I have been looking into new tires as well as others for my 310 TD, and have found many manufacturers are discontinuing production of 8R-19.5" tires. Michelin is out, along with Bridgestone and Sumitomo have discontinued sizing for our beloved 8R-19.5" with others to follow suite.
The ramifications of these manufacturers discontinuing production drives up prices to the consumer as it reduces competition and stock. Also what stocks are out there are getting older with "new tires" having four or five year old DOT numbers and reduces our options to Chinese poor quality tires.
So what to do.
Metric tires do fit our 6" rims but we end up losing an inch or two in outside diameter. In my diesel that could result in up to a 500 rpm increase for any set speed. Yes you can go 245mm but that's getting too close for comfort on the dually's.
http://www.goodyearrvtires.com/size-conversions.aspx
http://www.ehow.com/list_7440499_eff...9_5-tires.html
What would it take to mount 6.75" rims to our rigs and does someone make longer studs to accommodate them? I know I can get new rims from Rickson or Accuride.
Has anyone thought of a 19.5"- 22.5" swap. On the current workhorse platform this is now an option at production. What would it take to convert to 22.5" and what possible tire size would you run?
This is me just asking as I'm trying to open better options for replacing tires in the future.
Cheers
Tony