Alaskan Camper Build Up

[Carlyle]

Sorry about the delay in replying, but we were out having fun! The tires and wheels now have approximately 55,000 miles on them now and I have to say and doing great. I have about one more year of use on them, or thirty thousand miles. They hold the weight of the truck and camper well and there is definitely less sway when cornering, accept at crawling speeds, but that just the way it is. They are great in the rain and snow, but would rate them mediocre on ice simply because they are narrower and higher pressure. Also they are not a mud tire, but I weigh too much to crawl through the mud anyways. When aired down to 65 psi from 100 psi they do better on soft terrain, but need to be aired back up for highway comfort.

Yes, I would buy these tires again. Too bad Goodyear stopped making them about six months after I bought them... I'll probably go with a Toyo or similar in the same size next, I just hope they wear as well as these.

 

[jackotheroad]

followed all 28 pages with great interest. I too am a back roader not an off roader; where you have to be prepared for the unexpected!

thanks much!

 

[Carlyle]

Thanks for the kudos!

100,000 hits! Wow!

 

[Trucker&RVer]

Here are a couple of similar examples of what we are doing:

Are these people members of the forum?

 

[Carlyle]

Not that I know of.

 

[Superduty123]

When you installed the 19.5 tires, did you notice any loss or power due to gear ratio changing?

I have a 2007 F350 4x4 Short Bed that I want to put 19.5's to be able to safely carry a Self Contained Camper but I am worried about loss of power

 

[Carlyle]

I didn't see a dramatic reduction in low end power. The engine idles at a lower rpm on the highway and the speedometer will need to be recalibrated.
You will not have any problems with loss of power.

 

[lstzephyr]

Very cool buildup!


Any chance I could check this truck out sometime in person? I'm curious about the size of the interior and since I am planning on becoming a nurse(almost have all the pre-reqs to start the program) I'd like to pick your brain on your job as well sometime.

 

[Carlyle]

PM sent

 

[The Adam Blaster]

Just re-reading this thread, again...

I think I might go a similar route, but with a larger truck (450/550) and larger camper unit. I'd be traveling with my wife and future kids; we have a son now, but planning on 2 more. And the truck purchase and camper build is likely 5+ years away.

I just caught the part about you liking the G124's, but they are apparently discontinued.
I currently work for a Goodyear tire distributor for Western Canada and if you like, I can try and pull some strings to see if I can find you some more of these tires. We deal heavily with the American based factories (no surprise) and I can at least ask them if there are any left in a back corner of a warehouse...

It's 265/70R19.5's right?

 

[Carlyle]

Like you, if I were to choose a truck again, I would go with a F450, but most likely a F550 chassis cab. I will wait until this truck has more mileage on it and the new Ford engine is proven to be more reliable than the 6.0 or better mileage than the 6.4. I will find a SRW conversion and probably go with 20 inch wheels at that time. Another reason to hang on to this one is that it will burn diesel from Central and South America and the newer ULSD trucks will not.

Thanks for the offer of help on the G124's, but I have my local tire shop checking on the number in the Goodyear warehouse periodically and when they get low, I pull the trigger and get another set. It is amazing how well they wear. The only replacement in that size other than the Goodyear, is a Kumo, which I really don't know much about. Everything else appears to have a highway only tread.

 

[The Adam Blaster]

When I looked up that model (I must admit my knowledge on medium duty tires is not that great...) the tread pattern looked familiar to me.
I know there are other companies that make that style, almost like a diamond tread... I just don't know if they make it in the size you want.

Why would you go with the 20" size rim? And what tire size would you run?

 

[The Adam Blaster]

P.S. The Goodyear part# in my system for the G124 is 756921657.
They currently have stock in the Dekalb IL warehouse - 87 units left.

It seems like the closest Goodyear replacement is the G622. It has a different tread pattern though, and shows to have a tread that is 2/32 deeper than the 124 model.

 

[Carlyle]

The G622 appears to be a highway oriented tire, unless I'm looking at the wrong one.

20" wheels appear to have more options than the 19.5's. Probably because it is a sized used by the military.

Thanks for the update on tire numbers, it appears that they are slowly dwindling.

 

[The Adam Blaster]

I ask about the 20" size because through my work at a couple different tire distributors, the 20" sized tires, 9/10/11.00R20's seem difficult to locate and there aren't very many major manufacturers that are making them any more.
There are some Chinese tires that are getting imported to supply some of the demand, but they are of course of lesser quality.

I'm just speaking from my own experience for the Western Canadian market - no idea what it's like in the U.S...