I have really been giving it alot of consideration about the 19.5" wheels. I like the Rickson wheels but know there must be others. I am absolutely 100% against adaptors or spacers. I think anytime you add adaptors you are adding a weak link and putting a band-aid deal to make something work that probably should not be on your vehicle...JMO.

With that said I see they are now making them with the GM bolt pattern and set up to align properly on the hub

What are the pro's and Con's. I am mostly doing it for looks, although I do tow weight from time to time but have never worried about it. I have the Alcoa Magnum wheels with the Revo tires E rated

Are the 19.5 tires a rougher ride?

How much longer do they last?

Are the 19.5 wheels built with the correct backspace so you have the proper tire spacing between the rears?

Do the 19.5 wheels cause more wear and tear on the front suspension?

Do they rub( I have a cognito front leveling kit and with my p235's/85's I have not had any issues)

Any input or thoughts is appreciated.

Don't forget DD I will buy your hotshots if you decide to upgrade.:D For the right price anyway.:cool:

Duramax dually I have listed in the wheel tire section a couple of linkd to makers of the 19.5s. The 19.5s that I have seen and deal with do have the correct back spacing and are hub and lug centric on the wear and tear of the suspension depends on how its drove, you are really going up in rim size like the dealerships does as a plus size upgrade bigger rim smaller tire type deal, the 19.5s more popular sizes are 225/70/19.5 = 31.90 diam 245/70/19.5 = 33.00 diam 265/70/19.5 = 34.10 Most of the tires and wheel pkgs are the kumhos and michelins. hope these help you out on the info you were looking for. Here are a couple of th elinks that I can remember off hand with out digging in the comp. www.duallyusa.com www.brentzwheels.com rickson wheels and do a search for DRIV wheels very nice set there as well As for pricing the brentz give me a pm or call brnet and let him know that John sent ya

crewcab03,
You have PM

Double D's, sounds like you are aware of just how much 19.5's will adversely affect towing. Just make sure the rims and tires are rated for heavy duty use, we don't want any "wimpie" dually's on the forum! ):h

I mentioned to Mama JJ yesterday that I was thinking about buying some spiffy rims and tires for the "bling affect" and keeping the OEM POS rims/tires for towing. She nearly bit my head off! What's up with that? ):h JJ :)

with the 19.5's you also get the beefier load ratings as well. Lots of guys towing with the 19.5' with loads in the 12-14k load range on bumper pulls.

JJ,
Naaaah...I will represent us well......;) I am leaning towards the Rickson wheels for a couple of reasons,
1) I like the fact you can use your OEM lug nuts and caps which saves some money
2) The Price of the set up is significantly less.

So now I do have a question for you tires guys, Rickson will work with me on the tires, Since I travel to the snow a lot, I require all-terrains. I was looking at the General or Yokahoma's

http://www.ricksontruck.com/tires_22570R195.html

Any input/comments

duramax dually did you check the link to www.duallyusa.com they had a price that was real good on the 19.5's with tires. Also was a set for sale in the swap section here on the board by rickson, dont know if they sold yet or not.

Crewcab03,

Thanks. I will take a look. I sure like the Brentz wheels. Look very well made and quality looks top notch. Just trying to make statement by going to 19.5's but want it to be somewhat economical....I think you understand.

I did check the other site but did not care for the wheel style.

Jeff

Understand the economic part (why I dont have a set on my personal rig) The DRIV wheel is pretty sharp and they seem to have good pricing as well with tire, cant remember the web site I saw them on. You know now you will have to post a pic when you get it done!!

Hi, first post on this site.
I haul a 4k lb camper and have looked at the 19.5 wheels. I only found out yesterday that a lot of the 19.5s are rated as steer or drive axle use. I checked the various truck tire sites and sure enough the Michelin XDE-M/S, Goodyear G-124, General LMT 4xx and Yokohama TY303 are drive wheel tires. I am not sure of the impact of using them on the steer wheels with a four wheel drive.

I hear the 19.5s last/wear forever when on a light truck (I am still trying to tell myself the dually is a light truck)

Utundra,

Hey welcome to the site. I agree. Dually's are not a light, They are not short...They are BIG.

I am one that is investigating the 19.5 wheels. I pretty much have a go, just have not pulled the trigger. I check on some economic aspects and the statement of a ROI in tires alone is warranted. I guess you have to ask a question on how long you plan on owning the truck. For some who buy and sell every couple of years, adding anything is sort of silly as you lose it when you trade in or sell(Short of a few bolt on things). I have had mine new since May 2001. I plan on the long haul, so this would be a nice addition for the next 4-5 years

I was flipping through my latest Weld dealer catalog and noticed that they make the dually fitment for GMs in 16", 17", and 19.5" all in the stock lug pattern. Weld makes a great wheel, but it also comes with a great price!

Duramax Dually,
I understand the economical standpoint your coming from. I'm not sure what bolt pattern you guys are running on the late model gm's. I have been searching for a set of 19.5''s for my 91 ford and have been told the gm forward cabs used to run this size on the 8x6.5 pattern. I just have to machine the centers to fit the ford hubs.
Daryl

I currently purchased a set of 19.5 driv dons for my o5 and I love the way they look havent had a chance to tow the fithwheel yet.

