If you get a 305 tire for a 17 inch wheel it wont be a 33" tire it will be a 34.something" tire so more closer to a 34-35" tire. You only can get a 305" tire if it's for a 16" wheel. Otherwise you need to get a 33x12.50R17 for the 17" wheel. Post up some pictures or pm me. I'm curious to see how they look. How much are you losing on the tires?

I personally think I'd go with the Toyo AT for a tire if it was me.

Bolt pattern I'm pretty sure is 5x5.5 but double check with them they should be able to tell you. I'd check out the Eagle Alloy Wheels they look really nice and are resonable priced.

Why don't you like the Pro Comp tires? I still say I'd go with the Toyo's.

I want to see some pictures.

The backspacing of the wheels will make the tires stick out more or less too. A 285 should look pretty good on there just not super wide.

 

hmm where to start.... maybe I'll be a retarded yet helpfull mechaninc.

probably not... well not unless you get a skinnier rim. your tire is 305 mm wide. the next number, usually like a 65/75 is the height of the sidewall. it is a percentage of the tread width. IE a 305 65 16 will be shorter than a 305 65 17. and it will also be shorter than a 305 75 16. get it, got it, good.

unless you got something funky on your truck yes it's 5x5.5


obviously you think you have a life jacket handy... and by your reasoning then roughly 35% of my buds are mentally above retardation. I think not. fact I would say almost 90% of my friends have been a mechanic at one point in their life. most of them I would trust with just about anything... most of the poeple that I look up to are mechanics.. they all have one common thing... good hard working people just trying to make a living and avoid schleps like you.

Mighta been a good thing to mention that in the first place.sorry to hear that, but from the sounds of it you should be able to sniff out a bad mechanic by now if the "bad" ones havn't called all the other shops already and warned tehm about you wow you polished a fender, and changed a few things with some help from what I understand... meh but at least your trying. here's a hint. buy a chilton or a hayneswell it borderlined offending me in the first place, then you jumped straight off that cliff. and I am far from retarded, though some might conside me a schmuck there are worse things i could be called

+1, I garentee you that they have been talking to thier buddies at the bar and warning them about you... course your prolly now going to go in with some type of chip on your shoulder and are not going to be stisfied till you do find something wrong with thier work. and i gaurentee you tried calling any of the mechanics I know either one of those, you and your truck would be a pulpy mess in the middle of a hog farm

I'll give you the tough blow part... but I'll tell you what, when I worked at the shops I was much more likely to give someone a discount when they were kind to me then someone who expected/demanded one.....
yeah you hit a nerve, but not because I am any of the above.. but becasue when you say blanket cr++ remarks like that, you are dissing me, your dissing my family, and your dissing my friends, not to mention that i read it as dissing a lot of the people that are helping you here.

in my years on the road, I have met all sorts of mechanics... but to tell you the truth since it wasn't worth my time to fix the truck I did take it in most of the time. (third shift plus missing a day of work ment proably loosing more money than you make in a week) out of more than two dozen shops I have been to across this country in the past years, only three of them i have felt tried to take advantage of me or my situation. thats pretty good odds most of the time I really didn't have much of a chance to shop mechanics either... it was kinda a situation where there was only one in the county. you know why he's the only one still open. many times towing was too cost prohibitive, and without knowing the area well enough I couldn't get to a parts store.... and yeah a few coulda really taken me for a ride, but didn't. I didn't go in with a chip on my shoulder or anything like that... I was my normal happy-go-lucky self, and just said... I need it fixed, and I need it fixed now, I got cash how much is it going to cost?

and if you really want to know why it pays to be nice to mechanics????

well here's a little story for you... out in BFE Iowa, I dropped the front U-joint on the blazer at 7pm on a sunday. 30 miles any direction from a decent town, broke down on a non main road, a little old mechanic with a old beat to death ford tow truck pulled up and offered me some help. looked at my truck and I told him flat out the situation I was in (complete with being nearly broke) guy hooked up to my truck, disconnected the back of the driveshaft and drove me to his house/shop nearly 80 miles away. while there he gave me a good dinner, and removed a U-joint from his wifes truck so he could put it on mine. during that time a nasty storm brewed up and he offered me a room. come morning I attempted to give him my last ammount of spare cash (much less than what all the kindess he had given me was worth), and he refused it. saying he had been there before and not to worry about it.

