Wheels and tires for a loaded (2005 and later) Ford F550 (same wheels for 2008-up Dodge 4500/5500 and Sterling Bullet)
|
I read a bunch of blogs, did lots of internet research, called several wheel companies and adaptor builders. Here is my results.
|
My truck wheel ‘monolog’
|
Stock Aluminum dually. Has a lot going for it. Plenty strong, very light front, similar weight to super single in rear. With different tires, good traction. The stock wheels (6.00”) are too narrow for anything bigger than 225x70 tires. The factory Ford dually is aluminum outer, steel inner wheel. The wheels are polished one side, rear polished inside, and front on the outside.
|
5 factors (in order) motivate me to get rid of the factory dually:
- They are too wide and stick out 5” past my 7’ wide bed.
- I bought truck with 4.88 rear end ratio which is too low. From the beginning I’d planned on bigger tires to get the effective ratio to 4.10 to 4.30.
- They provide no extra clearance for the axles.
- The off-road use of dually is not recommended due to rocks and sticks getting picked up between them and rubbing a hole in the sidewall or causing other damage.
- The 19.5 tires are ‘regional’ type (only type available), and mine are all 6 steer tires (Conti HSR)
|
19.5 custom steel Rickson, my initial purchase. (If you can trust the build, you cannot trust the builder) does deliver 19.5 steel wheels with custom outsets (allowing fairly precise setting of front/rear wheels) but that do not meet the GVW of the vehicle. If you are careful with your design load front vs rear you might be ok. The front wheel should not be used as spares for the rears as Rickson recommend to me, the front wheels are rated 4000 lbs each but the rear requires 7,350 EACH so not even close. Rickson rear rated for 6395 so doesn’t meet OEM 7,350. The front wheel completely failed and fell apart after 4000, mostly highway, miles.
|
Driving experience with Rickson and 285/70R19.5. Smooth highway ride, seemed rough on 4x4 trail compared with factory setup. The Rickson solution definitely had ‘tail wag’ (feels like the rear is pushing you left and right) on the highway. I have the factory duals back on and there is very little tail wag.
|
My rear mounted Michelin XDE2+ did get pretty warm on the highway. The steer XZE2+ mounted on front didn’t heat up – of course they had MUCH less weight on them.
|
Rickson might be ok if your GVW was way under the F550 19,500. I would not recommend Rickson for anyone but especially not for a loaded F550.
|
19.5 Hutchinson 2 part bolt together 19.5X8.25 4.33 offset. Load rated 6830 lb @ 120 psi. This works great in the front and in the rear if you have an 8’ bed, but I’m at 7’ wide. These wheels would stick out as much as stock dually. If mounted like an inner wheel of dually then it isn’t even 7’ wide. Unlike the 20x11 Hutchinson there is not an inner ‘disk’ that allows you to change the outset. So, while a great option, it won’t work for me. BTW, there lots of tire choices including a much stronger HSR/HDR Conti 305/70R19.5 but unfortunately no off road and no construction (on/off) tires that I could find.
|
Firematic 19.5 Steel wheels not much information on their web site but they look sturdy and I’ve emailed for more info.
|
22.5 Semi-truck wheels
. Alcoa and Accuride build the perfect solution (IMHO) 22.5x9 wheel rated at 10,000 lbs with 3.12 inset (this is a small super single and cannot be used as a dually). When mounted with low profile 295/60 they are only 1” or 2” larger diameter than 295R70/19.5. The center ‘disk’ is about 1” thick. They are very cheap ~$300. Two problems: they do not direct bolt to F550 and the location of 550 lug holes (225mm Bolt Circle) is exactly where the 22.5 hub hole (220mm) is. Potential work arounds:
- An adaptor plate that bolts to wheel and separately to the truck lugs, somehow EarthRoamer does use them, but I note their 22.5 wheel is VERY wide on the truck - probably needed to build a sufficiently strong adaptor plate. (I emailed ER about their adaptors and they didn’t get back to me, their mount is way too wide for me so I didn’t pursue it). No one builds a commercial solution that I could find. A build-it-yourself solution is beyond what I’d do because I have no good way to test it.
