New Tires/Wheels Question

I need to replace the tires on my 2001 Dodge Ram 1500 4WD. I currently have 265/75/16 tires. I believe with a 5 x 5.5 bolt pattern. I'd like to go up to 17" rims to help fill in the wheel wells. What size tire would work best on the 17" wheels?

I see a lot of 265/70/17 listed for sale. Would this fill up my wheel wells enough, or should I go up to at least 285/70/17?

What if I stick with my 16" rims, can I go up to 305/75/16?

Thanks for the info!

I need to replace the tires on my 2001 Dodge Ram 1500 4WD. I currently have 265/75/16 tires. I believe with a 5 x 5.5 bolt pattern. I'd like to go up to 17" rims to help fill in the wheel wells. What size tire would work best on the 17" wheels?

I see a lot of 265/70/17 listed for sale. Would this fill up my wheel wells enough, or should I go up to at least 285/70/17?

What if I stick with my 16" rims, can I go up to 305/75/16?

Thanks for the info!

You need to be careful how you go about this. Just increasing the tire circumference can cause a lot of problems. For starters, your speedo will be nowhere near accurate and you can get into clearance problems with the inner fender, specially at the front.

If you want to really improve the look of your truck, got to www.tires.com.

This is the Discount Tire Company website (shameless plug for my company :naughty: ). If you don't have a store near you just enter the Discount Tire Direct site which is web and direct sales.

This address will give you an idea of what you need to know about increasing wheel and tire size without causing too much trouble:
http://www.discounttiredirect.com/direct/brochure/info/tmpInfoPlusSizing.jsp

They also have a page which allows you to view your truck with the wheels and sizes that are available and you can also speak with a tech who can assist you in figuring out what will work best for you.

I have a 98 Ram 2WD and went with 17" rims with wider tires and a lower aspect ratio and the truck looks much better. My speedo is only about 3 mph off at 60 and the ride even improved due to less sidewall flex and bounce.

BTW, we have all the way up to 24" wheels for your truck at this point but I wouldn't recommend them if you go off road at all.

Hope this helps!

Thanks for the info Ohio Dave, I've actually been a Discount Tire customer for over 15 years, I've dropped a few bucks on tires over the years at Discount. Way I see it Discount should sponsor my street stock race car.....got any ties to corporate?

I looked at a buddy's 2001 Ram 2500 diesel today, he's got 285/75/16's on his truck. They look pretty good, I think I'll check into those and even larger. I know it will throw off my speedo, but it won't be the first time!

Thanks for the link to the web sites, those are helpful.