Optimal tire size

[fcreamer88]

Any input on tire sizes? On my 01 1500 5.2L, I've ran 285/75/16's since I bought it 5 years ago. It would run 2.1grand at 70mph and bogged down pretty easy. I recently went to a 265/70/16 and its made a world of difference. 75mph is 1.9 grand, it pulls hills better, and fuel mileage has gone up from 11 to 13. The downside.....it looks odd with the smaller tires. I miss the aggressive look of the BFG AT's and the extra ride height. Anybody used programmers or changed up gears to get the correct performance out of larger tires?

 

[NightMares]

There's a few things you can do for performance that are cheap. Tuners with premium gas will help a ton, exhaust and cold air intakes will open it up as well. Tuners will also reprogram the shift points if yours is an automatic to adjust for the tire size.

To run 33" tires I wouldn't justify doing new gears unless you plan on going bigger in the future. Estimating with the 5.2 I'd assume you have 3.55 gears in it, the next step is a 3.73 and the cost doesn't equal the performance gain. You're upwards of 2k for a gear swap, that's a ton of motor bolt on's that will get you more than a small jump in gears. If you went 4.10's then you could justify the price, but sounds like your comparing at highway speeds and your rpm's will be much higher at those speeds.

 

[ramburger]

38's

 

[dapepper9]

I recently went from stock 245/75/16 GoodYear ATs to the ProComp 265/75/16 in my sig. Made it feel sluggish compared to what it was before hand. You'll get that with bigger tires no matter the increase. However if you look at my sig you'll see everything i have performance wise. Stock 3.55 gears and it burns the 265s like nothing. Never had the sct or headers with the 245s and it burns em more easily than it did with the smaller 245s.

 

[Merc225hp]

There's a few things you can do for performance that are cheap. Tuners with premium gas will help a ton, exhaust and cold air intakes will open it up as well. Tuners will also reprogram the shift points if yours is an automatic to adjust for the tire size.

To run 33" tires I wouldn't justify doing new gears unless you plan on going bigger in the future. Estimating with the 5.2 I'd assume you have 3.55 gears in it, the next step is a 3.73 and the cost doesn't equal the performance gain. You're upwards of 2k for a gear swap, that's a ton of motor bolt on's that will get you more than a small jump in gears. If you went 4.10's then you could justify the price, but sounds like your comparing at highway speeds and your rpm's will be much higher at those speeds.

Couple of things for you to take note of.

1 we never had a 3.73 ratio offered, 3.55, super rare 3.92 and 4.10 in the ore trucks. No 3.73 ratio is offered in the aftermarket parts or anywhere else for that matter. Maybe for the 44 but not for the 9.25.

2 Cai don't do a thing for these trucks waste of cash, same goes for a tb spacer.

So op change gears to the tune of a grand or more, drop 5 hun on a tuner, or start to build a motor. Best is to stay with the small tires if you tight on cash.

 

[bassslayer25]

Couple of things for you to take note of.

1 we never had a 3.73 ratio offered, 3.55, super rare 3.92 and 4.10 in the ore trucks. No 3.73 ratio is offered in the aftermarket parts or anywhere else for that matter. Maybe for the 44 but not for the 9.25.

2 Cai don't do a thing for these trucks waste of cash, same goes for a tb spacer.

So op change gears to the tune of a grand or more, drop 5 hun on a tuner, or start to build a motor. Best is to stay with the small tires if you tight on cash.

CAI's look cool.

 

[NightMares]

Couple of things for you to take note of.

1 we never had a 3.73 ratio offered, 3.55, super rare 3.92 and 4.10 in the ore trucks. No 3.73 ratio is offered in the aftermarket parts or anywhere else for that matter. Maybe for the 44 but not for the 9.25.

2 Cai don't do a thing for these trucks waste of cash, same goes for a tb spacer.

So op change gears to the tune of a grand or more, drop 5 hun on a tuner, or start to build a motor. Best is to stay with the small tires if you tight on cash.

Note taken.

Regardless of gear ratios or cold air intakes, my point was for the tire difference you can't justify regearing it. 3.90's is worst than a 3.73 gear ratio, with 33" tires he'll be running higher rpm's than he would with 3.55 gears and 245 tires. Sounds like he does a lot of highway driving, he'll hate himself if he gears the truck without planning on a taller tire. For the cost to put 3.90's in the truck, there's better performance mods he can do to the motor that will benefit him more than doing gears.

