Where are the high weight rating 18" wheels?

Falko

Falko

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 20, 2005
Location
Winston-Salem
I'm a bit perplexed.

Trying to lock in a wheel and tire combo for the hambulance. Original plan was to use load range E hmmwv tires to go single in the rear. It comes with its own set of problems, and is honestly a bit larger than I'd like.

Before I pay up for the gears I want to be sure thats the best route. To be simple, let's say the requirement is 4k lbs per tire.

Going through the major manufacturers catalogs, I see that there are two sizes that almost everyone makes in high load (129 load index - 4080lbs). They are LT295/70R18 and LT295/65R20

I assumed these are born of the massive tow ratings on new trucks which use 18 and 20" rims, but the OEM wheels, from what I'm finding, aren't even rated that high.

There are a few companies making custom high rated 20" wheels, but I'd rather go 18 for less low-proness.

Am I missing something?
 
I would assume 18" OEM wheels are capable of a hell of a lot more than any tire you could put on them. Then again, all the rollbacks I see bouncing around with bent wheels would beg to differ. What bolt pattern are you dealing with? 8x200? 8x225?
 
jeepinmatt said:
I would assume 18" OEM wheels are capable of a hell of a lot more than any tire you could put on them. Then again, all the rollbacks I see bouncing around with bent wheels would beg to differ. What bolt pattern are you dealing with? 8x200? 8x225?
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Old Super Duty. 8x170

I should note that I found that Method does make a 4500lb rated 18" wheel but its expensive enough ot drive me back to the custom market.
 
Thats still SRW Superduty size. I assumed it was a dually. I'll take a look at my OEM 18s and see if they have a weight rating on em.
 
Why considering only 18" tires ? 19.5" has plenty of tires and wheels with the correct capacity, no ?
 
Bebop said:
Why considering only 18" tires ? 19.5" has plenty of tires and wheels with the correct capacity, no ?
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The primary reason for going single wheel is to be able to air down for sand driving. As I understand it, the construction of commercial 19.5 tires isn't suitable for low pressure. It's still an idea on the back burner though.
 
Could always run a single front and dual rears. U Joint Off Road does it on most of their 4x4 conversions from what I've seen them post. We're talking anything from an ambulance to a 30 some foot Class C camper. They usually run 17s, I think.
 
Yeah, here's the full run down of "that would be too easy"

1. Just stay dual - with th 08 front axle i can no longer run 16" wheels. All 17" dual wheels are 200mm bolt circle so I'd have to do something with the rear axle to fix that. Not really an option since it accomplishes nothing and costs alot.

2. HHWMV - 24 tandem bolt assemblies are rated for 4500lb per corner. I do not trust to run a recentered version up near that rating, so custom spacers required, quoted at $780 for a set of 4 and right now this looks to be the cheapest option. Total cost depends on how much I have to pay for the surplus.

3. 18" LT tires - 4000lb per corner, so I lose a bit of rear axle capacity. Strangely, it looks like the Method wheels I found which are rated for those weights are surprisingly not available in Brodozer backspacing so I'd still have to run spacers. Wheel, tire, and spacer cost is ~$750 per corner for the Method. Could be done cheaper if there are appropriately rated OEM takeoffs i can find.

4. Conti MPT81 - available in 275/80R20 (37"). Wheels are available from First Attack or Stazworks. This is the "correct" answer probably. No spacers, no obsolete wheel size, full weight capacity of the rear axle. Looks to run about $900 per corner.
 
Falko said:
Yeah, here's the full run down of "that would be too easy"

1. Just stay dual - with th 08 front axle i can no longer run 16" wheels. All 17" dual wheels are 200mm bolt circle so I'd have to do something with the rear axle to fix that. Not really an option since it accomplishes nothing and costs alot.

2. HHWMV - 24 tandem bolt assemblies are rated for 4500lb per corner. I do not trust to run a recentered version up near that rating, so custom spacers required, quoted at $780 for a set of 4 and right now this looks to be the cheapest option. Total cost depends on how much I have to pay for the surplus.

3. 18" LT tires - 4000lb per corner, so I lose a bit of rear axle capacity. Strangely, it looks like the Method wheels I found which are rated for those weights are surprisingly not available in Brodozer backspacing so I'd still have to run spacers. Wheel, tire, and spacer cost is ~$750 per corner for the Method. Could be done cheaper if there are appropriately rated OEM takeoffs i can find.

4. Conti MPT81 - available in 275/80R20 (37"). Wheels are available from First Attack or Stazworks. This is the "correct" answer probably. No spacers, no obsolete wheel size, full weight capacity of the rear axle. Looks to run about $900 per corner.
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What about converting to SRW all around. SRW front hubs, and a spacer on the rear I believe. Then you still have the question of what 18" wheels to use, but they wouldn't have to be dually. (If I'm understanding correctly)
 
Falko said:
4. Conti MPT81 - available in 275/80R20 (37"). Wheels are available from First Attack or Stazworks. This is the "correct" answer probably. No spacers, no obsolete wheel size, full weight capacity of the rear axle. Looks to run about $900 per corner.
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I don't know what's your experience with Stazworks wheels, but mine has been that they take a while to show up and aren't always running true nor sealing right every time.
 
jeepinmatt said:
What about converting to SRW all around. SRW front hubs, and a spacer on the rear I believe. Then you still have the question of what 18" wheels to use, but they wouldn't have to be dually. (If I'm understanding correctly)
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Thats what I'm doing. But since the box is wider than even a dually bed I need low backspacing wheels to make it not look like it skipped leg day. One time were I actually functionally want the tires sticking way out past the (theoretical) fender.
Bebop said:
I don't know what's your experience with Stazworks wheels, but mine has been that they take a while to show up and aren't always running true nor sealing right every time.
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I have none personally and have read some complaints on various forums. Unfortunately, there's just not a plethora of players in that game.
 
Falko said:
Thats what I'm doing. But since the box is wider than even a dually bed I need low backspacing wheels to make it not look like it skipped leg day. One time were I actually functionally want the tires sticking way out past the (theoretical) fender.
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Are you saying you want the rear track width WIDER than the front?
 
I don't recall the spacers I got from Stahl being that expensive. They're steel too. I hauled my excavator with them on the truck, and truthfully, just forgot they were there after a while.

I think Buckstop makes those 20" conversion wheels too, but they're not cheap. Stuff like brush trucks for fire departments where they do SRW swaps on 450/550 trucks.
 
Croatan_Kid said:
I don't recall the spacers I got from Stahl being that expensive. They're steel too. I hauled my excavator with them on the truck, and truthfully, just forgot they were there after a while.

I think Buckstop makes those 20" conversion wheels too, but they're not cheap. Stuff like brush trucks for fire departments where they do SRW swaps on 450/550 trucks.
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They normally aren't; that's who I quoted with though. I sure ain't running an aluminum spacer in this application. A 3.5" 170-to-170 spacer is 195 per set. A 3.5 170-to-6.5 is 390 per set.

And Buckstop does 10-lug only.

But apparently my homeboy has some capability i was unaware of.
 
Well, I guess I can delete this thread. I took it across the scales this morning; with a full tank of fuel but otherwise completely empty the rear axle load is 6900 lbs, or about 1000 lbs more than I estimated. With the planned equipment 4000lbs per corner is not quite enough.
 
19.5s it is! Might as well do 05+ axles while you're at it and get the bigger bolt pattern and better turning radius.
 
jeepinmatt said:
19.5s it is! Might as well do 05+ axles while you're at it and get the bigger bolt pattern and better turning radius.
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And go 10 lug. Then you can get the f450 19.5s

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