Calling all tire experts!

[Cheyenne Dave]

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.

[Nort]

Merlin the Tire Wizard

Dave, did you check the load rating of the 7.50-16' compared to the other tires and also check the sidewall plies of each tire. I'll bet even though the 7.50s are 8 ply they are rated the same if not higher. I'm no expert just going by experience. Nort

[Cheyenne Dave]

Dave, did you check the load rating of the 7.50-16' compared to the other tires and also check the sidewall plies of each tire. I'll bet even though the 7.50s are 8 ply they are rated the same if not higher. I'm no expert just going by experience. Nort

You know, I didn't check that out. I agree the old bias ply tires had a pretty good rating, but lately I've only been looking at he load range/ply rating. I will look into this, but as I mentioned earlier, this size seems to be getting phased out...very hard to find around here.

Thanks for the input, Nort!

C.D.

[Deathdeelr]

I think your out of luck. Without changing the rim size I think anything over the 235's are going to rub. I don't think I have to tell you how dangerous rubbing can be. You can blow out (and I mean BOOM!!!) both tires with the amount of heat that generates and possibly damage body panels and other vitals should this happen at highway speeds.

Also, don't think you're up the creek rimwise because the Dodge dually's are hubcentric. You can get pretty much any rim you want and each of the manufacturers make hubcentric rings that can be purchased separately. I've done this with a few rice rockets and the rings work very well.

If you've got money to burn there's always the 22.5" big rig wheel and tire conversion. I've got two right in my neighborhood and I drool every time they drive by.

[MoparNorm]

Dave my 235's don't rub??? BFG Commercial T/A, stock tire.
If you go wider, you'll need to spend some bucks on new wheels or spacers which is a no-no, unless done properly.
I think they are 8 ply, but I don't go by that anymore, I go by the Load Range, I weight in at 10,000 lbs empty with the utility box mounted.

[Cheyenne Dave]

Dave my 235's don't rub??? BFG Commercial T/A, stock tire.
If you go wider, you'll need to spend some bucks on new wheels or spacers which is a no-no, unless done properly.
I think they are 8 ply, but I don't go by that anymore, I go by the Load Range, I weight in at 10,000 lbs empty with the utility box mounted.

I've been wondering when you were going to weigh-in! As I mentioned in a previous post, this is a '96, and the stock tire is a 215...there is no other option listed by application. I have two sets of wheels and 235's will rub on both. Every time I did a tire rotation, it was also very plain to see the scuff pattern between the two rear sets.

There is no room for spacers, so I see no "proper" way for them to be used.
I have found a few options for 10 ply (Load Range E) and even a few 12 & 14 ply (Load Ranges F & G) in the 7.50 X 16, but only one option in a known brand (Yokohama). So, I guess I'll look a little more before making a decision.

Thanks for getting back...good thing I wasn't holdin my breath! HAHA!!

C.D.

[MoparNorm]

Ha! Ha!
Sorry! I've been a busy little guy, in fact I shouldn't be on this keyboard right now...ha! ha!
That's odd that the 235's rub on yours, it has to be a change in the wheels from then to now? I wonder if the rim width or offset is the culprit?
Would a 1/4" spacer ring between the wheels give you enough lug length for the outer wheel?
Too bad you can't get ahold of a 2002 and later set of wheels to see what changed.

[Cheyenne Dave]

There is no room for any spacer. The machined shoulder on the hub has room for the two wheels and no more. The factory boys wanted 215's only, so it seems.

I have been told that later model wheels had a different offset...now I'm stuck with 12 wheels that won't accept a "norm"al tire. Guess I should have done better research before buying that 2nd set...:-(

C.D.

[MoparNorm]

Well at least that situation is normal....= )
Something about closing the barn door after the horse is out....you're not alone there!

[Rich Szklany]

Tires

Cheyenne Dave,
I own a 1996 2500 with a Cummins. It came with 245s. When Dodge came out with the Big Red machine truck in I think 1997 or 98, It was a 3500 dually it had 255-85r-16 tires. They are load range D 3000lb weight rating, the load range on the 245s i Believe were 3050 lb weight rating. The Lt 255s are 33'' in diameter and 10'' wide. Iam currently running Cooper ST on the truck in the 255 size. The Big Red machine was running Goodyear Wrangler AT. I hope this helps.

Rich Szklany

[Cheyenne Dave]

Cheyenne Dave,
I own a 1996 2500 with a Cummins. It came with 245s. When Dodge came out with the Big Red machine truck in I think 1997 or 98, It was a 3500 dually it had 255-85r-16 tires. They are load range D 3000lb weight rating, the load range on the 245s i Believe were 3050 lb weight rating. The Lt 255s are 33'' in diameter and 10'' wide. Iam currently running Cooper ST on the truck in the 255 size. The Big Red machine was running Goodyear Wrangler AT. I hope this helps.

Rich Szklany

At the heart of the matter here is tire width. As mentioned in the first post, 235's have a cross section of 9.25", and they rub sidewalls in my dually application. Both tires you mention have an even greater cross section than
that...

C.D.

[MoparNorm]

Dave,
Rich's post made me wonder...did Dodge put the wrong wheels on your truck???
255 is a BIG difference from our 235's....or your 215's, something is amiss here???

[Paul Cook]

Check the factory brochure

While I was at my dealer getting an $8.00 oil change, filter, and lube on my Power Wagon, I was looking through a brochure on the 2009 "Heavy Duty" (2500 - 3500) Dodge trucks. I wish I had paid more attention to make a competent response to this thread. All I can say is I think I saw that 3500's with duallies had rims that were 6" wide.

Oh, yes! The brochures were printed in South Korea. Ku-kosun Hangooke il hwasimeda.

By the way, after I left, I stopped for some $1.949 per gallon gasoline.

[Cheyenne Dave]

Dave,
Rich's post made me wonder...did Dodge put the wrong wheels on your truck???
255 is a BIG difference from our 235's....or your 215's, something is amiss here???

Rich's application is a 2500...not a dually, so he can get away with a wider tire. Also, I should mention that I have never run the 215's, this is just what my owners manual says should be run. Dave Butlers stretched '95 3500 dually always ran 215's, if I am remembering correctly.

And Paul, yes these are 6" rims. I put my old set of Wrangler 235's on today so my tire dealer could see. There is about 1/8" to 3/16" of space between the dual tires...much closer than either of us would like to see. I would suspect the newer model wheels have a different backset, as I have seen many dually trucks with 235's that are nowhere near as close as mine.

C.D.

[Fred_M]

If you go to aluminum wheels you can run larger tires as the wheels are thicker,
most run steel inner and aluminum outer