19.5 Tires or Not??

[usmcshepherd]

I've been reading numerous articles and owner recommednations concerning switiching out OEM wheel/tire combos to 19.5 wheels/tires. I was about to start down that road, but recently I've been seeing numerous folks on this forum and others who were 19.5 owners who were switching back to traditional wheel/tire setups. So my question is (especailly those 19.5 owners or previous owners) why did you switch and especially why did you switch back?

My understanding of the 19.5 setup was that it provided longer lasting tires, no sidewall buldge, which translated to a more solid ride quality.

On my previous setup I had a Toyo Open Country's but that was a SRW truck...now I have a dually with 17' alcola rims and the highest rated tire I can find seems to be in the 3200# catagory. Anyway, I like the look of the new Toyo H/T with Tuff Duty if that's the way to go, but I'm prepared to go the 19.5 route as well. Anyway any thoughts?

[gitpicker2009]

my old 3500 had 17s I think, and my new Sterling 4500 has 19.5s.

One difference I have noticed is that the 19.5s seems more stable but they do tend to "track" if there's any sort of road seam or rut. It's a noticeable difference.

anthony

[dedub]

snoboy wrote:
I switched back after 7 years on 19.5s. I recently swithched to 18" V-tec wheels rated at 3650lbs and 285/75/18 Toyo tires rated at 4080 lbs. My truck rides so much better and is so much quieter. My new wheels which are also made by Vision safely give me 7300 lbs of axel rating. My tires are safe up to 8100 lbs per axel. They are half the price and my truck is much more enjoyable to drive. Those 19.5s beat the ball joints and tie rods to the point of replacement. My truck carries my Northern Lite camper wonderfully with the new wheel tire setup. I wont go back to 19.5s and I dont miss them. If I were to get a larger slide out style camper I'd make my truck a dually first.

I'd be interested in the model and purchase location of those wheels. Sounds like a good way to go.................

[jefe_4x4]

On good pavement the 19.5's are King.
If I never got off-road, in the sand, in deep snow, or off-grid, 19.5's would be fine.
But, since I do all of the above I need the flexibility of airing down to improve traction on loose surfaces; improve the ride on endless washboard, mongo traction AND floatation on really deep snow, and great floatation on the dunes. I'll stick with my old school 16's; those big ballooney oldies. There is a lot of air space between the tread and the rim inside. I adjust the pressure in there to my advantage.
A couple years ago, I put a set of 33x14.50R16's on 10" wheels on the front of the Dodge and had my trusty 33x15-50R16's on 12" wide wheels on the rear before we headed up to the 4 foot deep crusty snow. Now, all four tires had a deep, mud/snow type tread, not a street tread. No woes going slightly downhill with that set up even at full street pressure. We floated mostly on top. Going back slightly uphill was another story. I got 'out of track' and the truck sank to-the-frame. After digging a bit in front of all tires, and winching out of the trenches, I lowered the pressure way down to:
front: 22 lbs.
rear: 20 lbs.
and drove right up hill, floating mostly on top of the snow. For me that was the 100% effort.
Don't try that with 19.5's. Then again, if you are NEVER in that position, 19.5's are fine.
jefe

[snoboy]

I switched back after 7 years on 19.5s. I recently swithched to 18" V-tec wheels rated at 3650lbs and 285/75/18 Toyo tires rated at 4080 lbs. My truck rides so much better and is so much quieter. My new wheels which are also made by Vision safely give me 7300 lbs of axel rating. My tires are safe up to 8100 lbs per axel. They are half the price and my truck is much more enjoyable to drive. Those 19.5s beat the ball joints and tie rods to the point of replacement. My truck carries my Northern Lite camper wonderfully with the new wheel tire setup. I wont go back to 19.5s and I dont miss them. If I were to get a larger slide out style camper I'd make my truck a dually first.

[805gregg]

I had 19.5 wheels on a class A, they are called pizza cutters for a reason, I spent alot of money to get some 16.5 wheels in front so I could have wider tires, I would never want 19.5 again

[Bedlam]

There are some that switch over wheels to go on the sandy beaches or when they do not camp off season. I don't know anyone while hauling heavy that switched back.

[noteven]

bka0721 wrote:

usmcshepherd wrote:
I've been seeing numerous folks on this forum and others who were 19.5 owners who were switching back to traditional wheel/tire setups. So my question is (especailly those 19.5 owners or previous owners) why did you switch and especially why did you switch back?

Like you, the OP, I am waiting to hear from the people that have switched back to their OEM set up, after switching over to 19.5 tires and rims.

Personally I have never heard of anyone switching back, and for the life of me couldn’t imagine why anyone would. So, if all these owners are out there, could I/we hear from someone?

