Heavy Haul Front Wheels

Superhauler,i'm not shure what your point is.
Can you explain what your getting at.

 

What he is saying is that the outer bearing is weaker on the smaller axles and cannot handle the stress as well with the bigger tires and the offset wheels. Basically what it does is pull out on the bottom of the bearing while pushing in on the top.

 

cnsper,i think it depends on which offset you have.
Tomorrow i will measure both type off rims i can use on my front axle.
Get back to you.

 

From a technical standpoint it wouldn't be a great idea mounting a much heavier wheel/tire combination onto a front suspension that wasn't designed for it. I suppose you could get away with it but you'd lose braking and suspension performance and would be wearing out parts on the front end quicker. Unsprung weight is the worst kind of weight you can add to a vehicle from a performance standpoint.

 

What size tires are the fatters

 

I felt compelled to comment and keep this alive lol.
I just went from 11R24.5 (oem spec) to 425/60/22.5, the Western star runs a 12k lbs front with 14k springs. I was contemplating on doing a double steering conversion but not sure if necessary as I'll probably not ever be over 12k on front. Truck is a 2007 pre dpf C11 370hp (410 with bullydog tuner) Western Star 4900 sb and only has 30,000 miles on the clock and its a custom RV setup (under build) with 40" sleeper (passenger seats). Truck will never see more than 10k miles a year so I'm not too worried about bearing failure.
Now having said all that, I have a parts truck being parted out about 70 miles away and was thinking of maybe grabbing its 20k front end,... either just the axle, but may want the dual steer setup as well. Any of you think I should bother?

 

Sorry about hi-jacking thread, but it’s kinda on topic.

 

@t76turbo
Planning on doing something similar in the 5-10 year plan. That truck's gonna have 315/80R22.5's on flat face 22.5x9 rims. Even that's going to be overkill. I had those on the steer of a truck I sold and liked them, and got noticeably better tire wear from the 11r24.5's, while still had manners while handling, and looked good.

I've got 385's on the dump trucks and 425's on the lowboy truck, so I know what the big tires are about.

No way in hell am I going to have a 20k front end with those #### basketball tires on it for a vehicle i'm supposed to drive for recreational purposes and relaxing.

Hell until / if I get a lowboy with a longer neck I have a tough time getting weight up front on the truck as it is.

 

I ran a truck that had the 315’s I believe and the big 405’s. 315’s weren't bad at all. The 405’s (or whatever the number) try to fit in the groove going down the road and constantly fighting it to stay in lane. And when pulling steer dollies and all that you don’t wanna be wiggling around. PLUS if there’s ever a time you got over 18k on your steer axle, you’re over on your drives anyway, just my experience. I own my own 4 axle now and got 11r24.5’s and got no issues woth them

 

P.s after a solid day of pulling goldhofers and steer dollies you’re wore the hell out just from trying to keep truck in the lane