bondkx01

Well I'm turning to the forums for advice. I just did the 22.5 on my 08 mega cab dually and it sure looks good but the ride and handling is crappy.

Here's the setup:

Alcoa 22.5 (aluminum wheels even on the rear inners)
Tires are goodyear traction tires (psi is 35 front 25 in rears)
lift is a 3" spacer, 1/2 extended control arms (upper and lower), drop braket for the track bar, drop pitman arm, 5100 bilstein shocks.

@ 45-55 mph, I get a wobble out of the front end.. not a death wobble. but a shimmy in the steering wheel. As i speed up, it goes away. Looked for play in the track bar and all is tight as can be when turning right left while in park.

also crusing down the freeway, the jarring factor is horrible.. constant bounce.

I ordered Carli coils, trackbar and end links as well as a stabilizer. Was this the right move or am I wasting money? Is it really just the wheels and tires creating my problem here? I obviously have a huge investment at this point in the setup but I'd rather cut my losses selling it all then deal with this horrible ride. I need the carring capacity for 3500-4000lb slide-in camper so from that perspective, I feel safer haveing that much weight on the 22.5s.

In a perfect world, I'd like to keep the 22.5s and minimize the jarring and the wobble.

One other thing I noticed is the alighnment shop set the castor cam bolts in opposite directions.. when i asked about it, they said this is the way those work. One pointing to the front and one to the rear... I'm wondering if I can increase positive castor if I can tune out the wobble? maybe slight more toe?

thanks all.. sorry for the long post..

RyeThomas

Getting them 100% round and balanced is the biggest issue. I was told to go with the Summitomos not the good years cause the good years were known to have tires that were out of round and hard to balance, get them balanced up and your up and down bounce on the highway will go away and your ride quality will increase. I had to do very little to my alignment, although I only installed a Lorenz leveling kit. Good luck.

tcr

Keep in mind how short the sidewall is on these 20"+ tires, welcome to the 20"+ crappy ride club!! Remember, tires are a big part of a smooth ride. No sidewall height = no tire cushioning.

bubbam

I had an issue once where the tire shop sucked the wheel down with the lugs and the adapter actually cut into the aluminum, causing the wheel to be off center. Gave it a nice wobble in the 35~55 range.

Also, if you are using equal balancing powder that can cause some wobble at low speeds.

Not much I can say about the ride, you're already at low pressures...

bondkx01

thanks fellas.. I really think this is a tire balancing issue.. I contacted the shop I purchase from and he's checking to see if I can swap these out for the sumitomos..

Haulin_in_Dixie

No matter what brand you get they will not be true. On a big truck with the weight on them it covers it up a bit. But on my class 8 and also on the dodge I always get them trued. A big truck alignment shop is about the only place that does this. It is a machine that slowly spins the tire and has a cutter that rotates and cuts the tire till it is true. If you want a smooth front, that is the only way. Radial tires are not true.... ever.

Performance

I also agree with Rye. I had my Sumitomos spun balanced on a computer tire balancer at a local big rig shop. I couldn't be more happier with the ride and smoothness of the setup. I can honestly say this is the best balanced and best ride I have ever had with any aftermarket wheel and tire setup. I didn't have to do anything to the alignment either.

5.9Excursion

Something doesn't sound right if they have the castor cam bolts pointing in different directions. They should be relatively pointing in the same direction.

You are talking about the front lower control arms mounting bolt right?

nelrod

get them true as dixie
said. Better yet, sell them and get 19.5's if you want bigger than stock, yet a tire/wheel combo you can live with. My opinion anyway.

Newblue

I bought some of the Goodyear G-124s and all six had to be shaved to get them round and balanced. Mine were 19.5s though.

XLR8R

Agreed that it's a balancing issue.

Sounds like the alignment shop put some cross caster into the front end - something we normally do after the front end suspension has been altered. Usually, we set more positive caster on the driver's side to offset road crown, since the truck will want to pull towards the side with more positive caster.

I like to keep toe at the absolute minimum for a lighter steering wheel and reduced tire wear.

Beyond that, you have to remember it's a big truck w/solid front axle.... not ever going to ride like a Caddy or handle like a 'Vette - shoot, the balljoint wear spec is incredibly huge!

RobG

When I got my first set of 19.5s years ago, the wheels and tires came match-mounted since I got 'em from Rickson. Since then, I was unable to find a shop locally that could match mount future sets, so my next two sets of tires were never quite right. It was this reason that I finally sold the whole set after getting my third set of tires and being unable to get them balanced well.

I decided to just stick with the stock 17's... better ride, much better selection of all-season tires. The 19.5's sure looked nice though...

Rob

bondkx01

correct. another post stated this is called cross caster. I've never heard of this myself.

JP-4.5

When I put the 19.5s on my truck it had a little shimmy after the truck center balanced the tires. I added Centramatic balancers and it has been great since then. I have over 30k on the 19.5s. I also added adjustable Rancho 9000 shocks which help take some of the jarring off when hitting edges going down the road. You will never have a nice ride with 19.5 or 22.5s as they are not designed to ride nice. Gearing and Long/Safe life is why I bought them.

The balancers made the biggest difference and is what many truckers have used for years. Balance master is another brand I had looked at but went with Centramatic as more people spoke well of them. I cannot believe you run the tire with that little air in them. The tire center I got my 19.5s at said not to put less than 80lbs in them or damage to the steel belt could happen from flexing to much. 80 lbs was the lowest listed pressure for the Bridgestone R250 tires.

Good Luck...

Haulin_in_Dixie

See I post it but few listen. True them and balance them on the vehicle and they will be smoothe. You can not balance out an out of round condition. Once in a while you do get a tire that even trued will not balance properly. When this happens it will ride smoothe for a while but wear poorly.