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Real Truck Tires for Your Ram Pickup
  Tired of tire problems? Upgrade to commercial duty wheels and tires.  
 
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My Ram 2500, which weighs over 9500 pounds (and is frequently well over 10,000 pounds), has always been hard on tires. The rear locker and mountainous terrain in Virgina wears driving tires down very quickly. The gravel and dirt roads I drive to camp and recreate also grind down tires quickly. After problems with short tire life and belt separations  on 16" LT tires, I decided to try 19.5" commercial medium duty tires.

I had seen 245/75R19.5 tires on Ford based UPS vans, so I knew that 8 lug 19.5" wheels were made. Then I found the folks at Rickson Truck Accessories, who were marketing replacement wheels and tires for pickup trucks. After talking with them on the phone, I decided to order 5 of Rickson's 6.75" steel wheels with Toyo M608Z 245/75R19.5G tires mounted and ballanced. This became one of the best changes I had made on my truck.

To keep the cost down (expect sticker shock) I chose to buy white painted steel wheels instead of much more expensive forged aluminum wheels. The OEM black center caps fit perfectly and IMO look just fine. While the tires are rated for 4500 pounds each, the rims are only rated for 3500 pounds.

I run my tires between 85 and 95 pounds, depending on the truck load. They are rotated at 5000 to 8000 mile intervals and all 5 tires have all worn very evenly.

Why Put Rickson 19.5" wheels on your Truck?
  • HIGH MILEAGE Commercial Tires - These are REAL Truck Tires
  • Increased Margin of Safety - LOAD RANGE F OR G TIRES
  • Install Larger tires WHILE INCREASING the load range
  • Install the Same diameter tires WHILE INCREASING the load range
  • Improved HANDLING & STABILITY - Loaded or Unloaded
  • Good Looks for DODGE, FORD, & GM - Fill up those wheel wells
M608Z: Toyo's best "standard tread depth" drive tire. (19/32nd inch tread depth.) Designed to fight irregular wear in long haul, LTL applications. The abrasion resistant tread compound is great for both wet and dry surfaces. Stone ejectors in center groove protect against stone drilling.
 
LT vs commercial tire Comparison

Dunlop Radial Rover RV 255/85R16D

  • Static dia (unloaded) 32.7"
  • Static dia (loaded)  ?
  • Revolutions per mile 658
  • Rim Width range 6.5-8"
  • Tread Width 8"
  • Section Width 10.4"
  • Max load Single (lbs.) 3000
  • Tread Depth 16/32"
  • My tire life: 18,000 miles

 

BFG Mud Terrain 255/85R16D

  • Static dia (unloaded) 33.3"
  • Static dia (loaded)  ?
  • Revolutions per mile 625
  • Rim Width range 6.5-8"
  • Tread Width 7.9"
  • Section Width 10.0"
  • Max load Single (lbs.) 3000
  • Tread Depth 19/32"
  • My tire life: 13,000 miles

Toyo M-608-Z 245/70R19.5G   

  • Static dia (unloaded) 33.2"
  • Static dia (loaded) 30.8"
  • Revolutions per mile 624
  • Rim Width 7.5"
  • Tread Width
  • Overall Width 9.4"
  • Max load Single (lbs.) 4540
  • Tread Depth 19/32"
  • My tire life : 32,000 miles
Tire life was measured on my truck (weight 9,500 to 10,500 pounds), with a rear locker, driving over
mostly mountain terrain. Approximately 80% of the travel mileage was on pavement and 20% was on
dirt/gravel. Because I need enough tread for traction, all tires were removed well before the tread
wear indicators were reached. I experienced belt shift/separation on one Radial Rover tire and that tire
was removed before it failed.

TDR Threads about the 19.5's on 2500/3500 trucks

TDR Threads about the 19.5's on 3500 trucks

TDR Threads about other wheel types

Wheel suppliers

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This page was edited on: May 3, 2004