Stock tires on a ram 1500 - need two more or 4 different?

[gschindel]

Hi
I recently purchased a 2014 ram 1500 crew cab. It has new winter tires on it and came with what was left of the stock Goodyear Wrangler p275/60R20 2 plys rated at a max load of 2601 lbs. Two were just about completely worn. The other two have maybe 50% left. In the 33,000 Km that the original owner put on the truck I don't think he ever bothered to rotate.

I tow a 30' TT with a loaded up tongue of 800 lbs or so. Even with 4 in the truck and a couple of hundred misc pounds I should be fine on stock goodyears - shouldn't I? The truck weighs 5,552 lbs empty with the front at 3,150lb and the back at 2,402 - so says dodge. I've heard no from my local tire shop. They want to sell me 4 new heavier tires. All sales BS?

I'm planning on getting 2 new goodyears to go with the old - unless...

Thanks for your time.

[ScottG]

BillyW wrote:
I'd upgrade to LTs.

Me too and that comes from experience with putting lesser tires on a truck. LT's will make it handle much better with the trailer.
Oh and all the tires need to be the same OD for the 4WD so no, I would never just replace a couple of them.

[MitchF150]

With the 20" wheels, you won't find many "LT" tires that are less than an "E"rating.. There might be some "D" and even "C" out there.

I've seen the "XL" for eXtra Load tires too. That's what I'm going to shoot for when I need new tires for my F150 that has the OEM 20" wheels on it.

I'll be looking for a good A/T tire too.

Good luck!

Mitch

[bguy]

Go for the XL tires. Should give you a rating of 2998lb. Pick a tire you like and ride them all year.

[TurnThePage]

Plenty of All Terrain tires come with the snow flake. We average around 4' of snow annually. I run ATs year round without problem, as do most others around here that I know of.

[jus2shy]

The mountain snowflake symbol means a tire meets winter tire specifications. I personally like good year duratracs. They performed great on my f150 and I think they now make them for your sized tire in p metric.

[gschindel]

I think there is some difference between All Season and All Weather - not just a marketing ploy - not sure if the little snowflake symbol on the All Weathers make enough of a real life difference to keep me on icey roads though. Will keep asking
Thanks.

[geotex1]

gschindel wrote:
Thanks. All seasons are Ok in snow. Not so great on ice. That is what I used to use all year until I tried some real winter tires. I'll never use all season in the winters again. Least not in Alberta. I did hear though that All Weather tires are different than All Season and might be good enough on ice for some. Any experience?

I have essentially the same truck as my daily driver. Goodyears simply don't wear well, but road performance has been fine. It's not a tire I'd take off a good gravel road though.

Sounds like to me you have more unique needs given the climate you live in. If you need icy road performance, you are looking at a studded snow tire no matter how you slice it. So, having two sets of tires is really probably what you need as you seem to already know. So, given you will be spending good money on a set of snow tires for the winter season, I'd say stick with the two new matching Goodyears for the rest of the year driving if they satisfy your towing tasks OK. Further, there's really nil difference between an "all season" and an "all weather" characterization.

[coolbreeze01]

Here is a write up on several AT tires:

http://expeditionportal.com/where-the-rubber-meets-the-road/

[gschindel]

Thanks. All seasons are Ok in snow. Not so great on ice. That is what I used to use all year until I tried some real winter tires. I'll never use all season in the winters again. Least not in Alberta. I did hear though that All Weather tires are different than All Season and might be good enough on ice for some. Any experience?

[sh410]

If you have a 4 X 4, Then all tires need to be same size, age, type, brand.

[Bionic_Man]

Assuming your truck is 4x4 you can get away with all season tires year round.


That said, a true winter tire gets significantly better traction than an all season.

I run Blizzaks on my wife's 300c in the winter. That car would hardly move with all seasons in the snow. With the blizzaks it does about as well as the Grand Cherokee as long as the snow is not deep.

[gschindel]

Besides not seeming to last long, how else do the stock Wranglers suck?

[gschindel]

Buying 4 new would be nice especially for a 4x4 but selling the old ones for peanuts doesn't sound like a pleasant thought. I heard that pairing new Wranglers with the old shouldn't cause me any trouble. Least I hope not.

[natedog_37]

The stock tires suck. Get a better tire... trust me

Looks at the above and the cooper tire A/T

nittio R/T are nice just can't find any localy