Tire Recommendations

[gdphillipsrv]

It's time to put new tires on my 2012 Chevy 3500HD Duramax SRW. I put roughly on 45,000 on the factory 265/70-18s Michelins with no complaints. I'm considering moving up to custom 20" wheels, but I have a few questions:

1. Will I get a less compliant ride due to the 2" loss in sidewall height with the 20s?

2. All of the custom wheels I see on Tirerack.com are listed as "aggressive fit, tires will stick out past fenders." My truck is not lifted, is this an issue?

3. Should I look for wheels that are as close as possible to the original wheels specifications for offset and backspace?

4. Every custom wheel I see (XD, American Racing Wheel) are listed as being manufactured in China. Is that an issue with a 1-ton PU pulling a 16,000lb 5'er?

5. Am I just looking to throw away an extra $1000; should I remain with 18" tires?!

Thanks for your inputs, Gordon

Gordon & Lisa
Albuquerque, NM
2012 Chevy 3500HD
2013 Excel Limited 34IKE

[Grandpere]

If it were me, I would go with 19.5 rim and 245/70r19.5 truck tires. They will not ride any harsher than the 20 inch, will not stick out past the wheel well, and will give you many more miles of wear. This size of tires are very comparable to your original tires so the speedometer will not need re-calibration.

Best of luck on your decision making.

[Bamaman]

Unless you just want a completely new look, I'd just stick with the same size OEM tire.

I bought a new set of Michelins at Costco 2 weeks ago with a Michelin $70 sales incentive, and they're good enough for me.

If you decide to go with new wheels, go online to one of the big wheel sellers' website. Call them on the phone and they can tell you the wheel styles that have the same offset and rim width as the OEM 20" wheels on your brand of truck. That way, you won't have any clearance problems.

[ralphie]

I'd stick with the stock wheels and tire size.

[Ray,IN]

Make sure the 20" rims are certified for at least the same weight capacity as your stock rims. Some years ago a guy posted his woes about changing to custom rims.
That said, I too recommend buying 19.5" MDT rims, you know your truck will have upgraded rims and tires while having that very cool big truck look, since they fill the wheel-well much better.

[Quad]

I had 20" wheels on my last truck. It was a 2500HD Duramax. Towing I had no problems. Smaller sidewalls make for stiffer less rolling sidewalls in my experience. They were great towing. But unloaded it was a rougher ride. Not to mention they were hell to balance the tire wheel combo. They are very heavy wheels and tires.

[SmokeyWren]

Originally Posted by Grandpere

If it were me, I would go with 19.5 rim and 245/70r19.5 truck tires.

His truck has single rear wheels (SRW). All 19.5" rims are for dually pickups. Nobody I can find makes 19.5" rims for SRW pickups.I don't know of any 19.5" rims that wouldn't look phunny on an SRW pickup. So if you go this route, mount the wheels first, and be sure you're going to like the looks before you finalize the deal with those expensive "real truck" tires.

Yeah, I know. Dually pickups have single tires on the front. so why not put those same rims/tires on the rear axle of an SRW? Look closely at those wheels/tires and think of mounting them on the SRW rear axle. Not cool.

I agree with those that say you should mount stock-size 18" tires on that pickup. There is nothing to be gained by mounting 20" tires - or even 22" tires the way Ford does on some of their high-end trim pickups.

[mohamer]

Rickson makes 19.5" wheels for SRW pickups.
I have 19.5s on my MH, they are good to go.

[caissiel]

The 20" do have more capacity then 18" wheels. I have no problems loading 7500 lbs on my 18". That is enough for most RV 5th wheels. To me it's the quality of the ride that is important and 18" do it well.
The SRW 19.5" have become the standard on UPS delivery vans. They are rough but for the commercial application they perform well and save on fuel. If I could accept the ride I would surely prefer riding on 110lbs tires but on my truck I will use 80lbs max.

[jimcumminsw]

Originally Posted by SmokeyWren

His truck has single rear wheels (SRW). All 19.5" rims are for dually pickups. Nobody I can find makes 19.5" rims for SRW pickups.I don't know of any 19.5" rims that wouldn't look phunny on an SRW pickup. So if you go this route, mount the wheels first, and be sure you're going to like the looks before you finalize the deal with those expensive "real truck" tires.

Yeah, I know. Dually pickups have single tires on the front. so why not put those same rims/tires on the rear axle of an SRW? Look closely at those wheels/tires and think of mounting them on the SRW rear axle. Not cool.

I agree with those that say you should mount stock-size 18" tires on that pickup. There is nothing to be gained by mounting 20" tires - or even 22" tires the way Ford does on some of their high-end trim pickups.

