Has anyone tried 16 inch wheels on their Ram Van? I have a 2002 Ram Van 1500 and the 15 inch wheels seem like car wheels on a truck. I would like to try 16 inch wheels. Any considerations I should be aware of?

 

Stick with the same backspacing, and you should be golden.

 

I don't think 1 inch would make much difference. However, if you have a set of 16's you like, go for it. Myself, I prefer a tall tire and meaty rubber over the big wheel, skinny rubber that's all the rage today. I live in Indiana and our roads are NOT friendly to big wheels. I've seen several people go with bigger wheels and thinner rubber and shatter them on the craters we call pot holes.

 

I would like to get aluminum 16s someday...but I bought Nokian Rottiva and they arent wearing out LOL

I wouldnt go any larger than 16 because of what ol grouch stated.

You could always look at 255/70/15...those look pretty cool.

 

I'm definitely not going with thin tires. I like beefy tires too and that is part of the problem with the 15. They feel like little tiny feet under my big cargo van. No, I am just thinking about going up an inch or two at the most and a solid profile. No thin tires here.

 

if you want to use ram truck wheels, you need 2" spacers all the way around... and you will need to turn them out on the lathe to match the hubs on the van... ;-)

Here's a 99 ram van with 16" rims on it... and 265/75r16 tires...

 

I believe Dodge rims are lug centric. Fords are hub centric and they often need opening up to go on properly.

 

perhaps take a look at one... ;-) the hubs on the van are significantly larger than the hubs on the 2nd gen ram trucks. That's why if you want to safely run dodge ram truck wheels on your van, you need to buy the 2" spacers made for the smaller truck size hub ring, then turn the inside hole out to match the van hub ring size. Of course you can just buy wheels that have the right offset, but I had 3-4 sets of 5 lug truck rims hanging around. Both dodge truck and van wheels are hub centric and the only spacers I would consider running are forged 7075 or 6061 T6 aluminum and hub-centric. The van in the picture has 2" wheel spacers all the way around and 3rd gen aluminum dodge truck wheels on it (that have been painted). it has 8 lug 17" wheels and bigger tires on it now though... I still have the spacers.

 

My '84 has stock-looking 16-inch steel wheels. The previous owner painted them silver... no rings, no dishes, and they look decent.