Thanks,

b
(a 19.5 OEM owner, and recently an upgrade of higher capacity rims/tires than OEM, from Rickson)

If I had to make a long trip with the truck only to haul home something light like another motorcycle 🙂 I would back in the shop and buzz the 17" wheels back on to enjoy the benefits of the lower load range tire - smoother ride empty (you can air down), quieter tread etc.

I would not "go back" to Rge E and still pack the loads I sometimes do. The 19.5" ride and handle better and better as you increase the load because they have the reserve load capacity.

[bka0721]

usmcshepherd wrote:
I've been seeing numerous folks on this forum and others who were 19.5 owners who were switching back to traditional wheel/tire setups. So my question is (especailly those 19.5 owners or previous owners) why did you switch and especially why did you switch back?

Like you, the OP, I am waiting to hear from the people that have switched back to their OEM set up, after switching over to 19.5 tires and rims.

Personally I have never heard of anyone switching back, and for the life of me couldn’t imagine why anyone would. So, if all these owners are out there, could I/we hear from someone?

Thanks,

b
(a 19.5 OEM owner, and recently an upgrade of higher capacity rims/tires than OEM, from Rickson)

[skipbee]

I think of it this way. Stock wheels and tires may be adequate. The 19.5" delivery truck wheels and tires are definitely up to the task. We consider truck camper travel as "Severe Service" on the equipment and try to minimize the margins of error. Using the strongest wheels and tires available seems prudent. Dan at Rickson Trucks sometimes has deals on used wheels and tires for a nice savings. A call to him may get positive results. Good Luck!

[usmcshepherd]

I appreciate the thoughts from everyone as always...I technically don't need tires right now, however that day will be approaching sooner or later and I just didn't know that when the time came if I should just go on and move up to the 19.5s then or stick to the 17" alcola wheels the truck came with.

[Bigfootchevy]

I like the extra safety feeling of having the 19.5's on my SRW.

Paul

[mkirsch]

Best I can tell, most go to 19.5s because they need the load capacity.

It's not inexpensive to switch to 19.5s, and there are some distinct drawbacks, so most people will only do it if they absolutely have to.

The "stylin' and profilin'" crowd will go to 20" pickup truck wheels, which generally have LESS capacity than the OEM tires. But, they don't care; they're after the LOOK, not hauling capacity.

Do you need the capacity of 19.5s?

[skipbee]

We have utilized 19.5" wheels and tires from Rickson Truck in Hunt Valley, MD, for 11 years and 90,000 miles. With a heavy SRW rig we have been safely and comfortably all over North America with no problems at all. We have a set of 16" Nitto Dune Grapplers for over sand use on Assateague Island. We are on our second set of 19.5" tires, age not wear was the reason. I would not travel as we do with out "H" rated 19.5" tires. Duallys are not permitted on the beach at Assateague Island so that we had to adapt a system that was capable of handling the weight of our Lance 1121 and the F-350 CC Diesel. There is no doubt, in my mind, that these tires are as safe as can be for carrying the loads we have with our large TC's.

[noteven]

We went with single Goodyear G622RSD Rge G 19.5's which give 9000 lbs of rear axle tire capacity mounted on standard OEM offset spec Rickson wheels. This gives us 30% - 40% of tire capacity to spare when loaded rather than running the Rge E OEM tire at max. The way we use our 3500 (it's a truck) I won't be changing back.

I can really go in mud now Clicky

[artguys]

Two issues with Bigblue12v and your last post:

Re: running 70 lbs for a better ride in your 19.5s. Because the rigid design of the tire coupled with a tapered bead your tires can develop stress areas at the bead and sidewall over time if you don't maintain higher pressures both loaded and unloaded. This is true for 17.5s, 19.5s, 22.5s and 24.5s. Iv'e seen this condition many many times with these tires. Staying vigilant with air pressures is critical.

Re: Softer tires: No such thing exists on any highway use tires. From a VW(Volkswagen) to a KW(Kenworth), they all use a 72 hardness compound. Using the word softer in tires is a reference to compounding only. When tires are fresh from the factory they appear softer, this because at that time they will have max elasticity. As they get older they loose much of that elasticity.

Pros for having a fresh tire:
Better traction/better ride quality/more tread, better road hazard protection.

Cons for having a fresh tire:
Fresh tires are torque eaters. For the first 10 to 20% of tread wear(and this because of varying tread depths) your performance levels across the board will be reduced but they gradually improve as they age. Meaning poorer fuel miles and power. Now this also depends on vehicle, usage, loads, duration of loaded conditions and miles traveled.

A tires best wear rate and fuel mile performance/power comes in the last 1/3 of available tread.