- A second mount method would allow direct bolt (sort of): Machine an aluminum ‘donut’ and press fit it in the larger 22.5 hub hole (220mm), the donut would have the required 170.1 mm hub hole for the Ford. Then build a ½ or ¾ inch steel plate with machined bolt holes for 550 to cover the whole thing. BUT with 10 lug 550 and 10 lug 22.5 holes being right next to each other this might weaken the wheel too much. A blank (which can be ordered from Accuride, I verified this) would address the 2 sets of lug holes. BUT the hub hole is ALREADY in the blank and is bigger than 170.1mm. An Accuride blank simply has no lug holes. So: build a donut, press fit, drill lug holes and build a cover plate, MIGHT work. Still the wheel is .980" thick + .75” steel plate, lugs are only 2” long so still a problem. Seems like one of the adaptor builders could acquire the ‘blanks’, build a donut and clamping plate and replace the factory lugs with longer lugs. And do some testing. I think there would be a big demand. However, there are too many variables for me to pursue this. Maybe this is a job for Super-Hackney or one of those other crazy skilled people on expeditionportal.
|
20” custom Rickson wheels (if you trust Rickson and can tolerate the bad business practices) would be another option and this is what Gary Wescott (Turtle expedition) currently uses with Michelin XZLs. Front and rear are different but I believe could be mounted in either location. Rickson web site says nothing about this option and I couldn’t determine if front and rear are different build strength. The Turtle is about 3,000 lbs lighter than my truck.
|
20x11 Hutchinson 3 part bolt together. Rated at 6779 at 95psi. But still doesn’t match factory GVW of 7,350. A really great option, strong wheel, strong tires, outsets that you can choose. Insanely expensive wheel. Can be installed without a truck lift (important to me) - just need bigger wheel well (Gary Wescott did this). One benefit is tires can be field repaired because you can unbolt the wheel to disassemble it, replace tire, then replace an ‘O’-ring between that seals the 2 part wheel. O-ring is $17.20 a each. Michelin XZL or Conti MPT 81 or Goodyear G177 are all options for OFF ROAD tires, which can be air down and you can use a beadlock. Hutchinson Internal Rubber Composite Beadlock $200 each. However, I do not want off-road tires mostly because they are only good for 40,000 miles or so. If I go with 20x11 I’m hoping to acquire Continental HDC 12x20, see tire discussion below.
|
Accuride bolt together aluminum wheels I verified by email that they no longer make them.
|
Other manufacturers: Stockton Wheel of California I’ve read lots of blog reports of cracked wheels. Les Schwabb (western USA tire and wheel company) has custom wheels built in Pasco, WA these are agricultural wheels and not DOT approved, I’ve not read any user reviews, they were more expensive than Rickson and if you ask for DOT approved wheel they order it from Rickson. http://advancewheel.com/ Agricultural and Industrial wheels.
|
My truck tire ‘monolog’
The 4 primary types of commercial truck tires.
- Long range – Bus, highway semi-truck, RV. Extremely long life. Continental=’L’, Michelin=’U’ or ‘A’. Requires a machine to remove/install tire.
- Regional – Delivery, Semi-truck, heavy and medium duty truck. Rough roads, gravel, often mud + snow rated. Not deep lugged. Very long life Continental=’R’, Michelin=’E’. Requires a machine to remove/install tire.
- On/Off road – Designed for construction, logging, mines, etc. Continental=’C’, Michelin=’Y’ Long Life. Designed to be field repaired (tire can be removed/installed with hand tools)
- Off Road – Though legal on roads they are designed as off road first. Continental=’O’ ‘MPT (MultiPurposeTire)’, Michelin=’L’. Short Life, these are soft tires that have the BIG advantage of allowing air down. Tire can be removed/installed with hand tools.
