hello, i plan on purchasing a 2001 ram 1500 sport 5.2l 4x4 quad cab 5 speed by sometime next month. the first thing i'd like to do is replace the tires to michelin ltx m/s for quiet smooth ride in pavement and tight grip in the snow (i live in maine), however i am having difficulty in choosing the right size. the ones i am considering are 265/75r16, 275/70r16, or 285/75r16. does the 75 refer to its height meaning it would be taller than 70? what are the handling characteristics of these sizes if there are any differences? have any of you had any experience with the michelins? if so, please share your comments. what would be the recommended size for this particular model? i'm looking for optimum traction and torque if that's even a factor in different sizes. i'm sure more rubber means less mpg but if the benifits of going larger outweighs the cons, why the hell not?

as for the upgrades, i'd like to put in a cai and exhaust (k&n gen ii, jba catback). what else would be a good mod to increase low end torque? headers/throttle body/spacers? ive read about the hypertech programmer device, does that thing make any sort of noticable difference? if it just helped fuel economy, that alone would be worth it to me.

 

I'm no tire expert, but I've got 285's on mine and can say that the taller you go, the more power you'll lose to a taller gear ratio. My truck is getting 4.11's right now which would bring it back to stock gearing w/the 285's.

On my truck (see my signature) the mods are adding enough power to make it decent to drive (after loosing pwr from the tire swap). I expect to loose a little low end torque when I put the exhaust on and am o.k. with it since I don't tow much. if your looking to keep low end torque, stay with the single out exhaust.

 

i don't know which gears the truck will have, i will inquire the dealer about it. by taller do you mean the tire ratio? as in 70 or 75? or did you mean the tire width 265 vs 275 vs 285? how do you like the traction and handling of your tires? would you say going with 265 or 275 be better for low end power? i want a mean grunt feel, ya know?

about your mods, how does it respond to your throttle movement? quick/sluggish/average? and what did the hypertech ppiii do for your truck as far as noticable outcomes? i believe the jba exhaust is single outlet only anyway, besides i wasnt thinking of dual (too loud). what was the purpose of changing out your wires?

 

open the hood on your truck & look up behind the grill, should tell the gear ratio. if you want low end grunt, keep your stock tire size on it, anything bigger will loose power. All of my mods contributed to it's performance, with the truck the way it is, it will keep up w/traffic pretty good. The 4.11's will make it feel very strong and bring back some of the low end loss feeling.

The one thing you need to remember is your truck weighs 5200~5500 lbs and 10 hp here 15 hp there will be hard to notice by themselves, but add it all together & you should notice quite a bit of gain. Just remember each mod will affect the way the motor responds and will take some from one part of the power band but give more back in another part.

"how does it respond to your throttle movement? quick/sluggish/average? " pretty good all things considered, when I can drop it in drive & motor on up steep 7%ish grades & accelerate all the way up (with 3.55 gears too), i'd say it's quick & powerful.
As for the wires... less resistance to the plug means more powerful spark, = more fuel mix burnt = slight power increase.

I plan on adding the MSD 6A box & a blaster coil later in the summer.

 

i took a look at your truck pictures, those are some nice looking wheels. what kind are they? and do you know if they're available in black finish? i'm thinking of american racing mojave but i don't know which bolt circle size i need? http://www.americanracing.com/images.../big/b3981.jpg

does anyone else care to share your opinion on tires?

 

the 70/60/50 refers to "aspect ratio". Basically the higher the number the more tire is between the rim and the road. Perceantage of wall height to width. Here is a formula for determining the height of a metric tire. ((((width*(aspect ratio/100)/25.4)*2)+rimsize)) for a 285/70R17 tire it comes out as ((((285*(70/100)/25.4)*2)+17=32.7087 or bascially a 33" tire.