Forum Discussion

Navyvette's avatar
Navyvette
Explorer
Aug 30, 2018

Single rear wheel with dually payload capacity

Lol now that I have all the weight police in one spot.. is there a flaw in this logic? I’m asking because I’m not seeing one.

I have been daily driving my dually for three weeks now and after airing down the tires (thanks Cummins!) it’s been great to drive. There have been a few times now where I really miss my single wheel so I was toying around on the internet and found a conversion with Rickson (normally I look at them for their 19.5” conversions anyway) which has a specialty rim that fits the rear to create a single wheel setup that with the proper 265 or 285 19.5 tire will keep my 9750lb RGAWR and payload rating intact.
Thought it would be cool to convert to 19.5 single wheel, get a single wheel bed (maybe a ram box) and have my cake and eat it too. The only downside I see is losing some side stability you get from the duals but I imagine with a wide 285 19.5 it should be similar as they have the 6300lb rating per tire which is pretty much both my 17 E rated tires.
I also thought at the same time to convert to Kelderman air ride while I had the bed off.

Just some ideas rolling around in my head. I figure it will be 10-12k for all this even with me doing the work so it’s not cheap but what is on these trucks. Maybe I can save some cash finding a used bed and selling my bed, suspension parts and wheels/tires. These are aluminum wheels so that’s a bonus.

You might wonder why didn’t I just get the single to start with but other than the bed swap I would have had to do the rest as well and I wouldn’t have the coveted 14k GVWR, 5470lb payload and 30100lb towing ratings.

Can you run 19.5s at the lower pressure unloaded like the 17s?

Rickson
Kelderman
Rambox
Tow Vehicles
  • Grit_dog's avatar
    Grit_dog
    Navigator
    Sep 02, 2018
    Navyvette wrote:
    Durb wrote:
    Seems like a lot of time, energy, and expense just to pick up 12 1/2" less width, outer sidewall to outer sidewall. The edge width of the tread is 17.5" on my dual 235s. A 285 will be 11 1/4". One other advantage of duals is the backup safety tire in case one of the rears blows.

    Then again, it is your time, energy and money so I'm excited to hear how it comes out. Good luck with your bed search.


    Definitely a want and not a need but will be nice to be able to lower the rear 4-5” for loading.


    Umm everything you've been contemplating will raise the truck, not lower it. (Unless your throwing the Keldermann kit on the fire too).
    Another consideration is what kind of RV are you towing? Can't lift a truck and put a 5ver on it easily.
    Like said above, your money, but think about separating wants, needs and reality with your mods. They're all over the place and don't really complement each other practically or mechanically.
  • memtb's avatar
    memtb
    Explorer
    Sep 02, 2018
    GeoBoy wrote:
    I was thinking if I ever got rid of my AF990 and went to an Alaskan, I would get a aluminum flatbed and go with the Rickson super singles but the tires and rims weigh 150 lbs. a piece. I wouldn’t want to change that tire in the middle of nowhere at my age!


    A small shovel beneath the tire....makes a huge difference. When you have 6 - 17.5’s on the camper and 4 - 19.5’s on the truck....you find advantages to make life easier! Leverage - is a “miracle worker”!
  • memtb's avatar
    memtb
    Explorer
    Sep 02, 2018
    Navyvette wrote:
    Lol now that I have all the weight police in one spot.. is there a flaw in this logic? I’m asking because I’m not seeing one.

    I have been daily driving my dually for three weeks now and after airing down the tires (thanks Cummins!) it’s been great to drive. There have been a few times now where I really miss my single wheel so I was toying around on the internet and found a conversion with Rickson (normally I look at them for their 19.5” conversions anyway) which has a specialty rim that fits the rear to create a single wheel setup that with the proper 265 or 285 19.5 tire will keep my 9750lb RGAWR and payload rating intact.
    Thought it would be cool to convert to 19.5 single wheel, get a single wheel bed (maybe a ram box) and have my cake and eat it too. The only downside I see is losing some side stability you get from the duals but I imagine with a wide 285 19.5 it should be similar as they have the 6300lb rating per tire which is pretty much both my 17 E rated tires.
    I also thought at the same time to convert to Kelderman air ride while I had the bed off.

    Just some ideas rolling around in my head. I figure it will be 10-12k for all this even with me doing the work so it’s not cheap but what is on these trucks. Maybe I can save some cash finding a used bed and selling my bed, suspension parts and wheels/tires. These are aluminum wheels so that’s a bonus.

    You might wonder why didn’t I just get the single to start with but other than the bed swap I would have had to do the rest as well and I wouldn’t have the coveted 14k GVWR, 5470lb payload and 30100lb towing ratings.