now that story could end there, but it didn't... three weeks later I am driving back near his shop and see a car on the side of the road with a flat tire, and a flat spare. I have time to kill and remember the kindness of the mechaninc (who I am going back to) I fix the puncture in the tire and fill it up with my compressor. few miles down the road I see the car again infront of his shop. turns out it was the guys daughter. I handed the mechanic three new U joints, two for my truck, and one for his wifes. again I ws fed a good dinner. and when my truck was finished he again refused payment. he told me that it was payment enough to know that I had stopped and showed the same type of kindness to a stranger in need.

 

You have a skewed perception of the mechanical world. You are a mechanic, your family are mechanics, and you know mechanics, so of course you've made out ok. But as an average person, being myself, it is tough getting work done from mechanics. They know that they have your bulls in a vice, because more than likely they know way more than you do, hence why they constantly try to find ways to take advantage of you. It's just like the oil companies. They take advantage of us because they know none of know how to make our gasoline, so we're forced to buy their product, just like people are forced to get their vehicles fixed so they can get to work. You took it upon yourself to get offended, and that's your decision that you took it personally. I have ever right to have a grudge against mechanics, because time and time again, I have been shafted by them. They take advantage of the fact that I am a younger guy, and that I'm still learning. I was shafted with the headers, I was shafted with the truck itself, I was shafted with the transmission, I was shafted with the rear end, and I was almost shafted with getting the lift taken off. And for the record, even with the pizza cutter 285s, the transmission still does the same exact errors as it did with the 35" tires, I am livid. Now enough with bogus crap about me being some terrible customer. If mechanics were smart, they would embrace the business we give them. When mechanics take care of me, I take care of them. I would bring my vehicle to mechanics repeatedly if they wouldn't try to go for the homerun everytime. It's just a huge slam in your face when you go out on a limb and bring a shop business, and then they whack you with a big bill, I take it very personal. I've just had my fair share of negative experiences with mechanics, and I'm just tired of it. It's a shady industry. They know that most people don't know a lot about vehicles, and they explore that heavily, which is just a huge mistake. And I know this too. All shops I start with give me a good bill. So I'll bring my truck back there again. Then the bills just gradually get higher and higher. They think they see a money bank, and they get greedy, and it's bull****, and I have every right to be a pesky customer if I'm going to get taken advantage of about that.

Anyways. About the truck. It's just all and all a very depressing situation. The truck just looks really stupid. The snout on the truck looks so god damn long now with the truck lower, and the tires all god damn skinny. I'm going back to VIP in the morning and putting my 35" tires on in the meantime while I think about what I am going to do. I'm pretty sure I have to go with a meatier tread too, the smooth tread just does not fit this truck. I was thinking maybe the BFG All Terrain. I just am nervous that it's not going to ride smooth, does anyone know? I was thinking doing a 33/12.5/17 BFG A/T and then just calling it good. I think if the tire is as wide as my 35s were, I think it will look good. But right now, the tires look like bicycle tires, they are tucked into the fenders and it looks like a car, it's hideous. The whole thing is just very sad, I almost regret it all. I was even thinking about putting a 1" spacer in the front? If I put a 1" spacer in the front, do you think I could get away with not touching the rear, as it seems to look high still? Thank you guys. And just for the record, I do respect mechanics. I go to them for all my automotive knowledge. I just get really thrown when they burn bridges and whack me with astounding bills, it just doesn't make sense at all.

**Yes, I feel confident about going with the BFG A/T. It will give me that aggressive tire look, yet ride much smoother and quiter than the old mud tires. I see they offer it in a 305/65/R17, and it's E rated which is great. Does this sound like the tire that will make it right?

 

i can see this thread is about useless and i can't believe i wasted that much time in my life reading this.

