I have a 2007 1500 Ram Laramie with 20" Chrome wheels and 6000 miles. These wheels appear to be in the early stages of flaking in some of the tight crevices. I wax them regularly however they are definitely getting worse. Has anyone else seen this? P.S. I’ve never taken it off road.

2nd question. This last weekend I took it on a 300 mile trip and only got about 14.2 miles per gallon. In the city the fuel economy indicator shows ~16.7 mpg. Once I got of the highway at 70 mph the gauge began to drop and bottomed out at ~ 14.2. Is this typical?

 

As a long time 4x4 owner (seven of them in the 25 years I've been driving, actually) I actually insisted on the 17" wheels when I looked for a new truck in '04. It wasn't easy finding a Laramie with 17's AND traditional 4wd (no push button crap), I'll have you know. It had nothing to do with fuel economy, but 20" wheels don't give you enough sidewall flex to be worth a crap off road, unless you're talking like massive 38"+ tires on 20's.
So anyway, I have no info for you on the chrome flaking off other than the fact that my '02 Jeep Grand Cherokee with the chrome wheels is doing it rather badly.

As far as your mileage goes, you'd definately do better with the 17's. Most people report gains of at least 2 mpg after a switch from 20" to 17" wheels. Just don't go crazy aggressive on the tread (no need to if you don't go off road) and you'll immediatly see a dramatic improvement in fuel economy...

 

My mileage starts dropping off once I get over 65, however I'm usually doing between 70 - 75 on the interstate...

My city mileage is around 13 mpg and Highway 18... I normally average 16 mpg per tank, 70/30 highway/city...

Granted mine's a 2wd, however I couldn't imagine you getting less gas mileage on the highway than in the city... Takes a lot of gas to get your rig up to speed with the stop and go....

If your chrome is flaking, take it back to the dealership, all 4 of mine were doing it around the 10k mark, and I now have 4 new wheels, so far only 1 of the new wheels is starting to pit, I'm not very happy with the quality of the "Chrome Clad" wheels and will be purchasing new 22's after I get the dealer to switch them out a 2nd time.

 

IN REFERENCE TO 17" TIRES TO 20" TIRES: As the axle rotates one revolution the 20" tire will cover more ground them the smaller 17" tire .. The engine rotates the same covering the same mile ..however the larger 20" tire will travel about 12/14% greater distance then the 17" tire. The tire width and normal tread design should remain the same as not to increase tire width drag. Keeping the same rear end gears and going to a smaller tire diameter increases the engine revolutions per mile , more revolutions equal more fuel used.

 

[sm=WTFsgign.gif] you've seen a ram with a 20" TIRE?? lol

we're talking about wheel size, not tire size. hammer is talking about an increase of mpg when going from 20" WHEEL (33" tire stock) to 17" wheel (31" tire stock). that 2" is a whole 6.66666% difference in engine rpm assuming same gearing. The increase in rpm won't do a damn thing to your mpg, but the reduction in inertia (smaller, lighet wheel) might help it.

 

Ok .. Smaller Wheel size using your math still equals more rpm's and that equals more fuel burned. Go to your local tire shop, they have the % numbers already In there computers.. ask them what will the % differance be to your speedometer. Thanks.

 

your paying attention to the lie-o-meter???......do the math its more accurate,you'll see a difference

 

Don't need a computer, don't need a tire shop! I personally know people who have gone from the stock 20's to a 17 or 18" aftermarket wheel. Some actually have INCREASED the tire size and ALL report an increase in MPG's. Some minor, some a bit more, but everyone I know who personally has done this has reported better mileage with the smaller wheel. That's not to say the increase is worth pulling your 20's off and paying for 17" wheels and tires, as the small gains would take forever to offset the cost!

Now granted, for a street truck, it's hard to beat the look of a 20" wheel, and a lower profile tire on a larger wheel does perform better on pavement (especially for fast cornering), but for fuel economy, you will do better with a smaller wheel.

When the POLL feature is working again, we'll setup a poll. I know a few on here have done this and we'll see what they have to say. I also know at least one user here who went the other way and swapped his stock 17's for 20's and has griped to me about the loss of fuel economy since he did it. Have not seen him on in a bit, but I think I got his email address...

 

When I bailed on my 17"s for 20"s, I saw the reverse of this (just verifying what Hammer says). I was getting @12MPG CITY and it went to 10MPG. That's what, a 52 mile difference per tank. OUCH!!!

 

i might try to split the difference and get 18" wheels. better mpg, and hopefully still good on street.