Now, I know there are a bunch of guys on these forums who have a lot of tire experience and resources, so I turn to you after exhausting my local options.
I have the Cummins powered Dodge 3500 dually 4x4 of the 1996 vintage. This truck came stock with 215/85R16, which is to say, wheel barrow tires. They were load range E tires, 10 ply.
The truck came to me wearing 235/85R16, which looked much more to scale for the truck and were also a 10 ply tire, but were touching the sidewalls or nearly so, in the dual rear wheel application.
I have tried 245's on the recommendation of one of the local tire guys, but had the same problem with the tires rubbing. At the moment, I am running 7.50 x 16's, which have the height of the 235's but are narrow like the 215's, and have a nice spacing between tires. Unfortunately, they are a load range D tire, or 8 ply, and I'm just not comfortable with that, considering the weight of my truck and the combined loads I haul and carry. Also, this is getting to be a ******* tire size and is not available in 10 ply without paying huge bucks.
Using a spacer between the wheels is not an option as the wheels are hub-centric. That is to say that the wheels are centered via the tolerance between the wheel center and the hub, not by the lug nuts. The shoulder on the hub allows only for the thickness of the two wheels...adding a spacer would leave the outside wheel uncentered.
I am running 235/85R16's on my trailer (Geo-Trac's) and they look to have a pretty narrow cross-section, so I measured and compared them to the 7.50 x 16's now on the truck. The 7.50's are 8 7/8" at their widest and the 235's are 9 1/4" at their widest.
What I am looking for is a tire that doesn't exceed 9" but has a 10 ply rating. I sure hate the thought of going to the stock 215's because of how short they are. With 4.10 gears, the taller tire gives me better fuel economy and actually gives accurate speedomoter/odometer readings.
Can one of you tire guru's point me in the right direction? I usually run a mild all-season tread but if the solution is more aggressive, I can deal with it.
Thanks!
C.D.
I have the Cummins powered Dodge 3500 dually 4x4 of the 1996 vintage. This truck came stock with 215/85R16, which is to say, wheel barrow tires. They were load range E tires, 10 ply.
The truck came to me wearing 235/85R16, which looked much more to scale for the truck and were also a 10 ply tire, but were touching the sidewalls or nearly so, in the dual rear wheel application.
I have tried 245's on the recommendation of one of the local tire guys, but had the same problem with the tires rubbing. At the moment, I am running 7.50 x 16's, which have the height of the 235's but are narrow like the 215's, and have a nice spacing between tires. Unfortunately, they are a load range D tire, or 8 ply, and I'm just not comfortable with that, considering the weight of my truck and the combined loads I haul and carry. Also, this is getting to be a ******* tire size and is not available in 10 ply without paying huge bucks.
Using a spacer between the wheels is not an option as the wheels are hub-centric. That is to say that the wheels are centered via the tolerance between the wheel center and the hub, not by the lug nuts. The shoulder on the hub allows only for the thickness of the two wheels...adding a spacer would leave the outside wheel uncentered.
I am running 235/85R16's on my trailer (Geo-Trac's) and they look to have a pretty narrow cross-section, so I measured and compared them to the 7.50 x 16's now on the truck. The 7.50's are 8 7/8" at their widest and the 235's are 9 1/4" at their widest.
What I am looking for is a tire that doesn't exceed 9" but has a 10 ply rating. I sure hate the thought of going to the stock 215's because of how short they are. With 4.10 gears, the taller tire gives me better fuel economy and actually gives accurate speedomoter/odometer readings.
Can one of you tire guru's point me in the right direction? I usually run a mild all-season tread but if the solution is more aggressive, I can deal with it.
Thanks!
C.D.
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