Tires for tow vehicle?

[HamRad]

OK. I know this topic has not come up very often...... Just kidding! But it is a little different. This time it is for my tow vehicle >>>> It is a 2002 Ford SD 7.3 Crew Cab Dually with long bed. I'm currently running Goodyear 225/70x 19.5. The 19.5s are not the easiest tires to find. And once you do find them they seem unreasonably expensive. Just priced a couple of Bridgestones. They want $1000 for the two of them! That seems high to me but it has bee several years since I priced the Goodyears that are running now. They were less than half the quote for the Bridgestones.

Anyone care to share with me what their 19.5s ran them and how satisfied have you been with the tire? Thanks, Dennis.

[DQDick]

Can't really answer you question about running them, but a friend recently came to me because she got a similar quote on tires on a Toyota SUV and couldn't believe it. I went to both tire people here in town. Being a farming community they both deal in heavy duty tires. One told me he made his wife sell a car like that because of the tire issue and the other said he's had people change wheels over the tire issue. Neither one could come up with a decent price for tires to fit on 19" rims. As I said to her, "sorry that's the best I could do".

[dieselguy]

We have a local business that sells like new or actually new tires and wheels that people trade in when they buy new cars and pickups and want aftermarket rims and tires. Perhaps you have a "factory take off" business in your area. My 2000 has 16" wheels and rides fine ... maybe you could acquire a more popular wheel size and let someone else deal with the 19.5" and be money ahead to boot.

[Art-n-Marge]

$500 per tire is high, to me. While I like to stay under $250 I have never tried buying tires that big.

Be careful of the ratings. My TV could not use 16" wheels because of the size of the brakes. It's 17" or higher. Then I could not readily find 17" tires for the 17" wheels I had, to support the new weight ratings for my upgraded truck suspension (another long story, but all is fine), so I had to buy 18" takeoff wheels, then new Michelin 18" tires that are readily available and not that expensive that had the proper rating in that size. I also had to ensure that the right tires were installed because the tire tech tried to do me a favor in selling me some less expensive 18" Michelin tires until I showed him the weight rating was too low.

With 19.5s, you might consider changing the wheels, but then you'll need to ensure the weight ratings are maintained for your truck and these wheels fit your truck, the tires are readily available and less expensive, and the cost to change the wheels and tires does not far exceed the cost of the original 19.5 tire replacements unless you plan to keep the truck for a long time.

Let us know how you work this out HamRad.

[firetrucker]

Dennis, a quick check of Tire Rack showed Michelins in that size for less than $500. Next time I'm at Costco, I'll check what they have.

Bob

[fatman20111]

Hamrad,

I got 2 new Generals for my F-550 fromy Ford dealer for around $650 and they are load range F.

[HamRad]

Tom,
Was that $650 per tire or was that the price for 2 tires? I've had good experience with Generals. Thanks for info.

As far as changing out the wheels so as to get smaller tires.... Well no plans at present to do such a thing. I suspect my "battleship" 450 would look really weird with 16 or even 18 inch wheels.

Thanks for checking for tires Bob and perhaps we can find a Costco while in Oregon.

And thanks to all who replied. Safe travels. Dennis

[firetrucker]

Hey Dennis,

I checked Costco yesterday, and they only have Michelin ribs, which I think would be just right for the front wheels. $359 plus $15 mounting.

Bob