 

Why do you guys like to bash him so much? He keeps a shop from ripping him off and you bash him? If any of you would stand there and let the shop rip you off like that maybe you guys are the retarded ones. I know I sure wouldn't and I would have been pretty darn ticked off if they put new shocks on without asking me expecially when I had ordered some. If I had told them to fix everything that was wrong or to do the shocks thats one thing but when you don't tell them to they should have called before they put them on. Having not done that and you not having a choice in what got put on when you didn't want them to me is not exactly right. Sounds like he got them straight and got the ones he wanted put on. Simple fact is they should have not put the shocks on to start with thats 100% their fault for not checking with him first. He shouldn't have to ask what parts they are waiting for. I honestly probably would have done it but the fact is he shouldn't have to. They could have atleast called to make sure he wanted the shocks you don't just slap them on a customers car hoping he is happy you just don't do that without checking with them first.

They clearly were trying to take him for a ride and he didn't let them. I don't see how this is bad at all? I just really don't. If any of you would let a shop treat you like that something is wrong. I sure would be mad if they installed a bunch of parts I didn't want on there and charged double what I was quoted. It's just not something you should be doing and I wouldn't go either.

As for the other shops he has dealt with they all seem like they are no good. I mean the transmission place clearly treats him like a kid that doesn't know what he is doing and didn't give him a transmission that shifts like it should from the sound of it. How is he the bad guy there? Should he just accept whatever junk they want to throw on there and pay out the *** for it? I think not.

I do not see how you guys can sit here and say anything about how he is in the wrong here. I will be honest I used to work at a shop and thought maybe someday I'd like being a mechanic as I kind of enjoy doing some work on my vehicles however after doing it everyday I got tired of it. Might not be so bad if I owned my own shop but I didn't like what I was doing. I mean I got to where I didn't look forward to it at all and hated working on my own vehicles as the last thing I wanted to do when I got home was see another car. It was fun at first but got old quickly and wasn't as easy as everyone thinks it is.

BTW I have quite a few friends whom are mechanics and or were mechanics some of whom have worked in shops like this guy seems to get. Being their friends they will tell me about it and how that it's not that they are wanting to rip the customer off seems like it's like they are more being pushed by the people above them to sell stuff to the customer that isn't needed. I like these guys a lot and they seem to be good people but some of them have worked in places like that and will tell you what goes down. One of the guys I used to work with worked at a dealer before he started working where I did and said the same thing about them and thats why he didn't like it as he just didn't want to do that. It's not that a lot of the employees working there want to rip people off but they shouldn't go along with it either which quite a few do. I honestly only know of a few shops I'd halfway trust and the rest seem to be like the shops he goes to. I know of quite a few like that.


I just do not understand at all how you guys can sit here and bash him. Like I said you guys are the retards if you will sit here and honestly say you would take that kind of stuff from a shop. I know I wouldn't. I think he handled it well.

 

Will, that really means a lot, and I appreciate you going to bat for me. Apparently they can't understand where I'm coming from. It's guys like you who I get along with, and it's guys like them that I deal with with day in and day out at these shops. Glad your winning TOTM too, you defiantly deserve it.

 

Why do you need a 1" spacer up front? You could probably do it fine but I don't see you gaining a lot from it so I'd leave it alone. I can't say I didn't say this before but I agree if you want a lifted truck look or an agressive look the smooth tires just look funny. Thats like I see lifted trucks with street tires and they just look weird. Since yours is stock now I don't see how it looks that bad honestly. Maybe the fender flares are throwing it off. A neighbors dad has a 01 Offroad Ram and I really like it stock. I can see the fender flares would make it look really narrow though and the tires aren't super wide on his but it looks good to me. Like a stock Ram. I actually like it.

If you do go with an agressive tire you will more than likely be back in the situation you were before where you don't like how it rides and what not. I think you have to pick looks or ride quality. I presonally go more for the looks. I think your truck would look a lot better without those fender flares though. To me they just look bad on these trucks unless you have a really wide tire which you don't. You have to consider you have stock tires that even if they come to the side of the truck will look narrow from those sticking out even further.

As for the transmission I really don't think you have everything right in there and I didnt' think the tires would change it. I'd get them to fix that asap and don't let them keep jerking you around either.

