I'll be getting a slide-in truck camper in the near future and would like to upgrade the tires to give myself more of a safety margin. It will be about the right time to to replace the standard tires also due to wear, etc. so the question of "which tire" comes up.

I'm looking for experienced comments on going with the 245 vs 285 tires. I've heard that I don't need to do a lift with the 245's, but am concerned about the relatively narrow width/aspect ratio and have read posts about the 245's being a bit wobbly. If I go with the larger tires I'll need to install a 2" front lift kit, and will probably want to put in a 1" lift in the rear also to keep my butt from dragging when loaded. Both tires will give me ample load capacity, and sure the larger tires are a bit pricier but aside from that what are the pro's/con's?

Up here we get more than a bit of snow, so I'm will need tires with M+S rating.

For those of you running 19.5's, what do you do with your spare? Did you get a 19.5 spare and if so, where do you put it ?

 

You definitely do not need a lift with 245's. I fit my 245's in the stock spare tire location with no problem. 245's should be no problem in terms of width either. For example, dually's have 235's and these 245's I use are steer tires that are rated to 4940# each so imagine what kinds of trucks these are going on (possibly a 1000 cubic foot UPS or FedEx Pick up and delivery truck with a GVW of 15-20,000). I would personally not get 285's... too big and unnecessary unless you are looking to get more clearance.

I would get a spare because not too many places on the road carry 19.5's...
One thing is these suckers are HEAVY! I think about 150#.

I run 4 steer tires right now and I got about 70K out of them. For my next time I think I'm going to get drive tires for the rear and just swap them left to right, right to left because when you put the steer tires on the drive axle is when they start to wear out quickly.

Good luck and they are definitely a good buy I think. Where are you buying from? Rickson?

 

Good thread! I just picked up a set of six GM step van wheels, and will have the centers bored to fit. My question for you, njoverkill, is if you know whether 245's will fit these rims?? I could run 225's, but I prefer 245's. If they are too narrow, I may sell them and hold out for a set of six Rickson's, but that is a whole lot of dough. Good information on these forums!!!

 

Whats the rim width on those?

I don't even know the width on mine but see the very bottom of this page for some brief info about rim width vs tire width

http://www.ricksontruck.com/wheels_dodge_srw.html

 

I'll check out the link, thanks! The Chevy rims appear to be 6" like my stock wheels. Most of the tires are bias ply, 9R or 10R 19.5's. I am looking for metric conversions.

 

I'm running the 245's now on Rickson wheels (Dunlop snow rated drive wheel tires). I noticed a good bit of side to side movement when they were new. With 2k miles on them, it's gone - I think the rubber had to wear flat across the tread. Now they handle very well and no wiggle, even pulling a 13k fifth wheel. Ride is fairly smooth also.

Got the tires on too late for snow - they do O.K. in mud, and have a fairly aggressive pattern.

 

hobbyman, I noticed the side to side movement a lot as well in the beginning... I thought maybe I needed a heavier duty steering stablizer but now I don't notice it...

 

How do those GM 19.5 rims work for you?

 

With the 6spd it probably doesn't matter much, but I wanted to add that I'm actually switching down to 225's from 245's just to gain a few RPMs when towing in OD with my automatic... 285's must be huge!

 

Haven't gotten the hub pilots enlarged yet -- need to find a shop in Eastern Iowa up to the task, yet affordable. I am having a difficult time finding tires. Internet looks good, but I haven't liked the selection so far. I am concerned with winter and wet weather driving, plus my hunting season forays! I don't tow as much anymore, but I want all the advantages of the 19.5's, just need to find the right tire. We'll see... BigLar had some posts about the bridgestones he got from Rickson, and how terrible they were in wet weather, plus the highway singing. I like my diesel rattle, but I have never cared for tire noise.

 

I can't believe that with all the mid-duty trucks out there running the 19.5 rim that tires are hard to find,if you are looking for on/off road then your selection is less.

 

I know! I figured there would be a large selection, but I am having a hard time finding them. I think the 6.00" GM rim width is a hampering problem, as is the on/off road tread desire. I like to buy American products (although with huge multinational corporations it really is hard to tell what is American anymore) so I have reservations about Yokohamas, Sunitomo's, Kumhos, Michelin, etc. I hear Goodyear owns Dunlop; Bridgstone/Firestone have just a few options but only one M+S rated (that I have found so far), and Very little internet info is available for Commercial Tires.

I remember all of the firetrucks having good on/off road tread, as our dept. used one set of tires year round -- had to be good for spring brush fires off road, deep snows in winter, plus the highways. I have some rotten treads that look just like those old tires, but they are a no-name bias ply tire, hardly suited for my high mileage commute.

Maybe I am mistaken?? Are the commercial bias ply tires better than the passenger/light truck bias tires?? The last set I drove on was a set of 15 inchers on my dad's '56 Imperial. They followed every rut and crack in the highway. I got tired driving that day, and the car was equiped with the original Chrysler power steering = full power assist, little to no road feel.

 

19.5's are on! GM pilots are actually larger than Dodge, so no machining required! Love the look, getting used to the ride. I have some of the "side to side" movement described above, looking forward to a few miles to break the tires in.

I have to do a better job centering the wheels on the rear, though. I have a definite vibration back there, which I believe is caused by the slightly larger hub pilot hole. I tried my best to evenly space the gap around the hub, but with the 2 rears per side, I think I failed miserably. I can only think of using feeler guages or shim stock to evenly space the hubs?? Maybe a sleeve of some kind....

Well, If anyone else wants to try them, the GM stepvan wheels bolt right on! Get the 8 on 6.5 bolt pattern, and be prepared for the hub spacing! I reused the two-piece lugnuts that Dodge uses, instead of the clamping plate/cone nuts from GM. I don't think it really will make a bit of difference, and this way I can reuse my Dodge center caps front and rear!! I will post pics when the camera roll is finished!

 

Steve03,

Had 285 Michelins on my '90 V3500 Chevy 4 x 4, 12 valve Cummins, 5 speed, (now for sale). 16 ply rate was great for stability, safety and wear. The excessive weight was tough on front end bearings. Balanced them with Equal. If you run them you WILL need to lift the front some.

The tires gave more clearance when off road with my Big Foot 9.6 in the bed.

 

thanks '300
I can get a 245/70/19.5 Michelin XDE-MS - 'H' rated tire from Rickson - and will shop around for prices elsewhere. The extra inch of height on a 285 series won't make much difference to what I get into off-road, and I'm having a hard time justifying the extra tire weight+tire cost+cost of 2" lift + where do I put the bigger spare tire (?). Not sure if the extra inch of width will be of much benefit when in deep snow either - everything I'm hearing from folks who live in the north says tall and narrow is the way to go in snow.

Next question is should I get the 'H' or 'F' ? H gives me extra 860 lbs load capacity, but what is the downside ?