Continental debuts 19.5-inch truck tires in Conti, General brands

FORT MILL, S.C—Continental Tire the Americas Inc. is rounding out its Continental- and General Tire-brand commercial tire portfolios with pairs of 19.5-inch rim diameter drive and steer tires developed for Class 4 and 5 vehicles.

Manufactured at Conti's factory in Mount Vernon, Ill., the tires are designed to meet the needs of various Class 4 and Class 5 vehicles, including ambulances, large recreational trucks, utilities and last-mile delivery vehicles.

The tires—the Conti HSR5 and HDR 5 and General RA2 and RD2—were designed to perform well both on highways and urban roads, where many of these vehicles travel, Conti said, and are considered the first products in the tire maker's Generation 5 truck tire line.

Conti said the HSR 5 and HDR 5 are both "intelligent-tire ready"—i.e. equipped with Gen2 sensors—deliver reduced rolling resistance and improved durability versus their predecessor models, and carry the industry's 3 Peak Mountain Snowflake designation for snow traction.

Ford Motor Co. has selected the 19.5-inch size as the OE fitments for the 2024 model-year F450 and F550 trucks.

The HSR 5 is a regional, all-position tire with full width siping for improved traction and handling, Conti said, while the HDR 5 is a regional drive tire with an open-shoulder tread pattern and 3D-matrix siping for improved traction and wear.

The HDR 5 is available in size 225/70R19.5, load range G, at a 16/32nds-inch tread depth. Both tires come with matching retreads to extend casing life.

Continental's digital monitoring system, ContiConnect, lets fleets monitor their tires from the road, anytime, anywhere or every night. Conti said construction vehicles often go off site or have on-/off-road situations, and the technology allows monitoring a tire's health from afar, preventing downtime.

Shaun Uys, head of U.S. market truck tire replacement for Continental, said the tires "set a new bar in performance for our customers and their fleets,With intelligent tire capabilities fleet owners can monitor the life of their tires each time the fleet returns to the yard with ContiConnect Yard or from the road with ContiConnect Live."

The new General-brand tires—the RA2 all-position tire for regional/urban applications and RD 2 drive tire used for regional/urban applications—offer improved durability and mileage for pickup-and-delivery applications and on/off-highway use.

The RA2 has a closed shoulder tread pattern that provides even wear and reduced noise, while the RD2 has an aggressive tread design to deliver traction in any condition.