Mr Bee

Does anybody make a dually set up for the rear 19.5" that does not extend past the rear fender flares? I cannot imagine the tons of crap they would throw all over the side of your truck...

Cuminapart

chromewheel.com has a link to a company that makes wider than stock rear dually fenders in Fiberglass, make sure to get good fenderliners though.

brocksdiesel

Hey everyone, I'm wondering if anyone can answer the original question. Does the 22.5 set up have adverse affects on the brakes or front end. Another question is do you have problems with the front tire wear? I am also considering going to the 22.5 but I pull a lot of weght and don't long term want problems. Thanks

snoyes

I guess I'll take a stab at this...

Yes, the 22.5s are going to take a toll on the front end. 1. for clearance you will need a lift to fit the 36.7 inch tires. Ball joints come to mind, which just with the stock trucks have been failing early. 2. extra weight of the tire/rim combo will tear up the power steering. i've seen the long term affects of buddies swinging 37s. I may have missed it, but need info on your truck. Auto or manual? For the auto I agree with most that at 65 MPH going down the highway you'll be lugging, which is not desireable when pulling alot of weight. For the manual you will be better off but...

If you are doing the 22.5s for fuel economy, you would be in the region of reverse command. The exra weight of the 22.5s compounded with the lift to fit them would negate significant fuel mileage increases.

Ultimately why are you interested in the 22.5s? Most go for looks, not necessarily functionality. For these trucks, the 19.5s with Hankooks handle a significant amount of weight and seem to wear well. Most will say the increase in sidewall strength with the hankooks is noticeable.

Just my .02

Performance

I haven't seen any problems with brakes or anything related to the front end. These trucks can handle the 22.5s easy. The setup is a little heavy, but compared to the stock wheel and tire setup, it's not that much of a difference. The rotating mass is more, but there again it's not a problem. You do not need a lift. Only a 2" leveling kit for a 2wd. Tire life is not a problem what so ever. Remember these tires are rated for 150,000 to 200,000 miles on a big rig. Our trucks don't weigh even close to that and will never come close to the tire ratings. I hope that answered your question.

IsItFast

I guess I will chime in since I have 22.5's on mine.

The good: The truck looks great, Tire Life, improved highway fuel economy, did I mention how great it looks?

The bad: Wheels are heavy (150lbs for aluminum, 190 for steel compared to about 95 for stock), braking is worse, trying to find a shop that can do an alignment, vibration at certain speeds that can't be balanced out, you always got to figure in extra time to talk to people about the wheels when you take out the truck; I am a GOD at Nascar races.

My biggest concern with mine is I have a pretty bad vibration at about 60mph. I have learned to live with it over the last 2 years but still not happy about it. I still believe it is the factory rear hubs. I had the replaced with new ones but the wheels still wobble even with the factory wheels and tires. I believe this is amplified due to the bigger tires which causes the vibration. I have spent about $500 trying to fix it with little improvement (adding balancing rings, removing Equal, etc.)

And I made the mistake of leveling the truck and putting the new wheels on all at the same time. It seems that no dealer in town could do an alignment with the wheels on it so I had to take it to a "big rig" shop to get it aligned. After driving it about 5 thousand miles I happened to look closely at the receipt and they had aligned it to 1995 specs. Later I had it realigned at the dealership with the factory wheels back on it and they said it was way off. My 200k tires have major cupping on the front which I am guess this may have something to do with it.

Oddly, I didn't notice much of difference in acceleration. I know in previous gas trucks I have had if I went up 5-6 inches in tire size the difference in acceleration would be significant. But I guess the Cummins makes up for it. That being said braking had a quite noticeable difference. The extra rolling weight of the 22.5's is about like having an extra 2000 pounds of weight in your truck.

Now as for mileage I get about 15 around town and 20 on the highway. I have a pretty heavy foot when driving around town. And I would say I set my cruise at about 77 on the highway. I do have and Edge EZ, AFE intake and exhaust. I should also not that my truck only has about 22,000 miles on it. I occasionally tow a 30 foot toy hauler that I would guess weighs over 12k pounds when loaded. I have seen as low as 6.5mpg and up to 10mpg when towing. Wind has a major effect on the trailer NOT a 5th wheel so it is out of the wind stream of the truck. Tow speed is 65-70 through some hills. While my truck does have to downshift when going up hills or in hard wind, for the most part it tows just fine. I only towed it once with the stock tires (when new) and I feel it tows better now. But this is probably due to the fact the truck has some mile on it now. With the stock tires it seemed to be downshifting just as much.

Would I do it all over again? Probably not just because of the vibration issue. Now if I could buy the wheels/adapters local and I knew the dealer would fix an issue like this I probably would. I bought mine from chromewheel.com and I can't say they were they were the best at customer service. He did say "come on down and we will fix it"....but I'm in Kansas and he is in Texas.

My best advice I give to people is if you don't want to deal with all kinds of issues just leave it stock.