F450 tires. I should have done this years ago.

[Threebigfords]

I know it's a narrow segment of the folks here, but if you own a 10 lug F450 and have the same love/hate relationship with the 19.5 inch tires as I did, then maybe this will help. I've tried a few different tires and sizes in the last 105k miles.

I started out on the stock 19.5 225 Continental HDR's....they rode o.k. but had no traction.

I swapped those out for the taller more aggressive 245 Toyo 608z. Worst tire ever. They lasted two weeks on the truck.

I then tried the 245 Michelin XDS2...smooth enough ride, but noisy on smooth asphalt and poor traction in snow....and expensive.

I then lifted the truck and went up another size to 19.5 x 265. Michelin didn't make the XDS2 in that size so I was back to the Toyo 608z....which I suffered with for the last 40k Miles. Horrible tire.
They even smell bad.

I FINALLY decided I'd had enough. I ordered a set of Fuel 20 x 8.25 Ford 10 lug wheels, with 12 ply 35x12.5x20 Toyo RT tires. These are direct bolt on wheels. No spacers or adapters. They have the same load rating on the wheels as the Alcoas, and the 12ply F rated tires are only 300lbs less load per tire than the stock G rated Continentals. The wheels are offered in 3 different offsets for 285, 12.5" and 13.5" width tires.

**** what a difference.

PRO's
They balanced out perfect.
They are WAY quieter.
MUCH smoother running at 70 PSI.
Truck tracks straighter.
I can air them down when needed.
Tires are much less expensive.
45k mile mileage warranty.
Far better traction in all conditions.

CON's
They are much wider. Sticking with the 285 tire offset could alleviate some of that.
The initial cost of the wheels will take two sets of tires to recoup.

I seriously should have done this 3 years ago. These wheels will be moving to a new F450 when the time comes!

[blofgren]

Threebigfords wrote:

blofgren wrote:
They look great, OP!

Thanks! That's not the main reason I went this route as I liked the look of the stock Alcoas just fine but it is a nice side benefit!

I like the look of the stock Alcoas too, but I really like those Fuel wheels, especially because they're not black like it seems 99% of them are. 🙂

[Threebigfords]

You could always run the 285 tires. They stick out half as much as these 12.5" tires. The offset for the 285's are only 2.5" vs 3.5" for the 12.5" and 3.5" for the guys running 13.5" tires. 😉

[NRALIFR]

Geez. If I did that to mine, I couldn’t get between the front jacks on my TC.........Again.

Already had to fab up some extensions for the jack brackets when I moved from an F350 to an F450.

Looks like I’d need another 3”-4” clearance on each side, and then the jacks would probably hit the cab when they’re swung in. They’re close enough now that I have to make sure the camper is centered in the bed.

My TC weighs about 5500 lbs as well.

:):)

[FishOnOne]

Threebigfords wrote:

FishOnOne wrote:

Threebigfords wrote:
I looked at that tire and don't see how it addresses any of the issues I had.

Still a stiff poor riding 19.5" tire

Still has poor traction.

Still can't air them down

Still a commercial truck tire that won't balance worth a ****

Still doesn't offer any significant advantages in load capacity or tread life for all the negatives.

Still more expensive

Still has an inferior speed rating

So what exactly does it address again?

I'll let Big Truck Big RV explain...

Link

If you actually watch that video it's obvious he and I use our trucks very differently and have different expectaions about what they should be capable of.

That being said, he basically reinforces everything I said about 19.5" tires and their poor traction and ride characteristics having gone through stock HSR's, Toyo's and Firestones before finally giving up on decent traction tires and settling for the HD3's

Plus his definition of traction is probably different from yours since it doesn't snow in Corpus Christi.

[Threebigfords]

FishOnOne wrote:

Threebigfords wrote:
I looked at that tire and don't see how it addresses any of the issues I had.

Still a stiff poor riding 19.5" tire

Still has poor traction.

Still can't air them down

Still a commercial truck tire that won't balance worth a ****

Still doesn't offer any significant advantages in load capacity or tread life for all the negatives.

Still more expensive

Still has an inferior speed rating

So what exactly does it address again?

I'll let Big Truck Big RV explain...

Link

If you actually watch that video it's obvious he and I use our trucks very differently and have different expectaions about what they should be capable of.

That being said, he basically reinforces everything I said about 19.5" tires and their poor traction and ride characteristics having gone through stock HSR's, Toyo's and Firestones before finally giving up on decent traction tires and settling for the HD3's

[Threebigfords]

You would think so ...right?

From my experience (105k miles so far) the tires aren't made to the same tolerances as light truck tires. The run-out is terrible, with high spots and low spots. About the only way to balance one correctly requires shaving the tire, which doesn't work well on the traction tires like the Toyo 608z as you shave off all the siping. The fact that the tires have such low speed ratings should tell you a bit about how true they are. Some are rated as low as 75 mph, with most limited to 81mph.

One unique problem with duallys and stick on weights is that the back of the outer rear wheel is convex...thus any stick on weights tend to fly off due to centrifugal force. So with no way to balance that tire, it better be pretty true to begin with....which they typically aren't.

To counteract that guys like me tend to run hydraulic balancing rings like Centrimatics or Balance Masters, but they can only do so much when the tire is out actually of round to begin with.

Some try balancing beads or Equal inside the tire, but often those clump up due to moisture or can't offset how out of spec the tire is, and they'll do nothing for an out of round tire.

I'm a contractor, so traction at jobsites pulling heavy loads/trailers is pretty important. I have had zero luck finding a good combo of traction and ride quality in the 19.5" tires. You get one or the other.

Switching to these 20" wheels and 12 ply Toyo RT's has been the solution I wish I'd found 100k miles ago.

[LanceRKeys]

I am thinking about getting a 450. Can you explain why commercial tires can’t be balanced? Seems like you could balance them the same as any tire.

[Threebigfords]

blofgren wrote:
They look great, OP!

Thanks! That's not the main reason I went this route as I liked the look of the stock Alcoas just fine but it is a nice side benefit!

[Threebigfords]

Haha!...you do remember he traded his first F450 in on a new F350 because of these exact same tire issues right??...and only switched back to his latest F450 because he missed the turning radius of the wide track front axle.

Also...if you'll note.... he's comparing the HD3 to his old HSR highway tires. My truck came with the HDR Continentals which are the traction tires that the HD3 replaced, and as you can see in Continentals own chart in my previous post...they offer ZERO improvement over the HDR except in tire wear and rolling resistance(mpg).

[blofgren]

They look great, OP!

[FishOnOne]

Threebigfords wrote:
I looked at that tire and don't see how it addresses any of the issues I had.

Still a stiff poor riding 19.5" tire

Still has poor traction.

Still can't air them down

Still a commercial truck tire that won't balance worth a ****

Still doesn't offer any significant advantages in load capacity or tread life for all the negatives.

Still more expensive

Still has an inferior speed rating

So what exactly does it address again?

I'll let Big Truck Big RV explain...

Link

[Lwiddis]

Gee, you spent all your money on wheels and tires.

[Threebigfords]

I looked at that tire and don't see how it addresses any of the issues I had.

Still a stiff poor riding 19.5" tire

Still has poor traction.

Still can't air them down

Still a commercial truck tire that won't balance worth a ****

Still doesn't offer any significant advantages in load capacity or tread life for all the negatives.

Still more expensive

Still has an inferior speed rating

So what exactly does it address again?

[FishOnOne]

Just for future reference Ford is now installing the Continental HD3 which addresses the issues you had.