6206 Here is a pic

Looks good! what size tire /what brand rim?

the wheel are made by driv they are called the dom the tires are kumho 225/75 the tires where not my choice but a package deal would like to get something a little bigger

are the driv's chrome or polished? They do look good on the trucks.

they are aluminum that has been cromed

Thanksfor the info

they are aluminum that has been cromed

I just got my 19.5 driv's installed yesterday. Are yours balanced? My ride is a little bumpy....did they balance yours on the truck or conventional.

Moboost : I have 16 weld evo wheels and you got me all exited about weld doing a 19.5 , I called them ,they do not have a 19.5 dually wheel , do you know something ? They told me no plan maybe a thought but not beyond that

Here is a pick of my 19.5's

These are not 19.5 i believe they are 22's. And i know these guys don't have any problem towing at all. They make trips all around the US going to car shows...And i can't confirm but i believe he is even running adaptors on this..

http://www.layinbody.com/gallery/albums/showfest05/aot.jpg

I think the springs are a little weak, as he seems to have a ground clearance problem...:D

I think the springs are a little weak, as he seems to have a ground clearance problem...:D

hahaha ya it seems that way...but there are no springs just bags
all the way around. The custom shop did the dually and all the rides
on the trailer. There are some serious fabricators.....they also have
a corvette on bags and a Stock Floor body dropped H2 on 26 inch rims. they build some of the sickest rides in the country.
And yes i know you are joking around...i can take a joke hehehe

those are 24"s cut down 24.5"s on adapters www.ekstensive.com did the work to it fully bagged still tows and rides like a caddy Very talented group of guys that did those cars.

I'm running the Rickson wheels. Told that I got the first set. Am running Michellin 19.5 MT category tires. Call Michellin tech support for reccomendation. Running steering tires on the fronts and M&S pattern drivers on the rear. Cool Cool setup. They drive like - well a truck! Very hard, but installed air ride (full bags) and that fixed that. MKichellen tells met o expect 160K miles. They are 16 ply steel belt radials. No more flat problems. I installed Equal balancing sand - works great. Did find that one of the tires was out of spec and we had to replace. Do the Hunter load balncing prior to installing the Equal. That gets the tire spec issue resolved. With Equal, you don't want ANY balance weights - take em off. Sounds strange, but it really works. I also got a set of cat-eye air balancers for the rears. Keeps the pressure the same in the duallys. You will need to fab a counter balance. Weights and angles are a bit tricky, but a good wheel tech who knows what's going on or a helicopter tech (they are used to these kind of balancing issues) can figure out the amounts. Will try to get pics later.

CrewCab03,
Thanks for your advice, it is all good, just to add that the Dually USA (American Force) wheels are not forged. There is the reason for the low price.
I have contacted every one since I got my truck, just 4 weeks ago.
Rickson's are forged, so are Brentz wheels.
Not forged aluminum wheels will dramatically reduce your load capacity, and even worse: They tend to deform with use and under heavy load.
Any one that is going to use their truck for show purposes or perhaps even as a passenger vehicle will probably be OK with Non-Forged aluminum rims, but if you are going to put load or push a vehicle under heavy acceleration, you better get the real stuff!!!
No wonder ALL ALCOA WHEELS ARE FORGED!

I have been doing more and more research on this. From what I have gathered, there is a trade off...and it may be significant and that is RIDE QUALITY. Although it may start as OK and cool to have the 19.5's after a year or so (maybe even less) this will get to be annoying. If you plan on using your truck alot over long hauls this is a serious consideration. All the people I have asked locally that have them(only 2 people) said it is a rougher ride and you feel the road and everything on it. I have held off primarily due to this. I almost pulled the trigger on the Rickson's set up. My Alcoa's were a seamless transition and the ride quality stayed the same. I am not towing wicked weight any longer so I will probably stay with my Alcoa's...REGARDLESS, I sure like the look of 19.5's...they are awesome!

Are those the only 2 companies that make 19.5's? What about Alcoa or Accuride?
What brand do they run on the 4500 series tow truck self loaders, not the flatbeds?

I am no tire expert, but I have been thinking about the ride quality statement. I have been looking for a new set of tires for my truck because the ones that came on it (Goodyear Warngler AT/S) really suck. In my search, I came across a number of comments that state that if you are planning on pulling a load with your truck, you should stay away from tires with polyester carcases (like the Wranglers on my truck) and go with steel carcass tires. When I inquired about Michilin XPS tires (which are steel), I was cautioned by a number of tire dealers that I won't like the result because the ride will be very rough. Apparently, the advantage of the polyester carcass tire is that it has a fair amount of give in the sidewalls, so it is a nice riding tire. The steel carcass tire, OTOH, is very stiff and will give you much better control of a loaded vehicle but at the expense of the ride. I can't help but wonder if you are facing the same thing. Is the poor quality ride with the 19.5" caused by the tires you are considering? Are there any polyester tires available in 19.5"?

Bert

I have 22.5's on my truck.They have been on for over two years.They were trued and balanced when new.Truck rides smooth as glass but as you should expect from a heavy truck tire (12-14ply), they are very stiff.I only run 60psi.Have had truck up to 120mph an rides smooth.No vibration.The only down side in my opinion is they are very heavy which robs a little performance from the truck, but dam they look good.