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Canadian winters, how do I pick the right tires?

Geobound

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I'm sure there are a zillion threads on tires, and some of you will will be bored of answering the same style of question but just in a different wrapper, but I'm going to ask anyway.

I am a total rookie when it comes to tires, and just default to whatever comes on my vehicles.

I just bought a 2019 Ram 1500 Limited and it came with the 22" tires, but I live in the snow belt region of Canada and need proper winter tires.

So my questions are;

1) Can I go with 22" winter tires or is that just crazy (from price and ride perspective)?

2) Can I go with something smaller and not change the speedometer / odometer settings?

3) I'd like to do both wheels and rubber to save my good rims and TPMS from getting ruined every change over time, so all suggestions would be most appreciated.

I did speak with a local mechanic and I just don't get offsets / lifts / spacers and all that other jazz. Simple is good......I am simple! LOL...

Many thanks,

John
 

Damion

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I just got factory steel 18" wheels for mine , got tires from Canadian tire when they went on sale. This saves my good wheels from the winter salt etc and makes change over from summer to winter easy. 18" is the smallest wheel that will clear the brakes.

Factory tire size for 18" wheel was 275/65/18 which is what I went with, for specific tires, any winter rated tire will be fine.

Side note, my dealer was the cheapest place I found for steel wheels, and they are a Mopar part. ( mopar stamped on them ). They are the basic wheels that come on a tradesman
 

ryanc111

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I went the other direction - I put Nokian Hakkapelittaa LT2s on my stock 18” wheels and then bought new wheels/tires for summer. Not familiar with what winter tires are available for 22” wheels but the Nokians are awesome.

Having two sets of wheels is the way to go - it avoids wear and tear on the wheels having tires mounted over and over with the change of seasons and keeps the winter muck off my nice wheels. Plus I can change the wheels myself so I save some $$ and hassle. I have TPMS sensors in all wheels and the truck auto recognizes them when I swap them out.
 

mopar mark

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Im same as you, wondering how these 22" car tires will do on my 45 min hiway commute , may end up buying a all terrain tire
 

silver billet

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Yes you can switch rim sizes and not change your speedometer. Rim size is the inside diameter of the tire, the outside size is what is important when it comes to your speedometer. So when you change rim sizes from 22 to 18, the outside diameter of the tire does not (really) change; you just get more rubber between the road and the rim in an 18, and less rubber in a 22.

You don't need to worry about offsets lifts and spacers. Your mechanic will know what to do, just tell him what you drive (2019 "new" ram 1500), and what rim size you want, and he'll match a tire for your truck + rim.

You will probably find much cheaper tires in an 18 inch rim, vs 22 inch. There is much more choice available in 18 because it's a more common size than 22; more choice = lower price. Definitely buy a second set of rims + sensors and just swap the entire wheel each time.

Don't buy an "all season" or an "all terrain" for a "winter tire". Buy a dedicated winter tire; it is a single season tire, and it will give you the best performance in snow/slush/ice. You cannot run winter tires in the summer as they will be extremely soft, mushy, and probably slip over the road; the soft rubber compound needed to grip in the winter, is the exact opposite of what you need in hot summers.

Good choices (in terms of brand) for a winter tire are the "Nokian Hakkapeliitta", "Michelin X-Ice", "Goodyear blizzaks", and "Toyo Observe gsi5".

The best grip comes from "studded tires", studded tires are not available in all models/brands. However they are probably illegal in many parts of Canada as the steel bolts can really tear up the asphalt.

Hope that helps!
 

Geobound

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Yes you can switch rim sizes and not change your speedometer. Rim size is the inside diameter of the tire, the outside size is what is important when it comes to your speedometer. So when you change rim sizes from 22 to 18, the outside diameter of the tire does not (really) change; you just get more rubber between the road and the rim in an 18, and less rubber in a 22.

You don't need to worry about offsets lifts and spacers. Your mechanic will know what to do, just tell him what you drive (2019 "new" ram 1500), and what rim size you want, and he'll match a tire for your truck + rim.

You will probably find much cheaper tires in an 18 inch rim, vs 22 inch. There is much more choice available in 18 because it's a more common size than 22; more choice = lower price. Definitely buy a second set of rims + sensors and just swap the entire wheel each time.

