DDurfey

I'm looking to upgrade my wheel tire package to something more heavy duty. With my utility body, the truck comes in at 10500 every day and its taking its toll on the 16" tires. Less than 20,000 miles and these things are almost wore out. I'd love to have the added safety when I tow, but I have some concerns. I want to make sure I get good traction in the winter months. The tires under it now are pretty bad and this is the first time I've been able to drive it in the snow but it pretty much sucks. Any issues running the 22.5 wheels with snow traction? My thought is that the tire rubber is so hard that with my truck weighing so little in comparison that I'll be worse off. Anybody with real experience with this setup and the tires they are running I would love to hear it. I've got no problem shelling out the money but I don't want to do it and find out I'm no better off in the winter months.

Alaskaworktruck

I've had a set of 19.5" rims I had on my 04 and now have on my 09. I have a set of 245/70 R 19.5 Continental HDR that have seen 5 seasons of Alaskan winters, and from tire wear should see many more. I also carry some tire chains when I plow snow, but don't usually have to put them on due to the "dryness" of our snow. I can't speak to what traction you might have in a wetter snow, but I have seen a lot of lighter commercial vehicles running HDR or similar tread patterns during my trips to Utah and Idaho.
As far as your comment about hard rubber, you are correct. But at least the 6 (SRW- I have 2 spares) HDR's I found are not as hard of rubber as many stock 16's and 17's I have found locally.
My two cents, I couldn't be happier running 19.5's. In 9 years, I am on my second set; and only had 1 flat tire. That particular tire issue was when the temperature dropped to -58 below and I wasn't paying attention to my tire pressures like I should have.

freight train

Alaska can you post pics? I am thinking of adding a set of black 19.5" wheels to my 2005 3500. I dont want Rockstar wheels but a nice set of standard black wheels. Im going to tow 95% of the time. Everything from my 8K lb camper to my 8,600lb Eager Beaver with various trucks/tractors on it which bumper the trailer weight up to 12/16k range. My truck is Flame red with soon to be RH bumpers front and back and a RH headache rack. So the red and black will look great together.

Durfey I personally like the look of 22.5 wheels on trucks but the cost of the wheels/tires is very high. 19.5's are a great comprimise.

Alaskaworktruck

I'll grab the camera tonight and try to get a picture or two posted tomorrow.