 

[Johnn123]

I ran 4.10's with several different sizes. First was 275/70/17, worked well. Second was 315/75/16, not a good combo. Revs to high out of O/D and lugs to low in O/D. Third was 285/75/16, found that was a perfect combo with 4.10 gears.

 

[Merc225hp]

I have ran 3.92, 4.10 and 4.56. The taller the tire the lower the ratio is needed to bring it back to stock.

My favorite was or is 4.10 and a 315/75 r16 tire.

There are many things to be taken into fact before telling people what is good or bad for a gear ratio.

 

[NightMares]

I have ran 3.92, 4.10 and 4.56. The taller the tire the higher the ratio is needed to bring it back to stock.

My favorite was or is 4.10 and a 315/75 r16 tire.

There are many things to be taken into fact before telling people what is good or bad for a gear ratio.

You just said exactly what I was saying. Taller tire requires higher gear ratio. A 285 IMO is not a tall enough tire to justify a regear for TIRE HEIGHT ALONE. It's my opinion, feel free to disagree. That's what forums are for, to get help and people's opinions. He asked for our opinions, I gave it to him. I'm sorry if I was incorrect regarding gear ratio availability, but the available ratio is irrelevant to what I was saying. My point is there isn't a big enough difference in tire going from a 265/75r16 to a 285/75r16 to NEED to regear the truck for.

Yes, you can benefit from a regear going to 4.10's, hell I'm gearing to 4.56's while running 35's. My truck isn't driven on the highways as often, so it makes no difference to me as I rarely get over the 60 mile an hour mark. My point is if the only purpose for the regear was because he wants a 285 tire, then it's not worth spending that much money on it when there's cheaper options available that can be done to motor to compensate for the tire size increase. Would he benefit going to a 3.90 or 4.10? YES. It'll be a lot peppier in town, possibly better mileage in town, tow better, haul better, accelerate better, but highway would take a drag. It'll climb hills better, but if he doesn't travel on a ton of hills his mileage could decrease by running higher rpm's constantly.

Merc, I'm not here to fight or argue. I have a great deal of respect for you and the advice you give is awesome and I appreciate the information you've provided me with. I'll be the first to admit that I don't know everything about Dodge trucks, I'm still learning a lot about mine and this is the third 2nd gen ram I've owned over the course of my 12 years of driving, which may not sound like much to some but out of those 12 years I've been wrenching and building my own vehicles since before I could drive. I do have a fair amount of knowledge about gears, tires, and lifts. Doing it every day gets repetitive for me, and 3.73 gears are a constant thing I deal with in the Jeep world at work. I was unaware the 9.25 didn't accept that ratio. I apologize if at any time I came off defensive or agitated anyone, that is not nor ever will be my intention.

I'm here to learn and pass on what knowledge I have, even if I learn more than I can provide.

 

[fcreamer88]

I run down the highway 70miles a day, but evening and weekends are spent on my place. Anybody familiar with central texas landscape will understand my need for clearance. So far, the combo I'm running is good on the highway. maybe another 2" of lift will suffice. Why can't I have great MPG, off road capability, and looks good?!?! that last part was said in complete and utter sarcasm.

 

[Merc225hp]

I get 18mpg, she off roads very well and she still looks good in my op. So yea it's doable.

 

[MagSport]

I get 18mpg, she off roads very well and she still looks good in my op. So yea it's doable.

Is that kmpg?

 

[Johnn123]

Is that kmpg?

Kmpg?

 

[dapepper9]

Kmpg?

I think he mean kilometers per liter or something along those lines. Maybe a mix, kilometers per gallon lol

 

[Merc225hp]

No that's liters converted to us mpg.

 

[dodge dude94]

I know, I bout **** when he told me he triple checked it at 18 mpg.


3.55s running 285s is sluggish, it'll move but it takes it a bit.
If you run 3.92s or 4.10s it'll move much better, and possibly get better mpg if you keep your foot out of it.

I say better mpg because you won't have to stomp it to get the truck to kick down to 2nd in order to get up hills.

 

[Jrock2394]

1 we never had a 3.73 ratio offered, 3.55, super rare 3.92 and 4.10 in the ore trucks.

Didn't know 3.92s were rare. According to my build sheet that's what I have in my 96 RCSB.



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[dodge dude94]

Didn't know 3.92s were rare. According to my build sheet that's what I have in my 96 RCSB.



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My truck has every option but 3.92s and security.

 

[Jrock2394]

My truck has every option but 3.92s and security.

Had to cut out the leather wrapped wheel...couldn't stand it.


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