I am considering 19.5" rims for my F350 SD 4x4 SRW.

Would like to hear from anyone with 19.5" rims - particularly those in snow/rain country. What kind tires and size do you have? Tire wear experience, ride quality changes, if any? What about overall weight vs stock 16" set ups.

I like what www.ricksontruck.com offers - any others offering 19.5" rims/tires?

Anything would be helpful.

Thanks

 

Check this thread out, it may help you.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/s...hreadid=182929

 

I went with the 19.5" x 6.5" chrome wheels. The tires are 245 Michelin XDE-M/S in a 12 ply rating (4080 lbs @ 95 psi).

Yes I live in rain/snow country and when I took my brother in law up in the snow on January 2cd his comment was "look at your tires chewing up the snow. They're throwing snow everywhere " (He was looking out the rear/side wathching the rooster tails!).
They work excellent in snow conditions. Rain conditions seem to be about like my 16" LTX M/S. The casings are rather stiff (made for larger/heavier trucks) and traction while normal driving is fine. Stop and go 90^ turns (intersections) you can break 'em loose quite easily with an ***-lite pickup.

I went with the lowest rated tire so that my empty ride would'nt be as stiff as the heavier rated tires. Surprisingly it is about the same as the stock ride. I air the tires down to 75 psi for normal driving unloaded. Wear is not noticeable yet at 10,000 miles. They will probably go 80-100K on a light pickup like these.
These setups are heavy @ 125 lbs per copy and reduce braking ability slightly (seat of the pants feel).

PLUS most importantly they stabilize heavy loads MUCH better than stock 16" tires (no squishiness when loaded) and best of all they LOOK COOL too

 

Outlaw,

Nice truck...rims do definately look cool.

Thanks for the information - very helpful

What was your installed cost for tires/rims? Did you source the tires locally or from Rickson.

Any guess on how much heavier the 19.5 are from stock? Yours are steel rims correct?

Thanks - Cal

 

Cost was around $2700.00 tires/wheels, torque stick (for air wrench) and tire dolly (makes it a one man job).

I let Rickson mount the tires as you DON'T want vibrations as our trucks are light compared to what these tires usually go on.

The wheels are chrome steel and the wheel WITH tire weighs about 45 lbs MORE each than stockers (80 lbs vs 125 lbs.)

Oh, you'll want to upgrade the stock shocks too before adding these combo's.

 

The 19.5's look cool but tires selection sucks. That is the one thing that kept me from stepping up.

 

Cool looking but tough tire for the guy who want to do some muddly off-road. Excellent tires if you are towing or hauling.

My concern centers on the weight increase - I am looking to lighten un-sprung weight not double it.

Still they do look cool.

 

Thanks Outpost22 - your comments were very helpful.

Did get any of this nasty rain over the past 2-3 days?

Thanks - Calvin

 

i am also looking at these rims and tires. i was wondering how much clearance you have. my truck is stock with x springs, and i was looking at 265/70/19.5 goodyear G124's but i am unsure if i have room. i know they are almost 35" but are not as wide as most of the 16"rim mud tires. thank you

 

I would not go with the 265 for only one reason- it adds a lot more weight to an already heavy set-up. You certainly don't need any more load capacity than a 245 as you can buy tires that are rated to 5000lbs+...far more than the axle is rated for. I don't think the 265's will rub, and the 245's have lots of room and no rubbing at all.

These 19" 245's are almost the exact same width as my stock 265x16" tires.

 

Outpost22


how is your fuel milage, did it go up or down with the 245's? would you expect to see the same trend if they were 265's?
in the winter i plow snow and load 4000# of salt and a spreader on the back and hang 800# of plow off the front. in the summer i do a lot of hiway driving and would like to raise the effective gear ratio a little. my 235 generals are not cuting it.
thank you

what is the weight differance between 245's and 265's?

 

Fuel mileage is about the same I think as with the stock tire/wheels. In town it may have dropped slightly due to having to stop and start these heavier wheels/tires. Acceleration slightly decreased due to the axle ratio going from 3.73 to 3.5ish.
( I now have the new Superchips tuner to gain back my original acceleration and then some!)

The reason I don't know EXACTLY on the mileage is that the rear dif ratio changed with the taller tires and is off about 8% +/-, thus my odometer is also off. My INDICATED mileage dropped slightly, but the ACTUAL mileage stayed the same or slightly better.
If my calculations are correct (with mileage corrections), I used to average 10.5 mpg with my Cabover Camper on. During my last Camper 2500 mile trip it actually came out at 11.1 mpg. Granted, the previous trip had more snow and 4x4 action than this same trip to the same place. However, I averaged 5 -7 mph faster (65-72) in this trip than before due to the extra stability in my tire/wheel set-up...it is THAT noticeable.

I don't know how much more 265's weigh in this set up and what effect that would have on mileage. I do know this though, you will NEVER need the 265's to do more than what these 245's will do for you, at least with these trucks. Take the stock 16" tire and strengthen it by 3 times and you have THESE tires

I would not recommend any larger set, unless I had a very torquey diesel to move them around...like yours!...but it is totally unnecessary for any practical purpose.

 

Outpost22



i agree completly with you that as far as weight capability that the 245's are plenty for what i need. the reson that i was looking at 265s as an option is becouse they are a little taller but hardly any wider and the fact that the price differance between a 245 vs. 265 is 20 cents $241.14 and $241.34. however the 245s are load F and the 265s are G, if i went with the 265s the G load rating might hurt my ride quality? thank you for taking the time to anser all my questions.

 

These were my thoughts EXACTLY. I got the LIGHTEST duty 19.5" M/S tire as the stock F350 rides hard enough empty. A 265 14 ply would probably kill your back when empty.