Don't buy an "all season" or an "all terrain" for a "winter tire". Buy a dedicated winter tire; it is a single season tire, and it will give you the best performance in snow/slush/ice. You cannot run winter tires in the summer as they will be extremely soft, mushy, and probably slip over the road; the soft rubber compound needed to grip in the winter, is the exact opposite of what you need in hot summers.

Good choices (in terms of brand) for a winter tire are the "Nokian Hakkapeliitta", "Michelin X-Ice", "Goodyear blizzaks", and "Toyo Observe gsi5".

The best grip comes from "studded tires", studded tires are not available in all models/brands. However they are probably illegal in many parts of Canada as the steel bolts can really tear up the asphalt.

Hope that helps!


If I could give more than 1 like for this reply, I would!

Thanks very much for taking the time and putting that all down, I well and truly appreciate it.

I was just worried that going from a 22 to an 18 would be a problem or ride differently, but your answer was perfect.

Thanks also for the tips on which ones to look for, that too is a big help.

BIG THUMBS UP!!
 

Damion

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Your truck will likely ride a bit better with 18’s due to more sidewall. Probably won’t handle the corners as well though. It won’t be terrible just noticeable.

Where red in Canada are you? I’m in Nova Scotia and here we don’t see a lot of ice caked roads per say so I can run an all terrain style tire and have plenty of traction all winter. Deep snow is the more common thing here as well as slush. Full on winter tires can’t really handle a lot of slush like an all terrain can
 
U

User_9089

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I'm dealing with the same problem, deciding what size to use for the winter. More so I'm fighting with myself on deciding between going cheap on the 18" steelies from the dealer or finding alloys. My biggest concern with the alloy route is making sure I don't end up buying wheels and finding that they don't clear the front calipers because it looks like other people have had issues with that.

Anyways, as far as tire options, I've used Blizzaks as well as X-Ice Xi2 in the past, as well as some lower tier tires. My opinion on Blizzaks is that they have fantastic ice grip but just wear too fast, especially if you mount them too early or leave them on too long and end up using them when the temperatures warm up. I love in SW Ontario and our shoulder seasons often see very large temperature swings going from blizzard one day to sunny and hot the next, then back again. So, it is tough to avoid using the snow tires on some warm days.

I've found the Michelins to hold up better with the warmer temps, with a bit of a sacrifice on ice performance.

I'm now considering trying the Nokian Hakkapelitta R3 SUV...

As far as sizing goes, I made a spreadsheet to try to present different options, I can't upload an excel file to the forum so I renamed it to a .pdf and attached it, the idea is that if you download it and rename the extension to .xlsx it should still work. Use it if you want, or not, just thought I would share as it helps me organize options, on the second worksheet I left some local pricing information that I've gathered as well.

Cheers
 

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Geobound

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I'm dealing with the same problem, deciding what size to use for the winter. More so I'm fighting with myself on deciding between going cheap on the 18" steelies from the dealer or finding alloys. My biggest concern with the alloy route is making sure I don't end up buying wheels and finding that they don't clear the front calipers because it looks like other people have had issues with that.

Anyways, as far as tire options, I've used Blizzaks as well as X-Ice Xi2 in the past, as well as some lower tier tires. My opinion on Blizzaks is that they have fantastic ice grip but just wear too fast, especially if you mount them too early or leave them on too long and end up using them when the temperatures warm up. I love in SW Ontario and our shoulder seasons often see very large temperature swings going from blizzard one day to sunny and hot the next, then back again. So, it is tough to avoid using the snow tires on some warm days.

I've found the Michelins to hold up better with the warmer temps, with a bit of a sacrifice on ice performance.

I'm now considering trying the Nokian Hakkapelitta R3 SUV...

As far as sizing goes, I made a spreadsheet to try to present different options, I can't upload an excel file to the forum so I renamed it to a .pdf and attached it, the idea is that if you download it and rename the extension to .xlsx it should still work. Use it if you want, or not, just thought I would share as it helps me organize options, on the second worksheet I left some local pricing information that I've gathered as well.

Cheers


Thanks for taking the time to put that chart together and posting it.

