I am starting this post with a thank you to boogielander for his posts on wheel and tire combinations and offset as well as brake caliper clearance. I had reached the same conclusions as him based on my research but his posts locked it in for me. In the end, I would argue the below wheel and tire combination is a perfect fit for the new style RAM 1500.
Wheels:
Type: Method Racing 305 NV, Double Black, MR305890601012N, 18x9 -12mm, 6x139.7
Diameter: I am not a large diameter wheel guy and 18" are the smallest that will clear the brake calipers. I like to run the smallest diameter wheel with the largest diameter tire I can. I have read that some 18's do not even fit. With this wheel, there is about 1/8"-1/4" of caliper clearance. It is a good thing to let the person balancing the tire to put the weights near the front of the wheel or the calipers will just knock them off.
Offset: -12MM gave me about 1/4"-3/8" clearance from the inside of the tire to the upper ball joints, which was my main concern. I mean no offence to those that prefer their tires sticking out past the fenders (poke), but it is not my thing. In my experience, tires sticking out far, especially with large diameter and wheels that are very wide, are asking to get damaged off-road, break a bead, adds stress to driveline components, and reduces the effectiveness of the truck's fenders. My goal was to maximise wheel backspacing to minimize poke. I wanted to take up every bit of room to the inside of the truck before using space on the outside, and these trucks have pretty deep wells.
Tires:
Nitto Recon Grappler 325/65/18 (equal to a 35 x 13.5)
Initially I choose the Recon 35x12.5 tire but there weren't any available, so I picked what I thought was an equivalent size at first, but then saw this tire is as wide as a 13.5. Why Recon's? My tire of choice is the BFG KO2 but they have all but priced themselves out in my opinion. I took the chance to run the new 37" Recon on my Jeep, have been nothing but impressed with them, they seem to be tougher than the KO2, have excellent traction in everything I have thrown at them (except mud) and are less expensive. I rolled the tire up next to a 35x12.5 Grappler on a 9" wheel and it was most certainly wider and slightly taller. I then rolled it next to a Grappler 37x13.5 on a 9" wheel and it was as wide, maybe a hair wider. I both loved this and was a bit unsure of fitment. I based my calculations on a 12.5 wide tire and this wider tire would be close...very close. I am happy I took the chance. I wanted as wide of a tire as I could for the beach sand near my home.
Trimming:
I wish I could say no trimming was required but in the end, I had to trim about 2"-3" off the plastic/rubber fender liner on the the back side of the front fender wells. I did not have to trim the pinch weld, but I think I will hammer it flat and paint it at some point. This was easily done in minutes with a rotary tool.
Spare Tire Fitment (in stock location):
I run a full sized spare...always. The truck came with a stupid temporary spare, but don't get me started on that. I ran the spare and it was not going to fit. 6 10mm bolts to remove the exhaust heat shields later and I tried again. Well, it almost fit but was wedging between the sway bar and back of the receiver hitch. I aired down the tire to about 20lbs and it squeezed into place. Probably after the first 5k mile rotation, it will fit without a problem.
Suspension Lift:
We use our Jeep Gladiator with 5" of Clayton lift and 37s for most off-roading, so I was not shooting for a high end suspension kit on this truck. I just wanted a small lift at an economic price and settled on the Ready Lift 3.5". This gave me 3.5" front and about 2" rear of lift, retaining the stock dampers. I have about 3000 miles on the lift and that includes towing two travel trailers, and up to now, it has performed as well as the stock suspension, which is all I was looking for. If it was my only off-road rig, I would have stepped up to a higher end kit, but this post is not about all that.
Let's get to the pics.
Wheels:
Type: Method Racing 305 NV, Double Black, MR305890601012N, 18x9 -12mm, 6x139.7
Diameter: I am not a large diameter wheel guy and 18" are the smallest that will clear the brake calipers. I like to run the smallest diameter wheel with the largest diameter tire I can. I have read that some 18's do not even fit. With this wheel, there is about 1/8"-1/4" of caliper clearance. It is a good thing to let the person balancing the tire to put the weights near the front of the wheel or the calipers will just knock them off.
Offset: -12MM gave me about 1/4"-3/8" clearance from the inside of the tire to the upper ball joints, which was my main concern. I mean no offence to those that prefer their tires sticking out past the fenders (poke), but it is not my thing. In my experience, tires sticking out far, especially with large diameter and wheels that are very wide, are asking to get damaged off-road, break a bead, adds stress to driveline components, and reduces the effectiveness of the truck's fenders. My goal was to maximise wheel backspacing to minimize poke. I wanted to take up every bit of room to the inside of the truck before using space on the outside, and these trucks have pretty deep wells.
Tires:
Nitto Recon Grappler 325/65/18 (equal to a 35 x 13.5)
Initially I choose the Recon 35x12.5 tire but there weren't any available, so I picked what I thought was an equivalent size at first, but then saw this tire is as wide as a 13.5. Why Recon's? My tire of choice is the BFG KO2 but they have all but priced themselves out in my opinion. I took the chance to run the new 37" Recon on my Jeep, have been nothing but impressed with them, they seem to be tougher than the KO2, have excellent traction in everything I have thrown at them (except mud) and are less expensive. I rolled the tire up next to a 35x12.5 Grappler on a 9" wheel and it was most certainly wider and slightly taller. I then rolled it next to a Grappler 37x13.5 on a 9" wheel and it was as wide, maybe a hair wider. I both loved this and was a bit unsure of fitment. I based my calculations on a 12.5 wide tire and this wider tire would be close...very close. I am happy I took the chance. I wanted as wide of a tire as I could for the beach sand near my home.
Trimming:
I wish I could say no trimming was required but in the end, I had to trim about 2"-3" off the plastic/rubber fender liner on the the back side of the front fender wells. I did not have to trim the pinch weld, but I think I will hammer it flat and paint it at some point. This was easily done in minutes with a rotary tool.
Spare Tire Fitment (in stock location):
I run a full sized spare...always. The truck came with a stupid temporary spare, but don't get me started on that. I ran the spare and it was not going to fit. 6 10mm bolts to remove the exhaust heat shields later and I tried again. Well, it almost fit but was wedging between the sway bar and back of the receiver hitch. I aired down the tire to about 20lbs and it squeezed into place. Probably after the first 5k mile rotation, it will fit without a problem.
Suspension Lift:
We use our Jeep Gladiator with 5" of Clayton lift and 37s for most off-roading, so I was not shooting for a high end suspension kit on this truck. I just wanted a small lift at an economic price and settled on the Ready Lift 3.5". This gave me 3.5" front and about 2" rear of lift, retaining the stock dampers. I have about 3000 miles on the lift and that includes towing two travel trailers, and up to now, it has performed as well as the stock suspension, which is all I was looking for. If it was my only off-road rig, I would have stepped up to a higher end kit, but this post is not about all that.
Let's get to the pics.
