At this time, my question is how to deal with all these crow feathers in my mouth, as I am eating a lot of crow right now.

As it turns out the beads work just fine. The tire is bad. It was way out of round and had a really bad lateral imbalance. The dealer is replacing it on Tuesday. The other tires are fine. I spoke too soon and wish to apologize for bad mouthing the DynaBeads from Innovative Balancing. I guess I was having a bad day. The product is working fine and their customer service is great. I'll be ordering a replacement package of beads for the new tire.

 

Well, I got my tires mounted, beads in, valve cores changed over, and Alligator caps installed. Tomorrow I will be pulling the truck around to switch over to the 19.5's. I will try to get pictures of before and after. The truck currently wears wheel skins, but my "new" wheels are Spray Bomb Black. I hope to find a "cheap" set of 19.5 wheel skins from an RV or something.

rattle_rattle, I am SO glad your experience turned around! Don't worry too much about the feathers -- all the protien is Atkins Aproved!!

 

Switched over to the 19.5's. My wife says my truck looks normal now -- she hated the small looking tires. (previous owner swithed to 225/75R16's )

First impressions:

1. Steering is a little squirrelly. Reminds me of knobby tires on a dirt bike, when driven on pavement. I was expecting this, having been told the tires will need to "run in."

2. Vibration in the rear. Definitely an up/down type vibration. I am pretty sure I can fix it. Is not very bad, just present. Shakes up things set on the passenger seat.

3. Now I need to use the running boards to get into the truck!

4. My speedometer is now closer to correct -- the tires are just slightly taller than stock, but lots taller than the 225/16's! I know I was travelling about 6 mph slower than what I registered before. I will have to follow traffic to see where I am at now.

Notes: No vibes from the fronts. Run smooth!
The GM wheels have a larger pilot opening than the dodge rims. This is where I think my vibration is coming from. I tried very hard to get the gap even around the hub, but the dualls wanted to tip outward too much. I could easily raise one, but not both tires per side. This leads me to think they aren't running centered, giving me the vibration. Since both sides hung low when I put them on, the vibration is even, side to side. I think I will measure the wheel openings for both wheel sets, then get some shims/feeler guages of half thickness of the difference. that way, I can jack up the rear end, loosen the lug nuts, insert the shims, and have everything centered. If I still have a vibration then, I can figure it is probably the tires.
The tires are good up to 95 psi, rims to 80 psi, and door decal suggests 45/50 psi. Where should I run? I put 65 psi in both front and rears. I will adjust as time and suggestion warrant.

Had some trouble mounting the tires: Low point wouldn't stay put! Tried guessing how far back to start bead, hoping the little spot on the tire wound up next to the valve stem. Everyone is pretty close, but some are a little farther than others. I tried to match them up, putting the valve stems opposite and everything, but might be another reason for vibes. Too early to tell. Let me try to re-center the hubs, and I will let everyone know!

So Far, I love the 19.5's, though. Pretty aggresive tread, no noticeable increase in road noise, and truck has a much better stance/look! I took before/After pics that I will share when the film is developed!

 

55/45 works for me

 

I would suggest setting the tires to 80 psi, then wetting down part of your driveway and driving through the wet spot onto dry. Let air out until you get a full contact patch. 19.5's have a really stiff sidewall, on a lightly loaded truck it's hard to spot one that's low. I would be hesitant to run them below 50 psi.

Have you thought of using cone shaped nuts to center the wheels? That's how it's done on the 1st gen duallys. Put the wheels on with 2 cone shaped nuts, then put on the other 6, then replace the cone shaped nuts with the Dodge nuts.

The squirrely steering is due to running drives on the steer axle IMO. Unfortunately if you run steers up there 4x4 will be useless. For your next set of fronts look for a drive tire that has center ribs with lugs only on the sides.

 

Hey, Wannadiesel,

Where can I find these Cone shaped nuts? Napa, or do you know the thread on a 95?

Would they be of any benefit to me, anyway?

 

Any tire shop will have the cone nuts

 

Chris, I don't think they'd do you any good since the 2nd gens have hub-centric rims. If your rims aren't running true it's likely the rims. I mentioned it as an option for Joshua because he's got the same problem all 1st gen dually owners have: the rims are neither hub-centric nor lug-centric. The cone nut trick is in the owner's manual for 1st gens, but the nuts are not supplied with the truck. Kinda like the block heaters with no cords on the 3rd gen trucks.

 

Thanks.

That no cord trick sounds like what AGCO does to us dealers. New B6.7 Cummins and no block heater, or oil filter numbers . What good is "We're Working on them, hae them before Winter"

I might find some cone nuts, just for S&G's.

Chris

 

I have thought about the cone shaped nuts. My only problem is how do they center the inside wheel of the dual rears? The coned nuts I have seen do not go deep enough to center the inside rim too. How do you guys do it on the 1st gens???? Any and all suggestions are welcome. The ride this morning wasn't bad, but I want the vibrations to stop!

 

The 1st gen rims are stamped with alternating inner and outer recesses for the cones shaped nuts. When you put two wheels back to back they interlock so centering the outer automatically centers the inner. I can see how this might not work for you on the rear but it should make doing the front a snap.

I think some a spacer ring is the best long term solution in the rear, it wouldn't take much lathe time to make a couple.

 

That is the way I am leaning right now. Some kind of bushing sleeve...

 

Well....

I measured and found a pilot hole size difference of .050 larger GM. I tried to even the gap on the passenger rear side, but didn't find anything around the shop that was .025" thick, so cheated a little with some .031" wire. Lessened the vibe bigtime! I am going to get some .025 shim stock tommorow to space around the hub, centering the wheels. That hopefully cures the shaking!

Tried out the new tires on a gravel secondary road -- MUCH improved over the old 16's!!!

 

As for the tire pressure, what is the max pressure on imprinted on the sidewall? I went from 265/75R16E to 295/75R16D. The pressure printed on the door jamb is for the stock load range E tires (80 PSI). The maximum pressure on the new tires (load range D) is 65 PSI. I run 65 PSI in front and 60 PSI in the rear. Just don't exceed the maximum pressure imprinted on the tire.

 

Just a quick question on the beads from Innovative for those that have them or use similar products. I have new BFG 285/70-17's that give still give a mild vibration at 65-75 mph even after being roadforce balanced. I know it says to take off the existing weights that are currently on your wheels but is it possible to use both the existing weights and a smaller portion of the beads than you would otherwise use?

Is taking the existing weights off as easy as carefully using a pair of pliers to pull the weight off the lip of the rim?

Karl