Greetings,

Welcome to my first post on your forum!

I have had my '95 Ram 3500 with the Cummins Turbo Diesel since May of '98. The previous owner had installed a Rancho 4" lift front and rear, but the truck has stock sized Alcoa Aluminum 16 x 6 wheels. This pretty well limits my tire sizes to stock 215/85-16. They don't ever last more than about 20k miles and they look ridiculously small with the lift.

I was considering buying the "Big Rig" wheel/tire kit to convert to 22.5" wheels and monsterous tires. I think that they are about 36.5" diameter with 285 tread width. This would cure the looks issue for sure and most probably cure my tire wear issues, but I am concerned about the ability of the stock brakes to handle this upgrade.

My '95 has the front brakes that use a rotor that has the hub integrated into it. In other words I can't just go out and slap on after-market rotors and calipers. Has anyone else had front brake issues and converted a 95 4WD to another year model or something to get away from the stock brakes?

Hope someone can offer advice,

Harry

 

I wouldn't think that the stock brakes would have trouble stopping the truck as long as they are in good working order. Think about it...if you were to load your bed full and then be towing a trailer the truck would have to be designed to stop that so some 22.5s shouldn't make much of a difference in the way of stopping.

 

I use my truck as a tool and not for daily driving duties. When I use it, it is not uncommon to haul 5000# in the bed or tow a large trailer. The stock brakes on the '95's are marginal at best.

A lot of people don't consider the additional rotating mass and the gearing change offered by upsized wheels/tires to be significant. That is a mistake. The differences are considerable.

 

Have you checked out www.ricksonwheels.com 19.5" rims?

 

I know the changes in bigger tires makes a huge difference in gearing and in the rolling mass. I have 37's on my truck. My truck will still stop pretty damn good with 5k in the bed and a 35 foot camper trailer on the back without a brake control. I was just telling you my experience. You could try going to a junk yard and seeing if they would let you take a look at a newer truck and see if the hubs or even whole knuckles would transfer over. It also helps to have disc brakes in the rear as well.

 

Thanks for that input. I think my best coarse is to take your advice and go with it. If I have reduced or inadequate braking another option may be to go for a jake brake.

 

There are other tire options, besides 215's. A lot of people run 235's, & I think Jakebrake said he ran 255/85-16's on his dually with no clearance issues.