On the tires I'd either put your 35"s back on until they wear out which is probably what I'd do if they are in decent shape and don't rub too bad or I'd get a set of 33x12.50's and those should look really good. If you go with aftermarket wheels you have to be careful with the width and the backspacing or you can make tires rub a lot easier. The stock wheels are pretty good if you want to run a big tire with minimal rub sometimes they do rub on the control arm though. Were your 35"s on the stock truck that bad? Since like you said you don't see that much if any of a power differnce why not just use those until they wear out then decide what to do?

I think if I was going with an AT like I said it would be the Toyo or maybe a set of Bridgestone Duelers. I'm not a fan of the BFG At's. I just don't like how they look and from what everyone says they suck if you get off the pavement. Better hope you don't get stuck in wet grass or mud. Thats where I hear complaints about them.

BTW is the transmission shop going to still try to blame it on the 35"s if you take it back there with those? I would however say they told you that it would be built to handle the 35"s.

I think you got a crappy transmission shop too from the sounds of it.

This is why I recommend APS so highly. Wanye is one of the better guys I've dealt with so far. I really like him a lot and would recommend him. Worth the little extra imo or in your case probably not a ton extra and probably a nicer setup transmission.

 

I know how you feel I've had bad experiences with several shops in one town. Like the tint shop I posted about. There are several other places in that town I've had some issues with. Most of the quality auto shops I've found seem to be more out in the country.

 

I don't know, I guess I'm just pretty confused right now. I have a ton of things going through my head right now. The lift being off is very weird. The tires are way too small. And I really hate my offroad wheels right now, they look very plain with the smaller tires. The 35s did a good job of hiding them, but with less rubber, they strike me off now. As for the lift, I don't know, I am fine with it, and can get used to it, just need to adjust to the new height. I do want to get newer tires though, I don't feel like driving around anymore with the 35s. I do want a 33/12.5/17 now. I just don't know what tire to get. I spent $847 on the pirellis, so I want to find a tire that isn't too much more expensive than that. I need a tire that will look nice, but ride relatively smooth and quiet. It's just weird, the truck really doesn't feel any different besides the tire noise now. I don't feel any gain power. I just wish the lift was done right, I would have kept it. It just bugged me knowing it was tearing up my front end. I can get over the fact that it's back down to stock height. It's just the bicycle tires that hit me hard. It was a 285/70/17, so it's pretty narrow, and it looks really messed up. And I tried taking the flares off, but it's flat black underneath of them?? So I can't even take them off. I'm hoping that if I go with a 33" tire that is as wide as the 35s I had, then it will look right and I can just get on with life, but man oh man, the truck looked so messed up. The tires looked so skinny and queer, and the wheels just looked very ugly, it just wasn't a good scene. So I'm not sure what tire to choose at this point. I obviously need a tire like Will said that looks meaty, but I want something that is primarily a road tire. The BFG gives you that beefy look, but I'm not crazy about the tread really. And I'm nervous to go with anything too soft, because it just might look weird as well. I'm very confused, and not sure what to do. I just got really shocked how the truck looked so low and long today, it made me really sad lol. I almost hated the truck. I've only known this truck as being the king, and then suddenly I just felt like some same old same old dodge, and I didn't like it at all. My truck is my pride and joy, I can't afford to feel like I'm compromising anything. I just hope the 33/12.5/17 will fix the problem. Just not sure what tire to get. Until I know, I guess I'll ride the 35s for now, they seemed to ride ok this morning...sighh

 

Will the shop give you your money back on the tires? I mean they are now used tires so I'm not sure if I owned a shop I would for that however hopefully they do.

Maybe try either the BFG MT or the Toyo MT. Post up some pictures of this truck like it sits now. I really want to see it. Or pm me some if you don't want to post it. I can't imagine it looking that bad.


Does the truck really seem that much lower to you? To me the offroad editions seem to be a decent height anyway. That tire you got is a 32.7x11.2 for a 17" wheel so it's not that narrow of a tire. I mean it is a little narrower but it should still be a decent sized tire.