Tire Size - Worth The Change?

You usually have to switch tire sizes to get your 5th wheel to 48" or lower. If you're pulling a van or reefer with 22.5" tires, forty eight inches' fifth wheel height is usually the maximum height before pushing the nose of the trailer past 13'6". (Some trailers are lower, though).

The other choice is to lower the air suspension- that can put your driveline out of alignment and cause U-Joint wear, failed pinion bearings and a few other problems.

In 1990 a lot of vans and reefers still used 24.5" tires, but lower tire profiles meant more space in the boxes. Flats and tankers stayed tall while boxes went shorter. So now if you want to put a tractor with tall tires under a box you'll have to change suspension height or tires.

If you're not pulling a box of some kind with 22.5" tires it would probably be good to switch back- check out the difference in tire prices between tall and short rubber before you do, it could be important.

 

yeah, not really worth the hassle.

 

I would leave it like it is

 

The only way it would be beneficial is if the trailer required it. These days that is some tankers and RGN's. 24.5lp is the same height as 11r22.5. Spend your money somewhere more necessary on that old truck.

 

Mine is like that as well but I don't quite see the advantage of going back to 24.5
My experience is 22.5 tires are cheaper and easier to come by.

 

Your shorter tires will pull better and also your FET tax is based on the weight of the tire (go figure), so your costs will be lower with smaller tires.

 

i would think the mileage would be better with 24.5 tires. not sure about the accuracy of the speedo but the engine speed would come down a little.

i've thought about doing the same trick. due to the simple fact that my speedo is faster then my gps. the truck says 65 but gps says 62. running 22.5 tires.

the truck was i driving before read the opposite. the speedo says 67 but gps says 70. and that truck has 24.5 tires.

if i swapped the tires that would bring my speedo down to more accurate speed and lower my engine speed also. but your all saying it's cheaper to run the 22.5

the flat i pull has 24.5. tires have been no problem replacing.