Hi, I am new here and have a question about wheels.
I hate the look of the stock aluminum wheels on my 2000 Dually.
I have been told by my local tire sales person that there are not a lot of good choices in wheels for this truck. They are all hard to center on the hub according to him and vibration is a common complaint. They also would need to run spacers on the stock and many of the after market wheels to use a 35" tire.
I have a 4" lift and like the look of other trucks I see running 35's. He says that it is possible to put them on the stock rims if I must but they will not wear well due to the rims being too narrow.

What are your thoughts out there?

 

If your rims are at least 8" wide, 35x12.5s will fit no problem. Been running that config on almost ALL my rigs (at least 15 different 4x4s but no duallys). Never had a problem with how flat they wear. That's all in the air pressure you maintain on the highway.

 

Problem is that the stock rims are only 6" wide

 

I'm 99.9% positive the Dually wheels aren't 6" wide. That's 1980s car sized rims. Most factory Ford rims are 7-8" wide. I wouldn't recommend 12.5s on a 7" rim but, 8" rims are fine.

 

DAMN... I stand corrected... You need new rims dude. 6" wide is crap.

 

Before you go spending money, stop and consider what the consequences of running wider tires are on a Dually. Remember, the tires cannot touch.

 

They should not EVER touch, not even with the truck loaded to max weight (or beyond) and hitting a pothole or speed bump or whatever else. Air pressure and sidewall flex are important. That's where wheel backspacing and such comes into play and why so many working trucks have those skinny and stiff commercial tires on 19.5" or 22.5" wheels. Do you have the 16" or 17" wheels? I know you can get the OEM 17" wheels on eBay at least...

It's not really a question of the tires being 35" TALL that causes all that concern but rather how WIDE the tires are. The wider you go, the more elbow room you need, the more difficult it is to get a legitimately workable dually configuration. For reference, I believe the factory wheels are 6.5" wide, which isn't enough to be running tires with a section width wider than about 235, maaaybe 245 and be safe. That will limit your tire size options.

If you use your truck as a grocery getter and it doesn't tow or haul much, then it may not matter much, and you can get as cosmetic as you want with aftermarket fashion wheels and whatever tires. If you use it as a truck to tow and haul, you may not want it lifted up in the air for towing or getting loads into the bed. In fact, it may not be possible if you're pulling 5ers or even goosenecks, and you may need a ridiculous drop hitch for bumper pull trailers.

So, if you use your truck but still want larger tires that look more aggressive, you're going to probably be looking at something in a LT235/80R17, which is a 32" tire that will be about the perfect tire for you. It will look tougher and be a little bit taller than stock while retaining acceptable load index ratings (usually 120/117), and there are a number of tires manufactured in that size, including Toyo AT2 and other AT tires. If wider is more important than taller to you, and you think you can get away with it, there are also a lot of options in LT245/75R17, which will be just a little bit shorter but about half an inch wider, too. Probably get you a little bit of increase in load ratings, to more like 121/118.

 

Yes all of this I was aware of. Thing is you see these guys all over the net and on this site that have 35's or even 44's in some cases and lifted to the hilt. My truck had a 4" lift when I got it and it looks good. Not too tall and still I can tow my boat and car trailer with no problem. I don't like the look of the stock 16" aluminum rims and they say the 17's are actually a different bolt pattern? I was considering taking a set of stock steel wheels having them widened and having the off sets so they would work both for the front and back. They would retain their hub centric design and yet I could put on a 35" tire and not worry about they rears rubbing under load. Has anyone seen this done? Their is a shop locally that specializes in modifying steel wheels and says it would be no biggy to do. Other than the $175 per wheel. My local tire shop says that the after market wheels are not hub centric and don't always centre themselves very well which tends to cause quite a bit of vibration. I have not heard anyone here that has said anything about it but I have read about the problem on the web.

 

I don't trust lug centric wheels on a working truck. Even a commuter princess still weighs a whole lot, and aftermarket wheels may or may not be up to it. And if they begin to fail, will you notice before they give up entirely? Many people will never see any problems, but not everyone is so lucky. High load rated, hub-centric OEM wheels works well for me, so I'm not changing.

But it's your truck, so it's your choice. I've never worried about switching to different dually wheels, so I never looked into aftermarket or alternate OEM options.

 

Well that is what my concerns are. I too want to stay with hub centric rims. Problem is there are only two stock wheels that fit the truck. The aluminum ones on it now (I don't like them) and the steel ones. I though that I might be able to have the steel ones modified to work with the tires I would like and that way they would stay hub centric and and all would be well. The shop that is local that modifies the wheels has been business for ages and guarantees their work. They have been building custom one off wheels for race and the street for over 20 years. They say that the wheels will be as good as factory.

 

What about 19.5 inch tires and wheels? These are hub centric, designed to bolt up to your truck and carry a very heavy load.

Rickson Wheel Manufacturing

 

What happens when they touch?

 

You die a Fiery Death

 

Thanks Redford, I have been looking for just that kind of set up and was not able to find one.
You are the man!!

 

David Bowie descends on raven's wings and issues forth a soft vibrato as the world crumbles.

As far as 19.5" wheels, I don't know if they make taller tires like he's looking for. I think 245/70 is generally going to be as big as it gets. I think it would look a lot cooler and more unique than a generic lifted mud tire truck, plus be more functional under heavy loads, but I don't know if he would agree, and generally those trucks aren't going to be as smooth a commuter.