise and wear faster than steer/highway tires. If I didn't go for four months in the mountains during winter, I would have highway tread on all four corners.

Two days ago at 4000':

My truck has OEM Continental 275/70/18 tires. I’m looking at 265/70/19.5 which is almost the same size as the OEM set up. I did use the truck as a daily driver, but with a job change that now includes a company truck, my camper is rarely off my truck! My biggest concern with going to all steer tires is traction. It snows plenty here in Iowa!

[NRALIFR]

Steer tires will typically have a shallower, closed shoulder tread pattern to reduce tread squirm and noise. Drive tires will have deeper open shoulder tread to increase traction.

The Continental HSR/HDR tires that came standard on F450's and F550's are a 19.5" on/off road regional hauling tire. I've been happy with mine and pleasantly surprised how well they did on the 2" of sleet we just had a few weeks ago.

:):)

[805gregg]

I had 19.5 wheels and tires on a class A motorhome, I spent a lot of money to get rid of the front and mount some 16.5 BFG wide tires to get a better ride and road feel, hate those pizza cutter tires

[JumboJet]

I ran Michelin XRV tires on front and back on my 4x4. I also ran a set of Continental HDR tires on front and back. You can rotate those tires any way you like.

The tires and wheels are heavy. I also used Centramatic dynamic wheel balancers and they performed great.

[dadwolf2]

Bedlam wrote:
Exactly as you described it.

Thanks

I was also wondering if 19.5's need to get rotated like regular tires get? Would you not want the same type of tire front & rear if you rotated front to rear?

[Bedlam]

Exactly as you described it.

[dadwolf2]

I've never heard of the term steers vs drives regarding 19.5" tires? Is this like a highway tread vs a tread that is All Terrain like?