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FWIW - I have a 2018 Ford F350 CC 6.7 FX4 8' bed, with a single slide truck camper and a lot of gear. The factory 17" steel wheels and Michelin tires worked fine but did not have the necessary weight ratings. I did a lot of research and only found a few true HD wheel and tire options. I chose 18" Method HD wheels (4500lbs rating) with their "bead grip" feature, and Discount Tire private label Pathfinder AT tires with Load Range 129, which are manufactured by Hankook. This combo covers the payload weight, and allows airing down for additional traction off-road. I have had no problems driving extensively on soft beach sand. I keep pressure at 80lbs F&R, the combo is quiet on the highway and they balance well. The tires have a mileage guaranty, and the whole package was very price competitive. Due to their stiff sidewall design, 19.5 tires do not allow airing down, and will come off the rim if you try. BTW - I looked at Rickson at one point, but I understand that they are no longer in business. ICON makes a 4,000lbs wheel if you are interested.
BTW - I looked at Rickson at one point, but I understand that they are no longer in business.
Yeah, I haven't heard anything official, but they sure seem to be either out of business or close to it. Their web site is a museum of about 15 years ago.
I am also running the 18" Method NV305 HD wheels (rated 4,500lbs) but went with the Toyo Open Country M/T tires 35" x 12.5" x 18" load index 128 (3,960lbs each). When loaded I run 80psi too and having the wider/firm footprint makes a difference too. Gotta run them at 65psi unloaded or they will loosen your fillings.
Hello, new member here resurrecting an old thread... was glad to find this forum for slide in campers! I have an Arctic Fox 990 on a single axle 1 ton and have been considering a move to 19.5" wheels and 245/70 tires. My rear axle weight varies around 8,200 lbs. The oem 18" 3,600 lb tires have been working so far, but...
Reading through these posts, it seems most of you have been happy with the move to commercial style tires for this purpose? I do not tow much in winter and run a dedicated set of wheels and snow tires so no worries for winter. Any feedback on do's and donts or regrets on the 19.5 tires would be much appreciated!
One big question is whether you need to air down to go off road. If yes, then the 19.5 size commercial tires are not designed to do that. In addition they are durable but very hard riding. I found that the best SRW solution was an 18” HD wheel with a 129 or greater load index tire. For example, the Method HD Bead Grip wheel is rated for 4500 lbs. Get wheels and tires that meet (preferably exceed) the actual rear axle load.
Is that a scale weight loaded for a trip? Seems pretty lean based on other 990 reports.
I had vision wheels and 19.5s on my old 350. Despite opting for XDS2s, they're just not anywhere close to something like a Nokian Hakka LT on snow and ice. The ride was harsher, as expected, but that 350 with those tires and a fully dialed suspension for a camper wasnt any harsher than my new bone stock 450.
Bottom line, if I had 9k on my rear axle, I'd do it again (I'd planned on a triple slide). If I knew I could keep that axle at 7k, I wouldn't do it. At 8k, I'd do the 129 load rating thing, especially if there's one that's good in the snow.
Disclaimer on snow stuff: I don't like having to slow down or put chains on. XDS2 could be just fine for someone else. My primary use case was skiing and snow camping.
Hello, new member here resurrecting an old thread... was glad to find this forum for slide in campers! I have an Arctic Fox 990 on a single axle 1 ton and have been considering a move to 19.5" wheels and 245/70 tires. My rear axle weight varies around 8,200 lbs. The oem 18" 3,600 lb tires have been working so far, but...
Reading through these posts, it seems most of you have been happy with the move to commercial style tires for this purpose? I do not tow much in winter and run a dedicated set of wheels and snow tires so no worries for winter. Any feedback on do's and donts or regrets on the 19.5 tires would be much appreciated!
I had load range H Dunlops on Rickson 19.5 steel rims. They were great with an 11.5' Lance on the back, way better than the load-range E tires the truck was supposed to have. They did okay in snow, but didn't do well on ice without assistance.
My only regret was discovering how heavy each wheel/tire assembly was. Stock assemblies were 235/85R16 and about 80 pounds per corner. The 235/70R19.5's with steel rims were 120 pounds each. It made the truck feel a bit like it was walking around in concrete shoes, and definitely affected acceleration. Empty ride was rough as well, bot got a little better if I put them at 45PSI.
It was a worthwhile trade-off for having all that extra weight margin on the tires, especially with my family on board. If I did it again, I'd get aluminum rims and reduce some unsprung rotating weight.
If I were looking at the same equation today, there are some load range E tires that have higher weight ratings than mine. I'd get rims that fit my truck and those tires and live with only a 800 pounds per tire margin instead of the 2,000 pounds per tire margin that I had with the 19.5s.
Focus on fully loaded ready to travel scale weights with all items/occupants in place. Only use Load Index tire ratings, (not load range), and make sure your wheels meet or exceed the capacity. If you need to air down, 19.5 is not your solution.
Thank you for the response, very helpful. Scale weight with a moderate load (some waste water, one propane tank, lithium battery) was 8,380 on rear axle. No snow travel with this load and no off road. I have a nice trailer toad connected via super magnum hitch with 3ft extension when pulling the car hauler. Keeps all the tongue weight off the truck.
Full transparency, but i actually own a 2022 GM diesel. Slide in campers seem to be more popular with Ford owners, so i was happy to find this forum! My bolt pattern is 8x180 and I have not found many wheel options! Vision has a 19.5" but I am not finding any high load capacity 18" rims.
Ok, I now understand more regarding the GM bolt pattern. Try these wheel vendors: Wheels Now, Stazworks, DBL, Buckstop, Justin Whering, Method, Vision, Hutchinson, and some of the custom beadlock wheel companies. There are 8x275 multipiece military surplus wheels out there. Rickson is out of business. If you need adapters use only Bora, they are US made, engineered steel, no cheap aluminum!!!
I used to run Rickson back some time ago but a lot of people did use these Vision wheels.
No complaints that I remember except for maybe the backspacing.
I sold mine when I went to a smaller camper and loved the piece of mind when I had them.
After more research, looks like the Vision 19.5" is the only off the shelf option for me. Not many HD wheels out there with the 8x180 bolt pattern. Anything else would be custom made steel wheels. Think I will order a single wheel just to check fitment, then decide from there. The 4500lb load rating on the Vision and corresponding tires should work well for my application.
Thank you for the response, very helpful. Scale weight with a moderate load (some waste water, one propane tank, lithium battery) was 8,380 on rear axle. No snow travel with this load and no off road. I have a nice trailer toad connected via super magnum hitch with 3ft extension when pulling the car hauler. Keeps all the tongue weight off the truck.
Full transparency, but i actually own a 2022 GM diesel. Slide in campers seem to be more popular with Ford owners, so i was happy to find this forum! My bolt pattern is 8x180 and I have not found many wheel options! Vision has a 19.5" but I am not finding any high load capacity 18" rims.
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