The backspacing on either of the MT Classic II's 16x8 or 16x10 wheels would only give me a little over 1/2 inch outward. With the 8" wheel- that would only net me 1-1/2" in width (so it wouldn't stick out of the fender well much to really be noticeable IMO).

Maybe it's my own lack of experience in this area, but would the wider 305's on the 16x8 wheel give me the wider (tires sticking out of the fender well) look that I'm looking for?

I'm just going based upon what I've seen in pictures of other trucks, and they all had the 16x10 wheels- so I assumed it was the wheel size not the tire size that made them look good.

 

You should be able to get a 16x8 wheel with a low backspacing. The lower the backspacing on the wheel the further they stick out the side. Maybe check out some other rims if they don't offer the size you want with the backspacing you want.

 

I pretty much have the same question as you do. I am already running 305s on the stock wheel. and it does rub just a little on the arms. I am also wanting to go with a 16X10 rim. I want to know if it will make the tires rub worse or if the offset on the wheels is enough to not make a difference.

 

16x10 wheels I'm almost positive will rub way worse than the stock wheels. However. If you get the lower offset it may stop them from rubbing on the control arms and just move the rubbing out to the fenders.

 

I received a PM from someone who ran Mickey Thompson Classic II 16x10 wheels with 285/75-16's on a '01 Ram 1500 Off-Road, and he said he had no rubbing at all with the 285's on the wider wheel. Now whether 305's would rub, I'm unsure... especially since the difference in width between a 285 and 305 is less than an inch.

 

Almost positive they would since like I said I have minor rubbing with 16x10 wheels with 305 tires and I have a 3" lift so my truck is higher than the offroad edition. It originally was an offroad edition but is even higher now.

 

Yes... you have 'minor' rubbing with the 305's... which are almost an inch wider than the 285's. It isn't a height issue, but a width issue- as far as the rubbing. My guess is that the 285's on the 16x10's barely fit his truck without rubbing- so the additional width of the 305's would cause minor rubbing on either the arm or fender liner. This is probably why he went with the narrower 285's instead of the 305's- to avoid rubbing. Although, it wouldn't surprise me if his tires wore out in the center due to the tires being stretched to fit the 16x10 width... 285's are meant for a maximum of 9" width wheel.

Again, this is just my observations based upon comments from others, not my own personal experience.

 

Go with the 8" rim...the 10"s look goofy and tend to scratch easier on curbs and rocks. More tire, less rim is what I think

 

Thank you for your opinion, however I have to disagree, because I like the looks of tires sticking out- definitely gives a more aggressive appearance IMO. I also don't do much curb parking, nor rock climbing, so neither are a concern for me.

I'm trying to weigh my options carefully, trying to take into consideration future upgrade possibilities or necessities (such as replacing gears); along with the appearance factor.

Does anyone know what the original tire size the 3.55 gear was intended for? I know there were several tire sizes available from the factory; 225's, 245's and 265's. So I would assume that to find the proper gearing for new tires, you'd need to know the original tire size that the stock gearing was meant for and go from there. Is that correct?

 

I checked on my door panel and saw that my truck originally came with 225's; I just requested the build sheet to verify that information.

From what I could find from the calculator at accuautoparts.com- I should run 3.97 gears with 285's to maintain original ratio; for 265's, the gearing should be 3.83. So 4.10's would work great with 285's. I also noticed that for 315's, the optimal gearing should be 4.19- although I've read most go with 4.56 or 4.88's. Looks like I definitely need to decide what tire size (and subsequent lift) I want 'before' regearing. ;-)

I also discovered that- unless my speedometer was reprogrammed when the previous owner changed to 265's- I could actually be getting better mpg than I thought. I wonder how common that is, for people to increase tire size without bothering to have their speedometer reprogrammed? Because it definitely does impact mpg calculations.