19.5" Truck Wheels and Tires?

[Adiredneck]

I've seen a lot of discussion about 17", 18" and 20" rims and LT tires, but haven't found anyone mention running heavier truck rims/tires. I used to have a slide-in camper that I used with my 2001 Dodge 2500HD Cummins. After having two LT truck tires blow on me (which is a lot of fun at highway speed with a camper on your back), I started reading in some of the truck camper forums about tires. Almost universally, they claimed that LT tires were inadequate for camper use, especially on SRW pickups. Their recommendation was going with a true truck tire on 19.5 rims, and most made reference to a company called Rickson Wheel Manufacturing (Rickson Wheel Manufacturing) which made custom steel 19.5 rims to fit regular p/u trucks. You could also get truck tires through them, and they would do match mounting and balancing. I did quite a bit of research, and all references were positive. I ended up selling the camper ($$$ - daughter's wedding) and thought no more about it. Now that I have a new AS 27FB Classic, I'm revisiting the issue as an upgrade for my TV. Any info or thoughts out there?

[biere]

If you still have the dodge you can find the discussion about rickson stuff on some dodge sites and do some reading.

My personal opinion is you need to be careful about overloading the whole truck.

Watch your rim and tire weights and wheel offset since major changes in this can affect things like bearing load or turning radius or need heavier shocks to control heavier tires. Watch the overall height of the tire so your gearing stays the same and the speedometer and transmission and everything stay happy.

Also price tires.

I have some 19.5s on an old stepvan. They are a serious tire and will not wear out tread wise before they are dry rotted and replaced. But due to weight of van, I am not about to worry about it. This is stock tire for van.

I would most likely just buy some quality stock size tires, michelin always seems to do well for on road use from what I have seen.

If you are within the load ratings and watch the air pressure and tires handle the load I would be happy.

I did a bit of hauling with a dually dodge years ago and when it needed tires it was a somewhat uncommon size, truck was 03 h.o. I think but I forget since it has been a bit. Anyway, rickson rims and 19.5s would have been a lot more than just sticking to the tires that fit the stock rims. I put stock size tires on it and they did the job, if I was hot shotting or something the 19.5s would have been a better choice.

[bel73]

I work for one of the major railroads and we use that type of tire on our hy-rail trucks. Those are the trucks that set on and ride the tracks. Like biere said they are a serious tire and do take a lot of abuse, but..........they are a horrible ride! And I'm not one to complain about the ride of a pick up.

A good LT should be more than fine for your Classic. Just my $.02