    Can you run 19.5s at the lower pressure unloaded like the 17s?

    Rickson
    Kelderman
    Rambox


    Been there....done that....ain’t going back! Love the conversion. Gives us the versatility ( off-roading, mud, snow , ice) of a SRW and capabilities of a DRW. We can’t compare the “stability” to that of a DRW, as we’ve never had one. But, in towing our 20 K 5er well over 10 K miles since the conversion....we have no complaints! We run our tire pressure at 70 psi, when unloaded. I’m sure than we could, safely go lower. We don’t have any ride issues, with being too rough....but we’re “truck people”! We do not expect, nor do we want it....to ride like a car!
  • Navyvette's avatar
    Navyvette
    Explorer
    Sep 01, 2018
    Durb wrote:
    Seems like a lot of time, energy, and expense just to pick up 12 1/2" less width, outer sidewall to outer sidewall. The edge width of the tread is 17.5" on my dual 235s. A 285 will be 11 1/4". One other advantage of duals is the backup safety tire in case one of the rears blows.

    Then again, it is your time, energy and money so I'm excited to hear how it comes out. Good luck with your bed search.


    Definitely a want and not a need but will be nice to be able to lower the rear 4-5” for loading.
  • Durb's avatar
    Durb
    Explorer
    Aug 31, 2018
    Seems like a lot of time, energy, and expense just to pick up 12 1/2" less width, outer sidewall to outer sidewall. The edge width of the tread is 17.5" on my dual 235s. A 285 will be 11 1/4". One other advantage of duals is the backup safety tire in case one of the rears blows.

    Then again, it is your time, energy and money so I'm excited to hear how it comes out. Good luck with your bed search.
  • Grit_dog's avatar
    Grit_dog
    Navigator
    Aug 31, 2018
    You're trying to create a unicorn, or you can keep it simple.

    The Buckstop conversion is out unless you want a 10" lift and 44s because that's what they are.
    265 or 285 size tires on normal 7.5 wide 19.5s is ok. 285s are at the upper end width wise for those rims though. Plus 285-70-19.5s are 35" tires, so plan on a leveling kit at a minimum up front.
    These are not "super singles" by any stretch. They're normal width srw truck tires, but you'll gain 1-1.5" track width due to the drw axle.
    Again, the drw to srw conversions your seeing are for bigger trucks. You could do a 10 lug conversion as well as long as your shelling out big bucks, then your options for wheels get more plentiful for heavy duty.
    Plus, don't you want the width of a srw? That defeats the purpose of a super single.
    American Force may make something that would work as a not so super single, or a 19.5. You'll spend about $1000 per rim but they are all bling!

    Now, to put a SRW bed on, remove the front hub spacers and slap on some regular 19.5s with up to 265 tires (285 if you want them to balloon out a bit), is easy.
    What your asking about is a very "custom" basically one off setup to gain a sticker and a set of overload springs.
    Slap some 19.5s and extra leaf on a srw truck and you walk away with the same thing by removing and reinstalling 32 lug nuts and 4 u bolts.
  • time2roll's avatar
    time2roll
    Nomad
    Aug 31, 2018
    Sounds like a great conversion to me.
    I would love buy a truck with dually load capacity with super singles tucked under a SRW truck bed.
  • Grit_dog's avatar
    Grit_dog
    Navigator
    Aug 31, 2018
    carringb wrote:
    Beware that 19.5s have a pretty high minimum psi (45 usually) so you won't be able to air down for sand. And that's not very much footprint to start with.

    Buckstop has a pretty cool 20" Super Single DRW conversion used on many new wild land firefighting rigs.


    Try 70-80 psi min, which is ROCK hard on an unloaded truck, even moreso with big 265-285 tires.
    If your into spending that much money and making the truck ride worse to have a “sticker” that won’t actually be valid anyway (since your placing value on that), have at it.
    Your rear track width will be wider. Dually axle is a few inches wider. Not an issue per se but a difference.
    Honestly you could buy a newer srw truck AND the 19.5s to go on it for the same money. But hey projects are fun.
    I’ve considered and still do, turning my Mega cab into a dually.

    BTW that buckstop conversion is for med duty trucks, not 3500s.
  • Navyvette's avatar
    Navyvette
    Explorer
    Aug 31, 2018
    carringb wrote:
    Beware that 19.5s have a pretty high minimum psi (45 usually) so you won't be able to air down for sand. And that's not very much footprint to start with.

    Buckstop has a pretty cool 20" Super Single DRW conversion used on many new wild land firefighting rigs.


    I saw them as well but it only shows the 10bolt trucks but I didn’t call them to see about 8 bolt so I’ll prolly check in with them.

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