19.5" Tires...The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

Tires don't last, brakes don't last, tires cost way to much, tires aren't overly abundant, wheel bearings won't last as long. If you want to compete with double drop trailers, buy one, then you'll have the real deal. And if you are going to lease onto Mercer getting a real low profile step is a waste of money. You will find with the added costs of tires and brakes on a trailer like that, that you will need a steady diet of specific freight to make it pay.

 

Im going to derail the thread just for a quick second.I see you're from Iowa,may I ask where?Thats where im from.

 

East of you.

 

I second what Oscar says. We have a steady supply of freight between 10-6 to 11-0 high that makes a 36" deck height imperative. We have always accomplished this by having raised wheel wells. We experimented with 3 trailers with 19.5 tires to get the same deck height but have a level floor. We ran into all the issues Oscar mentioned. Pray you don't loose more than one tire because most tire shops don't have much stock in that size...at least they didn't 5 years ago.

 

They still ill don't keep tires in stock. I run extendables one with 19.5's and 3 with 17.5's and we all pack around 2 mounted and 2 unmounted spares because they are hard as he'll to find. Brakes are also an issue that I won't get into here.

 

We run 3 stretches with the 17.5's and a couple Quickdraw's on 19.5's. Both types are for a very specific load, one in Dallas TX with the stretch's making 2 moves a week that are a total of 82 miles round trip and the Quickdraw trailers are for a load out of Canada.

What has already been said about these little tires is the same experience I have seen here. They are he'll on tires, brakes, bearings and when you blow one, better have your own spare or be prepared to wait many hours if not days for a replacement and pay the expenses of expedited shipping to get the tire.

If you want to compete with double drop's then get a double drop, don't try and get something so specific as a step with little tires and try to compete.

 

I'm just north of her, Oscar. We've got her halfway contained!

I ran them on a carhauler. Never, and I mean NEVER again. Those 15 x 8 5/8 brake parts are gold-plated!