There are subcategories: Steer: (all position) Continental=’S’, Michelin=’Z’. Drive: Continental=’D’, Michelin=’D’ (drive are often Mud+Snow rated), also there are Trailer and Special Winter tires. |
Design issues for me:
|
- Maximum fully loaded and fueled truck will weigh: Front 7200 (exceeds factory GVW of 7000) Rear 12,200 (below Factory rear GVW of 14,700). Overall rated GVW=19,500.
- I prefer minimum modification of front wheel well and no lift other than the factory 2” lift.
- 19.5”, and low profile 22.5” would work great in the front. 20x11 require significant front wheel well modification.
- Though preferred, there is no way to have the rear wheels track directly behind the front because I have a 7’ wide bed and I don’t want any more than a 2 or 3 inches of tire sticking out past the camper.
- 19.5” 35” tall tires require wider wheels and slightly less offset in the front to achieve clearance for turning. Low profile 22.5” 37” tall may require a bit less offset, which you’ll get with 22.5x9.00.
- 20x11 41” tall and a bit wider, require that the wheel be pushed wider (less offset) in order to steer.
- Prefer no taller equivalent axle ratio than 4.00
|
See tire chart:
Revs/mile
| Equivalent Axle ratio
| | 647
| 4.88
| Stock what I have
| 587
| 4.43
| | 574
| 4.33
| | 569
| 4.29
| | 545
| 4.11
| 4.10 is the Highest gear ratio you can order a 550. Allows for 18,500 lbs of towing, which I won't be doing.
| 512
| 3.86
| | 500
| 3.77
| | 493
| 3.72
| | 488
| 3.68
| | 466
| 3.51
| |
|
My Rear Width issues:
8’=96”
7’=84”
Truck bed is 84” and I don’t want tires sticking out more than 2 or 3 inches.
Camper is 85”
Stock dually
| 94
| Hutchinson 20x11 recommended rear
| 95.25
| Hutchinson 20x11 Front Wheel mounted bell in, same orientation as front wheel
| 83.75
| Hutchinson 20x11 Front Wheel mounted bell ‘out’, like an outside dually (not sure if this is permitted)
| 89.75
| Hutchinson 19.5x8.25 w/ 4.3 offset ‘bell’ out
| 95.3
| Hutchinson 19.5x8.25 w/ 4.3 offset ‘bell’ in like an inside dually
| 76.39
|
|
Here are my top contenders for my application (all are regroovable)
- Hutchinson 20x11 with Continental HDC or HDC1 12R20.
Should be more stable on highway than off-road tires or 285 70R19.5
An on/off road construction tire with high mileage.
Equivalent Axle ratio: about 3.7
- Eliminated, these are Rickson: Firematic 19.5x9.75 with Continental HDR 305/70R19.5. Firematic says the IROK tire they offer is great off road but expect 20,000 miles.
still researching this option but looks good.
Equivalent Axle ratio: about 4.3
- Hutchinson 20x11 with Continental MPT 12.5R20 or Michelin XZL or Goodyear G177.
From what I’ve read in several blogs these last 35,000 to 45,000 miles, are regroovable, but no one regrooves them.
A stand by option, known to work, and available globally.
Equivalent Axle ratio: about 3.8
Can be aired down
- Hutchinson 19.5x8.25 Continental HDR 305/70R19.5
Depending on which way I mount them either too wide or too narrow for 7’ bed.
Equivalent Axle ratio: 4.30
- Stock wheels, Dually, But with Continental HDR 225 70R 19.5. Drive M+S rated tires
Sticks out 5” on each side of 7’ bed.
Equivalent Axle ratio: 4.88
|
A couple really big unknowns: The Continental HDC 12 R 20 is designed for 8.25 or 9” rim but the Hutchinson rim is 11” wide, will this combination work? Is this tire designed for drop center wheels?
|
Anything other than stock makes the rig too tall to fit in a shipping container – I didn’t expect this. SO, I plan to build 1” thick, and tall enough to provide axle clearance, solid, all aluminum, no tire, bolt-on wheel used exclusively to load the truck in a shipping container. OK, I agree that sounds weird. But any shipping requires preparation, and though odd it should work. Comments, ideas, questions?
|