I'm in SW Ontario too, so I know how stupid our winters can be. Especially since I travel between Owen Sound and Toronto regularly.

What size tires do you currently have on your truck? I'm guessing 20's by your truck version, but I've noticed a lot of mixing of tires sizes with the dealers this year.

I have the 285/45R22XL's on mine..........although I just noticed my sticker says my spare is a 245/70R18?? Why would they do that??

Anyway on the plus side I just realized that by reading the sticker, I could in theory go with 245/70R18 snows couldn't I??
 

J-Cooz

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I picked up some take off 20" Ram Sport wheels off Kijiji. I plan on running 275/55/20 blizzaks or may try the new Yokohoma G05.

Personally I wouldn't go from 22" to 18". The ride will be super floaty with snow tires with that high of a sidewall. I think 20" is a good compromise if you're used to the ride and handling of the 22" wheels.
 
U

User_9089

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Thanks for taking the time to put that chart together and posting it.

I'm in SW Ontario too, so I know how stupid our winters can be. Especially since I travel between Owen Sound and Toronto regularly.

What size tires do you currently have on your truck? I'm guessing 20's by your truck version, but I've noticed a lot of mixing of tires sizes with the dealers this year.

No worries on the spreadsheet, I like spreadsheets. :geek:

My truck has 275/55R20 stock. I flip flopped back and forth a lot but have finally decided on going with OEM 18" steelies, same as what comes on the Tradesman trim level. The stock steelies I can get for $80 each, couple that with the 18" tires also being less than 20's and it just made more sense to me.

I have the 285/45R22XL's on mine..........although I just noticed my sticker says my spare is a 245/70R18?? Why would they do that??

Anyway on the plus side I just realized that by reading the sticker, I could in theory go with 245/70R18 snows couldn't I??

I figure they put that little spare on there because it is cheap, and the spare isn't meant to be a permanent replacement if it is needed, only a crutch to get you to a shop for a new proper tire.

You could put that size on, but you'd be approximately -1.3% change in revolutions/km. Probably acceptable.

I ended up going with 275/65R18, the tire guy noted that it was a common size. That helps with price, as well as quick availability if a replacement is needed for whatever reason.

Cheers.
 

Geobound

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No worries on the spreadsheet, I like spreadsheets. :geek:

My truck has 275/55R20 stock. I flip flopped back and forth a lot but have finally decided on going with OEM 18" steelies, same as what comes on the Tradesman trim level. The stock steelies I can get for $80 each, couple that with the 18" tires also being less than 20's and it just made more sense to me.



I figure they put that little spare on there because it is cheap, and the spare isn't meant to be a permanent replacement if it is needed, only a crutch to get you to a shop for a new proper tire.

You could put that size on, but you'd be approximately -1.3% change in revolutions/km. Probably acceptable.

I ended up going with 275/65R18, the tire guy noted that it was a common size. That helps with price, as well as quick availability if a replacement is needed for whatever reason.

Cheers.


Sorry super late on this reply, but I just talked to a Ram dealer today.

They are going to put Firestone Winterforce 2 UV tires on my truck, and some steel wheels.

I wasn't sure what size to go with, but much to my surprise they are recommending I go with the 275/65R18's as well?

They also told me not to bother with the TPMS as well. Apparently the new trucks are smart enough to stop warning you about not having any air in your tires after 2-4 start ups, so that annoying yellow triangle will eventually go away. That does of course mean you will have to check your tires the old fashion way if you're concerned about air pressure, but I suppose I can live with that?

Somewhere I have colour coded tire presser caps, so maybe I will just pop those on for the winter months.

Out the door pricing for the rubber and wheels is $1500.00 CDN. Pretty good if you ask me.
 

Cravenfan

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I had them take off the 22’ stock Goodyear’s upon truck delivery and put on Continental Terrain Contact A/T’s. I’ve never run a winter tire with auto-4x4 here in Maine. These tires are not too aggressive, but provide some side bite in the snow. They are fairly quiet and run well on regular roads. They also look way better than the Goodyear’s. But, it’s a tough bill to,swallow...Mopar has a buy 3, get 4th tire for $1 sale through 11/30.

 

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