A 1st Gen. DRW chassis-cab was in the shop today.

First thing that caught my eye was the 19.5 DRW wheels, front and rear.

The owner said he figured those wheels would get my attention.

This guy trades in cores and scraps out trucks, both big and small.

Turns out that he bought a bread truck that had these tires/wheels on it.

Problem was, the running gear was GM, with the typical small hub and nut-plate system, sort of a cross between hub-centric and conical nuts.

A trip to the machine-shop and sixty bucks yielded six HUB-CENTRIC flat-face 19.5 rims that fit the truck like a glove.

They were held on by flange-washer nuts.

He happens to have six more just like them; not for long.


All the tires were like new, with 225-70-19.5 on front and 8R-19.5 on rear.

I stood a mounted 235-85-16 alongside the 225-70-19.5 and there was no noticable difference in height, close to exactly the same.

Compared to the 8R-19.5s on the rear, the 235-85-16 was about 2.5 inches shorter.

There was about four inches of daylight between the rears; no way are they ever going to touch.

 

NICE!!! I've been wanting some 19.5's... There is a 1st gen dually lifted with some 22" DRW's... freaking nice

 

I have a set of those 19.5's off an old railroad truck. Too bad I dont have a truck to put them on.

 

I know its not a first gen, but Ive been running those wheels for awhile now on my 01, and I love em. They had to be opened up about 1/8". My mileage went up about 2mpg, probably because they are 33.5" tall. The truck feels alot more stable now when pulling. Mine came off of a Frito-Lay truck that my buddy was pulling the cummins out of.

Heres a pic
another pic

 

I was wondering , you said he modified his wheels to be hub centric on a First Gen? First gens are lug centric, hence the coined rims. If you machine a rim for a tight fit around our hubs (i could see it working) , but are the hubs up to the task of bearing the loads ( potentially heavy on a dually)? On the front all the weight will be supported on the tube behind the lockout hub, where currently the load is transferred to further back toward the bearing by 8 studs.It seems on a Ferd w 19 5's the hub is built up where the rim meets it. I could be way off here, maybe the dodges can support it, just wonderin.

 

also the 4x4 front hubs are slightly tapered ie wider at the lockout hub and thinner toward the wheel mounting surface. I had heard about teh cheaper 19.5rims..not sure on the hubcentric part I think you could use them as lug centric too no?
thanks
Deo

 

Ford has been using HUB-centric wheels on the same Dana 60s 70s and 80s that Dodge uses for over twenty years with no issues.

On many of these axles, the only difference is the pinion yoke and shock/spring placement.


Those 19.5 rail-road wheels, if they came off a HI-RAIL truck, are dished weird and will set way in, much more so than the wheels on a standard SRW truck.

They are meant to ride on the rails, which are 56-1/2" outside measure.

 

No, they are dually wheels. I have 6 of them. My dad has a set of wheels off a hi-rail truck, mine are definitely different.

I cannot verify that they are for sure from a railroad truck, thats just what the guy told me that gave them to me. Oh, did I mention they were free?

 

Ok, I was curious because I had a ford f350 with coined rims. It was a late 80's dually cab/chassis

 

NO FAIR!!!!



Can you ship 'em to me??

 

I Have a set of those 19.5's, not sure what i will use them for, right now they are still under the bread truck. Still unsure if i will convert my W250 to a duelly, i also picked up a set of Chevy Duelly hubs.

 

Ford ditched the coined rims in 80 or 81; ever since, they have been hub-centric, flat-faced, flange-washer-nut rims.

 

Aren't these chip/bread trucks too cool? Just brought home #2 and #3. One has 16 inch wheels and 2 have the 19s. Wish they had better tires!

 

And most of them also have the legendary 14-bolt rear, though it is most likely a 4:56.

 

Why is it I saw on another thread awhile back they said the 19.5's ride too rough? Ride quality is not too high on my list of things I worry much about anyway. But I'm considering a move to 19.5's in the near future and want to get this all figured out beforehand.

Seems to me, with my present wheel/tire combo being a 33" tire and the 19.5 combo I'm considering (285/70) being a 35" tire, there's not much difference going from a 75 to a 70 aspect ratio in those respective combos.

How different could they be?