Shopping for a New Ram Truck 1500, Tire Opinions

[ChooChooMan74]

Hey Folks, I am shopping for a new Ram 1500 Diesel to tow the Roo 21BH, and to eventually tow a 233S when we upgrade. I am down to 2 models. 1 comes with 17" LT tires (Outdoorsman) and 1 with 20" P-Metrics (Big Horn). I don't need the skid plates and other things that the Outdoorsman comes with, and to me, that all reduces my CCC unnecessarily. If I get the Big Horn with 20" tires, will I be shopping for tires and/or wheels? Anyone towing anything similar with a newer Ram 1500 with the 20" tires? Are you happy with the way the P-metrics tow, or do you have a lot of jello feeling from the tires??

[Evo2700]

I have a Big Horn and love it. Mine is a 2013 and have since changed the tires. I have a set of Firestone's on and they seem to be holding up great.

[Skippy38]

My Ram 1500 came with P rated tires on it and I had them changed to Firestone TransForce HT 265/70/17 LT's and it made a HUGE difference in handling and towing. The old P rated tires held 45 psi but the new LT's go up to 85 psi.

[anthonymu]

11 big horn 09 roo19 pull in the hills of upstate pa. Plenty of power to spare. 20 inchers have held up fine no sway I use a wdh and friction sway control so far been a great truck Ccc is really low on these trucks but either 17 or 20 tires will do fine.


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[Happy Vibe]

I'm towing a Vibe 6501, so lighter than the 233 your looking at, with a 2013 RAM 1500 Quad cab Big Horn. I have had no issues with the 20 inch tires. This summer included 100 miles of logging truck gravel roads and they have held up OK.

[wbdavey]

Choo Choo - I have a '14 Ram 1500 Eco diesel with 20" P tires and towed my Rockwood 2604 WS (about 6,000 pounds) several times last summer. Biggest trip was about 360 miles total. No issues with the stock Goodyear Silent Armor tires and no trouble at all towing and stopping the truck/trailer combo. When i ordered my Laramie you could get 17" wheels for $500 less than the 20", but due to ordering 3.92 gears I could not get the 17's (don't ask me why). Theory is that 17" tires have more durable sidewalls for off-roading and that they are generally cheaper to replace (I don't know if the theory is true). In short, the 20's work fine.

[ependydad]

Can you talk to the dealership about swapping out wheels/tires as part of the deal?

[fx2]

I would think with your current TT weight, and your proposed upgrade weight, you'd probably be fine with the P rated tires. When time for new tires they do make LT tires for 20 inch wheels


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[Campin Cajun]

If you order the truck you can have them install whatever tires and wheels you want. If you have a good dealer he can also do this on in stock trucks, but it may cost you more depending on your tire and wheel selection.

[fast murray]

Our local Dodge dealership would swap you out with another truck to make you happy. FWIW, I towed our 30' 5er for 3 years with a 1/2 ton Ram with 20's. Not short trips either, one of them was 2400 miles. I never had an issue with the tire sway that others talk about. I did have airbags with 65#'s in them but the tires seemed to do the job.

[Great Laker]

I have the 20" goodyear RS-A's and have been pretty satisfied. I only tow my trailer 5-6 times a year and don't want to sacrifice my ride the other 95% of the time. I was a little worried when I towed for the first time, but after the trip no issues.

[ChooChooMan74]

Thanks for the replies guys. Really helps out in the decision making.

[ChooChooMan74]

Good news! BFG now makes the All Terrain T/A tires in stock size LT LR-D, but tirerack.com has then for $261 each. Other LT choice in stock size is the is the Nitto Dura Grappler LR-E, and Discount Tire direct has them for $286.

When I do this, hopefully after the first of the year, I think I am going to change out the tires on day 1 just to be comfy.

[LandJ]

One thing to consider is the axle ratio.

I was reading on a Ram forum that the 3.55 axle with 17" wheels splits the difference between the 3.55 and the 3.92.

Supposedly, the end result is near 3.70 when you do the math in consideration of the differing tire circumferences.

That's probably why you can't get the 3.92 with 17" wheels.

[Happy Vibe]

The tire diameter is the same for 17 or 20 inch. The sidewall is higher on the 17 compared to the 20.

[LandJ]

Originally Posted by Happy Vibe

The tire diameter is the same for 17 or 20 inch. The sidewall is higher on the 17 compared to the 20.

I don't know, the forum I was visiting had a table posted with a lot of math. If I can find it, I'll post the link.

The claim was that there is a difference in circumference.... which also supports the unavailability of 17" with 3.92.

I have 3.55 with 17" on my truck.

[ChooChooMan74]

Originally Posted by Happy Vibe

The tire diameter is the same for 17 or 20 inch. The sidewall is higher on the 17 compared to the 20.

265/70R17 vs 275/60R20.

Good difference in size.

[Kaadk]

Not sure on the overall affect of the different models on your CCC, but the fact I have P20's on my 2010 Ram lowered my CCC by 50 lbs over the exact same model on the P17's, but is the same CCC as the LT 17's (according to Home | Dodge Body Builder's Guide).

Note: Yeah, I don't get it either, I would have figure the LT's to have better CCC, but that's what the specs say.

My plan is to run the P's for now, until I actually need new tires, and then swap over to LT 20's. At that time, I'll be shopping around for the best options on the market, but until then, I'm sticking with the P's since they still get me from point A to point B.

[Happy Vibe]

When I looked at the ram configuration I was able to select the ST with 17 inch and 3.92. Maybe they only allow some models to be configured this way.