Best for Alaska Hwy trip my OEM 20" rims or get 17" rims
MY TV is a 2007 Dodge Ram 1500 5.7 V8 with the 3.92 rear end, a camper top and I tow a 6000lb camper trailer. When we travel the truck is pretty close to it's 13K GCWR. The truck came with 20" rims and 275/60 R20 tires.
We towed from SC to the West Coast last summer running Cooper Discoverer HT Plus tires which have a load range of 119 XL. These tires towed very well but have worn out quickly and I had one rock puncture on a Colorado gravel road. Thus, while in Buena Vista, Colorado, I had a tire loaded with Fix-a-Flat but still loosing air and I needed a tire, yet there were no 20" tires to be found in my size in that small city. I had my spare so I got by, but the tire guy told me that the 20" rims were fairly rare in Colorado... So...
So I now need new tires....however, we are planning to drive the Alcan Hwy in 2018 and I am wondering if I need to sell these 20" wheels and go to 17" wheels (which was the Standard OEM size). My thinking is that the 17" rim gives me many more choices in tires, but also would make finding tires possible along the Alcan Hwy in Canada and in Alaska. I have read that finding less common sized tires along the Alcan Hwy is more difficult....has anyone had that problem?
I would appreciate any advice from you guys on this issue AND what tires you would recommend. Like I mentioned the 20" XL rated Coopers with the stiffer sidewalls towed very well, but I am told that XL tires are merely reinforced "P" rated tires...which could explain the puncture.... There are few tires in the 20" size with C, D, or E ratings. Should I look at "E" rated tires in 20" or go to 17".
ALSO, in your opinion, are "All Terrain" tires less prone to rock puncture than All Season tires?? Most of our trips stick to paved roads but on that last trip we traveled on gravel roads for a few hundred miles...and probably more in Alaska.
Thanks!!
We towed from SC to the West Coast last summer running Cooper Discoverer HT Plus tires which have a load range of 119 XL. These tires towed very well but have worn out quickly and I had one rock puncture on a Colorado gravel road. Thus, while in Buena Vista, Colorado, I had a tire loaded with Fix-a-Flat but still loosing air and I needed a tire, yet there were no 20" tires to be found in my size in that small city. I had my spare so I got by, but the tire guy told me that the 20" rims were fairly rare in Colorado... So...
So I now need new tires....however, we are planning to drive the Alcan Hwy in 2018 and I am wondering if I need to sell these 20" wheels and go to 17" wheels (which was the Standard OEM size). My thinking is that the 17" rim gives me many more choices in tires, but also would make finding tires possible along the Alcan Hwy in Canada and in Alaska. I have read that finding less common sized tires along the Alcan Hwy is more difficult....has anyone had that problem?
I would appreciate any advice from you guys on this issue AND what tires you would recommend. Like I mentioned the 20" XL rated Coopers with the stiffer sidewalls towed very well, but I am told that XL tires are merely reinforced "P" rated tires...which could explain the puncture.... There are few tires in the 20" size with C, D, or E ratings. Should I look at "E" rated tires in 20" or go to 17".
ALSO, in your opinion, are "All Terrain" tires less prone to rock puncture than All Season tires?? Most of our trips stick to paved roads but on that last trip we traveled on gravel roads for a few hundred miles...and probably more in Alaska.
Thanks!!
