hi, i have a f450 with 19.5 tires, and gooseneck equipment trailer with 16" tires ,would like to run the take off 19.5 s on the trailer? anyone done this? found wheels on ebay but alumin& pricey $200 ea thanks barry

 

I bet your 19.5 tires have a larger diameter than the 16's on the trailer... so first order of business would be figuring out if everything would even fit. I'm guessing it won't. You can move things like fenders and you can add blocks or drop spring mounts if you need more clearance, but I'm thinking your average tandem axle trailer doesn't have enough space between the axles to go up to that large a tire. If you have or can get enough space then you would have to find a wheel that will bolt to your bolt pattern and to the 19.5" wheels. The 19.5 wheels, if I'm not mistaken, are a 10 bolt lug pattern, and most 16" trailer wheels will be the older 8x6.5 lug. You can find 19.5 8 lug wheels from companies like rickson but as you discovered, they aren't cheap. You can also get the bolt on adaptors to go 8 lug to 10 lug like all the ricer diesel guys get to run semi rigs, but they will space the wheels out and they will be a weak spot. Speaking of spacing, you will also need to check the backspacing of your wheels to see if they will still fit under your fenders without hitting the frame or anything. So it will be a lot of measuring. Also, if you do end up running bigger tires on the trailer, the whole trailer will sit higher up too so you may need a different ball mount to keep it level, and it will raise the cog of the trailer which will reduce its handling capabilities and make the ramps steeper to load it. all stuff to think about.

 

There are 8-bolt 19.5 wheels around--older 450s? in steel that might work if the bolt pattern is same--I assume you have 8-bolt on the trailer. Then all the rest of the stuff hasteranger has mentioned will come into play.
Joe

 

It is quite possible that this will work, but you need the find wheels with the proper backspacing so there is no issue of rubbing on the springs/frame. Try looking at Rickson Wheel Manufacturing. They can also custom manufacture a set if you are hell-bent on doing this cool conversion.

 

I am guessing the economics of this swap will be the speed bump--is it worth $1000+ to be able to use the old tires off the truck? But old steel wheels would bring the cost down a lot.
Joe

 

Kind of a sideline note on the 19.5" tire--I was in a tire store today getting new Continentals for my 450 (78500miles) and put one of them next to a Michelin LT265x75R16 E tire--exact same unloaded height. Kind of surprised me, seems there would have been SOME difference.
Joe

 

Yeah most 19.5's are closer to 34-35" in diameter. There are lots of different size 19.5's just like 16',s though... and a 265/75 would be somewhat unusual on a trailer, in my experience. a more usual size is 225/75, usually no larger than a 245/75.

And yes they do make 8 lug 19.5's... they are just pretty hard to find, and you'll be stuck with the dually wheels since I've never seen them in singles. And I'd say there is no chance the dually wheels will have the right backspacing for a trailer that had single wheels on it.