Before I say anything, YES, I HAVE READ THE FULL 17 PAGES OF THE FITMENT THREAD. And to be honest, along with most of the people who posted in that thread, I am even more confused than I was when I started.

Here is my issue:

I bought my truck back in January and it is a 2005 Ram 1500 Hemi with 4x4 and stock 20" rims. I didnt check date codes on the tires, but now I wish I had. one of my tires has basically had the bands/belts inside the tire go rogue. So the tire itself is all bubbly and has just been getting worse and tread is separating from the bands. It is extremely dangerous to be driving on and is beating the hell out of my suspension. I checked the date code yesterday when I went to complain at goodyear for the tire failing, and realised the tire is from 2004.... the truck is a 2005, so somebody must have switched the spare tire onto the wheel at some point and just left it. The tire on the other side is an 07, and my tires at the front are 09's. However my front right tire is leaking from the sidewall pretty bad and needs air every 3-5 days. So both bad tires are on the passenger side of the truck.

The guy from goodyear recommended replacing both bad tires with new ones, and putting those as a pair on the back. But that would leave me with mismatching tires on the front, and the 07 tread is pretty low so it will need replacing in the next year or so anyways. So to me it makes the most sense to just replace all 4. HOWEVER i hate the stock rims and wanted to get new wheels at some point anyways. I was planning on lifting the truck, then going with small wheels, and big tires..... the typical off-road look/setup. Given my current circumstances, I cant exactly just do all that stuff at once, and I don't want to invest in 4 new tires if I am going to want to change wheel sized when I get rims. So I am looking at getting rims right now.

So now that my problem/whats led to this point is out of the way, heres the problems I am running into.

I don't know if I can put smaller rims on the stock 20's truck. This was asked SEVERAL times throughout that supposed all-inclusive thread, yet was never answered. I am looking at 17's and 18's however that makes tire sizes hard to find. As most popular off-road tires seem to only come in 15-16 inches.

I really like the XD778 Monster wheels that are 18's with this info:

• Size: 18x9
• Offset: -12mm
• Backspacing: 4.49"
• Bolt Pattern: 5-139
• Rec. Tire Size: 285/60-18

I am still looking for 17's that I like within my price range.

Tire selection is the real issue here. I will list the sizes I am considering for each wheel size from largest/most preferable size to smallest based on what I think would fit on my stock ride height 4x4 truck. Availability is based on Tire Rack as they seem to carry mostly everything and even if not in stock its listed. (not buying goodyears)

17's

• 315/70-17 - good selection, however im worried about 315 width not sure which backspacing/offset would work
• 305/70-17 - nothing but overpriced goodyears
• 295/70-17 - nothing listed
• 285/75-17 - nothing
• 285/70-17 - 27 tires to choose from, most likely tire size for 17's
• 275/70-17 - BFG AT KO2 but smaller than I would like

18's

• 305/65-18 - nothing less than $300 each
• 285/75-18 - nothing but overpriced goodyears
• 295/70-18 - nothing
• 285/70-18 - nothing
• 275/70-18 - large selection(28 tires) but quite a bit smaller than I would like.

So as you can see, tire selection is tough, if i even can go down in size from 20". I am aiming for some nice looking tires that can stick out the sides a little bit. width is more important than height. My budget is ~$1500

P.S. REALLY PISSED OFF AT THIS FORUM. had to type my entire post 2 times because it logged me out when i clicked submit BOTH TIMES. LUCKILY THE SECOND TIME I WAS SMART ENOUGH TO COPY THE WHOLE THING TO CLIPBOARD.

 

17's are fine. 20's were an option. On my 04 I ran 285/70/17. Lots of selection.

 

ok cool, thanks for the reply, I just have to find some 17's I like, did 285/70/17 seem like a good size?

 

Just do the math. 285/70/17 metric tire is basically a 32 3/4" x 11 1/4" tire for a 17" wheel. Which would be just slightly taller and wider than stock which would fit fine, especially when mounted on a negative offset wheel like those monsters, but in a 17" wheel obviously.

BTW I've posted on this forum over 24,000 times and don't ever recall getting kicked off when submitting a post...

 

Oh and 17" is the smallest wheel you can use that will clear the brake calipers. Like you, I like the smallest wheel with the largest tire. Gives plenty of sidewall for real off road use. Problem is, if they put smaller brakes that a 15" wheel would fit over on a truck with this much weight and the power of a Hemi, you wouldn't be able to stop it and brake components would have to be worked so hard they wouldn't last...

 

Yeah I will take the braking power and longevity over looks I got kicked off because I didnt have remember me checked.... its purely a cookies thing, my cookies expired in the time it took to write the post is all. (I am a software engineer and used to do web development) I usually copy long posts to clipboard on all forums because most of them suffer from that problem.

Anyways I have narrowed down a bunch of wheels within a budget price range. However offsets vary greatly. So I am not sure how that effects things. I assume a negative offset will push the tires farther out the sides?

Some of the options:
black rock 942 Type D Steel 17x9

• Size: 17x9
• Offset: -12mm
• Backspacing: 4.527"
• Bolt Pattern: 5-139
• Rec. Tire Size: 265/70-17

Ultra Bolt

• Size: 17x8
• Offset: 20mm
• Backspacing: 5.28"
• Bolt Pattern: 5-139
• Rec. Tire Size: 265/70-17

Ultra Phantom

• Size:17x8
• Offset:20mm
• Backspacing:5.31"
• Bolt Pattern:5-139
• Rec. Tire Size:265/70-17

Ultra Gauntlet

• Size: 17x9
• Offset: 20mm
• Backspacing: 5.71"
• Bolt Pattern: 5-139
• Rec. Tire Size: 265/70-17

Helo HE878

• Size: 17x9
• Offset: -12mm
• Backspacing: 4.49"
• Bolt Pattern: 5-139
• Rec. Tire Size: 265/70-17

I am assuming the ones with the positive offset and high backspacing would be an issue. I am not sure though, from the fitment thread it seemed like -12mm was a good offset and 4.5" backspacing was good.


I also read that 17x9 was preferable over 17x8. though I think either would work for a 285/70/17?

By the way thanks a lot for the replies and help. I was worried you guys would get mad at me for making a sorta fitment thread.

UPDATE* I think I am going to go with the Helo's listed above and BFG A/T KO2's
I probably wont order from tire rack because their prices are whack, and so is their shipping. Same rims can be had on amazon for $25 cheaper each and free shipping. The tires... well I can get free shipping at least but those some expensive damn tires.

 

285/70x17s, 2 1/2" level:





17x9 wheels.

 

Ultra motorsports wheels. Rouge is what I had. 285 are easy to find. Gives the 1500 a good stance. Good luck in your wheel decision.

 

This is my old clunker I bought new in '04 and sold last year. Tires were 35x12.5x17 but the wheel will give you a good idea of what you are looking at. Mickey Thompson Classic IIs at 17x9 with -12 offset, 4.25" backspacing...

 

Well, you guys convinced me with those pictures, no lift so it will be a bit close I think, but I went for the Helo rims, (it scares me that amazon says they wont fit my truck but I think thats because -12mm offset is considered "agressive fitment", but I ordered the 17x9 5x5.5" lug pattern rims)

and I ordered BFG All Terrain T/A KO2 Tires LT285/70/R17/10 121/118R

from Walmart because they allow in-store pickup and will mount and balance for me at $15 a wheel. So the extra $10 a tire was worth it to avoid shipping and cheap mounting.

Ill be sure to throw up a picture or 2 next week of the results.