SmokeyWren;

Here is the link to the Rickson home page.

Rickson Wheel Manufacturing

I am considering putting these on my 2008, 2500HD Ram this year since we purchased a new 5er and may need the extra capacity of the wheels and tires that a 19.5" will bring to the vehicle.


Jim W.

[Dasmoeturhead]

Rickson makes them in 19.5, bit currently take 16 weeks to order. With wheels and tires your looking at close to $4,000.

The American Force Beast wheel is nice. They are 19.5" and are around $1900.00 plus tires. Only about 4 weeks to build. Either company makes the wheels when you order them. I went through this whole process a month ago.

In the end I bought a 3500 drw, to replace the 2500 srw. The 19.5 inch tires are supposed to last 3 or 4 times longer than LT tires. Some people say they ride good, and some dont. I didn't want to shell out that kind of cash, only to find out I didn't like the ride. I also knew I would never get my money back out of them when I sold it traded the truck in. In the end I decided to stop trying to make my 3/4 ton pickup a one ton. Don't get me wrong, that 2500 could pull this trailer the same as our new 3500, but drw is so much more truck. I hated to do it financially, but I don't worry about tires exploding anymore.

[wingnut60]

If anyone says the 19.5s will ride the same as the OEM 20s, I don't think they have actually been in a pickup with them in use. 17s, 18s, 20s,--even when run at 80psi and the 19.5s at 80, well, the ride will be harsher with the 19.5s. Also, very hard to find all-season treads in the 19.5s. The 19.5s are designed for long tread life, not cornering and handling. As far as tread life--I get 70-80k out of the tires on my 450, but that is spreading the weight over 6 tires, not 4. But I also got the same mileage out of the 17s that were on my '07 F350. Currently researching for my 3rd replacement set since I am past 204k miles.
Big cash outlay to be sure.
Joe

[Cummins12V98]

Originally Posted by jammer3025

Rickson makes them in 19.5, bit currently take 16 weeks to order. With wheels and tires your looking at close to $4,000.

The American Force Beast wheel is nice. They are 19.5" and are around $1900.00 plus tires. Only about 4 weeks to build. Either company makes the wheels when you order them. I went through this whole process a month ago.

In the end I bought a 3500 drw, to replace the 2500 srw. The 19.5 inch tires are supposed to last 3 or 4 times longer than LT tires. Some people say they ride good, and some dont. I didn't want to shell out that kind of cash, only to find out I didn't like the ride. I also knew I would never get my money back out of them when I sold it traded the truck in. In the end I decided to stop trying to make my 3/4 ton pickup a one ton. Don't get me wrong, that 2500 could pull this trailer the same as our new 3500, but drw is so much more truck. I hated to do it financially, but I don't worry about tires exploding anymore.

Good call on the DRW! BandAids only will get you so far. It's nice to have a completely relaxed towing experience.

[jimcumminsw]

Originally Posted by jammer3025

Rickson makes them in 19.5, bit currently take 16 weeks to order. With wheels and tires your looking at close to $4,000.

The American Force Beast wheel is nice. They are 19.5" and are around $1900.00 plus tires. Only about 4 weeks to build. Either company makes the wheels when you order them. I went through this whole process a month ago.

In the end I bought a 3500 drw, to replace the 2500 srw. The 19.5 inch tires are supposed to last 3 or 4 times longer than LT tires. Some people say they ride good, and some dont. I didn't want to shell out that kind of cash, only to find out I didn't like the ride. I also knew I would never get my money back out of them when I sold it traded the truck in. In the end I decided to stop trying to make my 3/4 ton pickup a one ton. Don't get me wrong, that 2500 could pull this trailer the same as our new 3500, but drw is so much more truck. I hated to do it financially, but I don't worry about tires exploding anymore.

For my model year 2008 the only difference between the 3500 SRW and the 2500 model trucks are two helper leaf springs one on each side in the spring pack. The tires and wheels along with the rest of the drivetrain and frame are identical. So even if I had a 3500 SRW vehicle and needed to upgrade the wheel and tires I would look at the 19.5" tire and wheel required for the upgrade.

Also a DRW truck is out of the question since the DW does not want a pregnant roller skate in the driveway. She said no way would she ride in one. Sorry for the guys who have one but got to keep the DW happy.

What some other posters are forgetting is; you do not need to keep the tires aired up at full maximum air pressure all of the time. What I do is run my front tires at 60 PSI for the load that is being supported and the rear are between 45 and 50 PSI when not towing. When towing the air inflation towing pressure is based on the tire manufactures air inflation chart for the required load that the tire will support.

Jim W.