Upgrading wheels on my truck

A few things..
It will change your gear ratio. If you have enough low gears to get rolling, you should be fine. Just know that it will effect MPG and put more strain on your motor if you stomp on it during take off.

Tire life varies depending on loads, manufacturer and composition.
Ride quality may also be affected. Admittedly, I don't know if your current setup is air ride or not.

 

19.5 could be better in theory but you may not find that one to be a very sensible idea from a cost perspective. If you can find a good set of take-off steelies then maybe, but even the hub adapters are around $1000 for the set last I checked. I wouldn't do it TBH.

I'm not terribly surprised the OEM tires would only last 40-50k. They are more of a ride comfort tire rather than a commercial duty tire that come on a new little truck. Check out Bridgestone's "Duravis" line and/or Michelin's "Rib" series tires in 17" and you will get double that easy if your alignment is set properly (have it checked when you put the new ones on anyway...). Also check into the Centramatic auto balancers for all 4 positions and get rid of the stick-on weights. They will help extend tire life and smooth the ride out. They are a little bit of an investment but worth it. I run a pair on my steer axle and will get the ones for the back at some point. Don't get the knockoffs either, get the real deal original ones. Some have had bad luck with the brand-X versions. Also you might get some better ride if you throw the OEM aluminum dually wheels on there if you just have the steel ones. Suspension will work better with less unsprung weight on it.

The one nice thing about running a little truck is you can use the jack kit to R&R a spare tire yourself in a pinch if you really need too, like if a steer tire goes out on you. But if you are running top shelf rubber and checking the pressures that should not happen too often. With a big truck you are stuck waiting for help to show up because everything is too heavy and requires special tools.

As far as your weight limitations the rear axle on that one is probably not rated for 15k anyway on your 3500. I have a Dana 80 under mine and I believe Dana themselves only rates it for 12k or so, while the tires are limited on mine to around 10k. 5500's are probably rated that high.

 

What size are your current tires? Most likely going to a set of 225/75/19.5’s wont change anything with your gearing or speedometer. You wont need any hub adapters ether. Search out your bolt pattern and ether American Force or Alcoa will have direct bolt on 19.5’s but you’ll most likely have to run a steel inner with an aluminum outer as the studs arent long enough. I have an F450 pickup that came with 10 lug 19.5’s factory. I have ruffly 100,000 miles on my hankook DH01’s on the rear axle and they are wearing flat and still have at lest 100,000 more in them. Granted I dont haul much of anything with it but its putting 550hp to the ground and Im not easy on the go pedal.

 

Which transmission does your have? 68RFE or Aisin? 4.10 was a good call but a larger diameter tire will drop your RPMS and cause overdrive to lug down a little bit. Be a little careful with that one because it can throw your odometer accuracy off which could obviously be a concern for a commercial use vehicle. Have to do some more research on that one.

 

Ok thats what I thought. The 235/80/17 are just under 32” tall and a 225/75-19.5 are just over 32” tall. So they will be a good replacement. The odo will be off just a little but not much.