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?

[Bedlam]

My DynaTrac PD890's are holding up well after over 15k miles and are more aggressive for mud and snow. You should be able to find four of these for under $1500 since mine mounted on Vision rims were $2000 delivered to my door less than two years ago. They are marginal in loose sand and deep snow where you want flotation, but I also bring a vehicle with me that is better suited for extreme terrain and will explore areas where I would prefer to not take the TC.

[btggraphix]

I also just recently replaced my Michelin XDS2's (245/70/r19.5) I loved the XDS2's....great ride, reltively quiet, awesome on hardpack and icy roads carrying my 19,000 truck load. I got about 70K miles on them. But this time they'd gone up even more in price and I expect I'll be doing a little more off-road and a little less interstate driving over the next 70K miles. So I also went over to the Hankook DH01's as I heard here from a poster who had used several different makes/models (lives on the west side of Mt Hood but can't remember who it was) that the DH01's do better offroad traction-wise than the XDS2's and were pretty comparable to the Toyos 608's (but chepaer by about $300.) Cost $2400 for 6 of them. Will probably sipe the middle of the tread on them for a little better ice traction but their sipe machine was down. Will do it on first rotation.

My rig is so different so as to make my comments useless to you, but I sure like the 19.5's. I would hate to lose the air-down options with 16's, but, I am more concerned with the weight carrying than the air-down capability so if I was borderline on capacities with a 16 I'd probably still go with 19.5's. We do our exploring into the rough stuff with our dirt bikes or Jeep so I don't need to go way off-road with the big rig.

[rkortes]

Thanks for the tire tips... I personally haven't had any problem with tread noise on my Toyos. There was some at first, but either I got used to it or it subsided.

[a1hvacman]

I just went back from 19.5's to OEM 17". I purchased a 2007 F350 dually with a set of 19.5 Vision rims. They really made the truck stand out. Only problem then was the tread noise. The tread was a bit aggressive and really setup a harmonic singing that would drive you crazy on long trips. My poor Boxer would start howling it was so bad. The ride was fine but I couldn't stand the noise. So I decided to find a set of tires that wouldn't be so noisy. I found a set of Bridgestone M729F 245/70R19.5's. They sounded better, but the ride went to crap. At first I thought it was balancing issues. But after trying everything under the sun. I finally decided the tires were just too heavy for the truck. I'm fairly sure the first set was 12 or 14 ply. The Bridgestone's I bought are load range H -16 ply. This was most likely my mistake. Anyway after dealing with this all summer I found a set of Factory takeoff - OEM's to put on the truck. All is good, except the truck doesn't look as sharp as with the 19.5's. I now have the whole set up for sale with almost like new tires with less that 3,ooo miles.

[Pete_k]

rkortes wrote:
I'm on my second set of Toyos. I got only 40K out of the first set, but was conservative with the 4k weight of the camper on them.

To tell you the truth I have not been that happy with the wear on the Toyos. Some folks have talked 70k or more and I'm just not experiencing that.

Since I'm hauling a 5er I want to stay 19.5. Any other recommendations for tires on my Vision rims that won't break the bank?

BTW.... my tire and wheel set up does handle much better than the stockers on my 05 GMC 3500 SRW pickup.

I for one will not buy Toyo's again, way better tires for a lot less $$. Now I do like that the Toyo's are rated for right at 5000 lbs per tire. But may look at this brand next time.
19'5 tires

[kbaum]

I made the conversion about 8K ago, it took some getting used to but I really like the change. More confidence when I have the TC and am towing/toading or when I am towing our 5th wheel. The handling characteristics change but I am used to them now and really like them. Most of the miles driven with my truck are with a load. I have the Toyo's 245.70.19.5's and Rickson wheels and like them so far. I have no experience with any other brand or size of 19.5's

[tad94564]

I had the toyos - was not impressed by them.

Switched to Hankook DH01's just because they are cheaper and don't pull as bad.

[rkortes]

I'm on my second set of Toyos. I got only 40K out of the first set, but was conservative with the 4k weight of the camper on them.

To tell you the truth I have not been that happy with the wear on the Toyos. Some folks have talked 70k or more and I'm just not experiencing that.

Since I'm hauling a 5er I want to stay 19.5. Any other recommendations for tires on my Vision rims that won't break the bank?

BTW.... my tire and wheel set up does handle much better than the stockers on my 05 GMC 3500 SRW pickup.

[Pete_k]

kbaum wrote:
Nice Pete K

Thanks I enjoy it.
Pete

[kbaum]

Nice Pete K

[Pete_k]

On my second set of 19.5 tires, Only 114,000 miles on the truck and 100,000 of those on the 19.5's. This set is Toyo's and still have around 75% Thread on them. Sold the truck camper a year ago July and still running them. Thought about selling them and putting the factory wheels and tires back on. But like the looks of them on the truck and want to get my $1300. worth of tire use out of these Toyo's. Will be buying a new set of 11/R24.5 Steer tires soon may have to get ride of the 19.5's to buy those 2 tires. Man they must be made out of Gold. HAHA
19.5's and Truck camper


Towing our 41ft X 16,000 lb 5th wheel with 4000 lb hitch weight the 19.5's work perfect for that also.

But will be using this after a set of $1000 + Steer Tires are put on.

[rickeoni]

gitpicker2009 wrote:
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

I also had 17's on my old f250 and 19.5's on the f450. With all the construction around here I agree they can be a handfull when they start tracking. But when the truck is loaded the tires are no longer a weak link in the suspension system.

[dedub]

snoboy wrote:

dedub wrote:

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.................

I purchased my wheels and tires at Les Schwab right down the street, so easy warranty resolution, free flat repair, rotations etc.

http://toyotires.com/tire/pattern/open-country-at-ii-on-off-road-all-terrain-tires
http://www.visionwheel.com/wheel.cfm?id=702

Thanks, my bro-in law runs the Enumclaw store but it's a hike to shop there for me. Got a couple local stores though.

[snoboy]

dedub wrote:

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.................

I purchased my wheels and tires at Les Schwab right down the street, so easy warranty resolution, free flat repair, rotations etc.

http://toyotires.com/tire/pattern/open-country-at-ii-on-off-road-all-terrain-tires
http://www.visionwheel.com/wheel.cfm?id=702