I'm new to this site and have just recently purchased a 08 Chev 3500 ext cab SRW 4x4. My purpose for this truck is to haul a 14,000lb 5th wheel trailer with a 2038lb pin weight. The truck will do it but the tires (LT265/70R17E) won't carry the load. They are rated for 3195lbs and are just too light to safely handle it. Why would GM put a LT tire on a truck that is capable of hauling over 3,000lbs and has a 22,000lb GCWR? My original idea was to put either Rickson or Vision 19.5 wheels on it with a set of Michelin comm. tires to increase the load carrying capabilities. The wheels are rated for 4500lbs and would do the job nicely. Plus as a side note the tires will last 2 to 3 times as long. After reading some of the threads on here I'm now a little scared to do this as I keep hearing how a different tire size (taller or shorter) will screw up the computer and it will start throwing codes, screw up the regen, and even cause limp mode. The last thing I want is to go into limp mode out in the middle of nowhere. Has anyone used the 19.5 wheels and tires? and what were your results? I sure don't want to spend $2500 to $3000 for wheels and tires if I am going to have problems. I know I could have gone with a one ton dually but this is also a daily driver and I didn't want to wheel one of those in traffic everyday. I would be grateful for any help on this issue.

I'm running into similar issues as you (and started a thread asking about stock rims and H2 rims). The good news is that there are E rated tires (285/70 17) that can carry much more (3750 lbs) while staying very close to the stock diameter. The bad news is that there is some question as to the rating of the rim itself. I don't know what the stock 17" rim rating is so I don't know if they will support the higher weight or not.

I've looked at some other rims including Alcoa and Procomp, and the highest rated 17" from either company is 3500 lbs. I'd love to find a 17" rim that's 8 to 9" wide and can support at least 3750 lbs.

GlockWRX, my understanding is the stock 17" wheels only have a 3000lb rating. That is why I have been looking at the 19.5's. If you go to the Rickson website at: www.ricksontruck.com (http://www.ricksontruck.com) you will see what I'm talking about and why I want to use them. If only I could be sure they won't make my truck go crazy on me I would get a set of them.

Powerhouse, remember when looking at the rating that they are for each tire or rim...so you can double those ratings for the rear of the truck. Your stockers have plenty enough to handle your load with total safty, however a 19.5 commerical tire would handle it better.

Powerhouse, remember when looking at the rating that they are for each tire or rim...so you can double those ratings for the rear of the truck. Your stockers have plenty enough to handle your load with total safty, however a 19.5 commerical tire would handle it better.

x2

If you look at the diameter of the Michelin 225/70R19.5 (32.6") tire on the Rickson site you'll notice it's pretty close to the 265/70R17 (31.8) that is an option on the 2500HD (IIRC it's also available on the 3500). That should be fairly close to factory and not throw codes.

Kmwharley, you are correct that each wheel/tire is rated for 3195lbs but you have to consider the truck weight of 7172lbs also and subtract that which puts you at or over the max weight for the wheel/tire. I probably could get by but if you have ever had a tire failure while towing at 70 mph you quickly find out what excitement is all about.:eek: I really would like to have a little safety margin if possible. Sowilson, I don't know how much different the tire height has to be before you run into problems and when I asked my dealer they just look at you with that 'deer in the headlites' look and have no answer for me.

GlockWRX, my understanding is the stock 17" wheels only have a 3000lb rating.

I would think that the stock rim rating would be at least 3195 lbs. If the wheels only had a rating of the 3000 lbs, our RAWR would be 6000 lbs, not 6390. (That's what my sticker says anyway)

Kmwharley, you are correct that each wheel/tire is rated for 3195lbs but you have to consider the truck weight of 7172lbs also and subtract that which puts you at or over the max weight for the wheel/tire. I probably could get by but if you have ever had a tire failure while towing at 70 mph you quickly find out what excitement is all about.:eek: I really would like to have a little safety margin if possible. Sowilson, I don't know how much different the tire height has to be before you run into problems and when I asked my dealer they just look at you with that 'deer in the headlites' look and have no answer for me.I understand you want a safety margin, but with all four tires combined you have a maximum carrying capacity of almost 13k pounds (over 6k per axle). That is well over the GVWR of the truck.

I will say that you won't have any problem due to the size of the tire. I run a very similarly sized (diameter) tire on my truck and haven't had any issues with it.

I've been running 245 70R 19.5's for years now and not had any probs at all. Made all the difference in the world as to how the truck packs my Lance.

I have run 225/19.5 on 2 trucks with no problems. An added benefit of them is that you seldom get flats. They are real strong tires and the diff. in load carrying is amazing.

Thanks for all the feedback! I guess I'll go ahead and buy the 225/19.5's and hope they are close enough in size that they won't light up a whole ton of codes. At least I'll be able to rest easy knowing they are strong enough to carry the load I want and do it safely.

Rickson sells a speedometer correction module (http://www.ricksontruck.com/speedometer.html) for $204.52 - You may want to call them and ask them if it will work on your truck.