This is to anybody with the 20's who have driven in the winter. This is going to be my first one, and i don't know if i need new tires for winter. Since I have the 20's will i need new rims/tires or no?

 

ahha i was thinking the same thing
getting some cheap rims and some beefy tires and putting the 20's in the garage!

 

My 20s will be in the garage, along with the rest of the Truck and Viper.

 

i have 24" rims on my ram and it my first winter too, but i dont have the stock 20" anymore what shouild i do??

 

You might consider getting 4 stock steel 17" rims and having snow tires mounted on them, or some kind of all season radial, and save the good wheels for summer. I've thought of doing that on mine simply because the salt really doesn't like aluminum rims. And when the rims start rusting, sand blast and repaint them. If this is not an option, put several hundred pounds in the back over the rear axle--sand bags for instance. I always ran 480 (6-80lb bags) in the back of my Dakota and it worked great.

 

My buddy found out last winter that the 20's really bite the big one in the snow. After he did 4200 bucks worth of damage sliding off the road at 30 mph. 20's float way too easy on slushy roads.

He got a set of 17 wheels and bought BF Goodrich Long Trail T/A's and they work great.

Thats why I bought my new 05 Off Road with the 17's, I tow a snowmobile trailer hundreds of miles sometimes.

Good Luck.

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Just relax and take your time getting where you have to go in the snow. As long as the stockers are not bald, which mine now are, and you put some weight in the bed you will be fine. I drove my 4X2 with 20's a lot in the snow the last two winters and it was fine. First winter I used sand bags held in place with 2X4's and last winter I used two semi tires I found dumped on the side of the road by the forest preserve. The tires I restrained with about six rubber tarp straps (not those cheapo bungie cords) so the wouldnt slide around. YOU NEED TO RESTRAIN THE WEIGHT!!! Common sense right? I have seen two pickups with blown out bottoms on their tailgates from two or three 50lb sand bags hitting the inside when the owners took off hard at green lights now they can't even drop their gates. Be careful, it only take a little effort to keep the load from sliding on the icy bed of your truck. --KK