Dually rear, 1 new tire?

[Brad T]

This may be the most basic question ever asked, but not having truck experience i think i'll look basic myself, and ask it!
My C1500 has dual rear wheels at each corner. The PO got a flat tire on a long trip without noticing and so the other tire copped all of the load. So when i picked up the truck it had 80% tires all 'round apart from one rear which was bald. i got a re-tread on it and i thought, good as new! But after speaking with the PO later, he mentioned that i should get a re-tread on the wheel beside it as the new tread will wear down quickly to be even with the other 80% tire beside it. I guess it makes sense, being a taller diameter it will take more load and wear more.
Is this theory right? Just wanted to be assured it is before i pay good money to lose years worth of tread to gain a re-tread :laugh:

[joec]

Running diferent size tires on dual wheels is bad for a number of resons. It puts more load on one tire than am other, it loades one bearing more than the other,and it makes the rear end work because the one side is turning faster than the other, this generates heat witch will shorten the life of the rear end.Not only sould the tires be the same on each side but all 4 shoud be the same.If you don't use the truck much and only make short tripes it is less of a problom but it is not good.

[Doc Stewart]

Any pair of duals must be the same height - be sure they are correctly inflated when you compare them. For long hauls and heavy loads, all four tires on the axle should be the same height.

[bmacguyver]

best bet is put matching tires on the dual and save the "oddball" for an extra steering tire or put it on a spare rim.

hth

mac

[Brad T]

Ok thanks for the great advice. I wasnt too keen on putting a re-tread on the front but i guess its the best solution. No it doesnt get driven much at all, but when it does, its loaded up with alot of weight and sees some very steep, winding and narrow roads. Safety is #1 concern.

[bmacguyver]

i dont know about the land of oz but in texas , the only thing you cant run recaps on the front of is a school bus. ive had recaps on all 4 for the last three years with no problems in size 31x10.5x15 6 ply.

hth

mac

[Paul "Misterfixit" Schulz]

Down under the only thing you cannot run recaps on is a bulk dangerous goods truck, petrol tankers etc, a c1500 won't go real fast so i wouldn't worry too much about running a cap on the steer, i fitted some 11r22.5 caps on the front of an 1830c acco in place of the 9.00-20's made a world of difference! Just keep an eye on them, a quick glance before each trip, but in reality you should feel if the tyres start to separate etc through the steering wheel.

[Brad T]

Ok great, will do. Idealy i'll get all new recaps on the rear and put the best originals on the front. The problem is my tire size is 17x7.50 which hasn't been made for 20yrs most truck tire places have said. They recap them though, but the only new tires i can get are very cheap and nasty ones called hong-fu or something equally asian and unheard of. Even the fellas who sell them laugh about them and have never sold one single tire :laugh:
If i start getting some real use out of the truck i may look into getting some new wheels of a more common size. But until then, recaps it is.
Thanks!

[TUselton]

Try www.cokertire.com

http://store.coker.com/search.php?mode=search&by_title=Y&by_shortdescr=Y&by_fulldescr=Y&substring=750-17

[mike m.]

Be careful, those "hong-fu" tires could cause "hung-chow" and many other discomforts when you drop over a hill or around a curve with them and a loaded truck.
:beer: Mike

[Paul "Misterfixit" Schulz]

Finding 17" tyres down under is like looking for hens teeth, even finding good casings at the truck wreckers is getting tough, i know BTDT (475 dodge shares same rims, same cab etc), i know there is a guy down in vic who is recasting brake drums for them, as for a different wheel size, i would probably suggest modifying by putting your centers into some jap 16" truck rims and fit 8.25r16's to it, an engineer or wheel works may be able to alter the rims to suit.

[William Griffin]

Could you use a radial tire instead? Such as the BFG all terrain LT265/70/R17, General P255/70/R17 or Nitto tera grappler LT235/80/R17? Those are all pretty common brands, it seems like you all should have access to them down under. As far as I know they still make tubes for radials as well, so running the old rims with newer tires should work fine.

[Brad T]

Could you use a radial tire instead? Such as the BFG all terrain LT265/70/R17, General P255/70/R17 or Nitto tera grappler LT235/80/R17? Those are all pretty common brands, it seems like you all should have access to them down under. As far as I know they still make tubes for radials as well, so running the old rims with newer tires should work fine.

Yep we have BFG here but i thought they were mostly car and 4WD tires..... mine has to have truck tires fitted. I think a C1500 can carry 5 or 6 tonnes? (well the previous owner used to carry 6 horses which would be around that mark) :cornfused:

I'll check out those tires and add a reply here.
Cheers!

Ok checked out BF Goodrich's site and yes, their Commercial T/A All Season goes from a class 1 up to a Class 5 rating which is 19,500lbs. I think this is around 8.9 metric tonnes which is plenty! Unfortuntely they only go up to 16" dia. in the commercial range. The other tires, radial long trail etc dont have a weight capacity. I assume in the size chart, the LT means Light Truck, so maybe the LTs in any of the tread patterns will be suitable?
i might just go check out availability here in oz.
Thanks for the info!

[William Griffin]

The ones they are selling around here can be had in load range "E". While I don't have the numbers in my hand, that's what I run on my dually and it is grossed for 18K (pounds that is). I remembered that there are a bunch of duallys sitting around where I work so I ran out and looked on the side wall. 235/85/R16 load range E, 3240 used as a single and 2778 used as a dual. That would give 17,196 for dual rear, single front. I'm betting the lower aspect ratio on the 17"BFG's is going to net a higher rating of poundage than that but the tire distributor should be able to tell you exactly..