What To Look For When Buying The Best Tires For Dodge Ram 1500?
Buying parts for your truck ain’t no joke. Quality is key for confidence when driving a truck like the Dodge Ram 1500 with a load on the back.
Here are a few points to touch on when contemplating the purchase of your new tires:
Tire type
Remember, each of these models I’ve listed above has different submodels to help you dial in your driving style. Don’t buy mud-terrain tires if you mostly drive on the road, and vice versa with all-terrain tires.
Different companies name their tires for a specific purpose. Here are a few examples to give you a good idea:
- All-season all-terrain (hybrid-terrain)
All-season all-terrain tires typically have tread blocks designed like all-terrain tires. Still, you’ll notice that they’re closer together and sometimes have circumferential grooves for enhanced highway speed, performance, and comfort.
- All-terrain
All-terrain tires are made for mostly offroading, but they’re still a decent option for road driving.
- All-season
All-season tires are made for the highway. Most sedans and SUVs these days have all-season tires. These provide a quiet ride and smooth ride quality on the road compared to offroading tires.
- Mud-terrain/Rugged-terrain
Mud-terrain tires are the beefiest treads you can get, and they thrive on gnarly offroad conditions. Mud terrain tires reduce fuel economy because of their extra weight, and they also wear out much faster if driven excessively on the highway.
Year/Mileage Warranty
Mileage warranties are a safeguard for spending less money in the long run. Sure, you might pay significantly less on a cheap off-brand, but chances are they blow out on you way faster than a quality set would.
Read the fine print in the mileage warranty to be educated about your purchase and how to take advantage of the best deals through rebates, promos, etc.
3 Peak Snowflake
The 3 Peak Snowflake is always a good sign on tires because it means that they’re adequately designed for colder temperatures. This symbol doesn’t always mean that
Wheels included
Some of my most memorable times buying a new set of tires is when they came with a new set of wheels/rims mounted and balanced.
How Much Do Tires For Dodge Ram 1500 Cost?
Don’t spend any less than $150 per tire when buying brand new tires for your Dodge Ram 1500. And besides, this pickup truck is your baby—you don’t want to go hurting its feelings with some cheap tires.
Here’s about what you pay for:
Four New Tires
Four new Dodge Ram 1500 tires cost anywhere from ~$550-$1500 depending on what quality you choose, where you buy your tires (online is typically always cheaper), and who you have mount and balance them.
Two New Tires
Between $275-$750 is a good ballpark estimate of what you’ll pay for a brand new pair of Dodge Ram 1500 tires.
I recommend replacing truck tires in complete sets, but there are situations like getting a punctured tire that might inspire you to simply just replace two of the tires, and that’s okay.
Single Tire
Between $125-$325 for a single Dodge Ram 1500 tire. Don’t forget to pencil in shipping and installation costs.
Remember that some Dodge Ram 1500 are 4×4, so they’ll need their tires replaced in pairs. Don’t mess up that four-wheel-drive system by mismatching tires on the same axle.
What Tire Size Is Best For A Dodge Ram 1500?
There are a wide variety of tire sizes for the Dodge Ram 1500 considering they’ve been around since the 1980s.
You’ll see wheel diameters range between 16-inches on older models, and up to 22-inches on the newer models. As of right now, there are plenty of different Ram 1500 submodels (all with varying tire sizes), including:
- ST
- SLT
- SXT
- Sport
- TRX
- TRX4
- Laramie
How Long Should Your Dodge Ram 1500 Tires Last?
It depends on how you drive your truck tires. If you’re rallying the Baja or driving fast over rocks, they might blow out in a couple of laps. Luckily, the Ram 1500 is a quarter-ton truck—it looks heavier than it is.
On the other hand, if you drive conservatively off-road, keep your tire pressures inflated to spec, rotate the tires every 3-5 thousand miles and keep the suspension in good shape then your Dodge Ram 1500 tires should last for as long as the mileage warranty (or longer).
When To Replace Tires On Your Dodge Ram 1500?
Don’t drive on tires that are more than 10 years old (see the production date on the sidewall), and replace your offroading tires when the treads start to break apart.
The absolute lowest you should go is 2/32” (1.6 mm) on tread depths. I would replace truck tires far before the treads get that low though, to be safe.
Losing control is much easier in a big heavy truck, and having a tire blowout in a Dodge Ram 1500 is a bit more dangerous than in a regular sedan because it’s higher off the ground.
Does The Brand Matter For A Dodge Ram 1500 When Replacing Tires?
Yes, I like to pair American tires with American trucks because I think they’re built for each other. Brands like BFGoodrich and Goodyear have some of the sturdiest tires on the market to hold up against powerful trucks like the Dodge Ram 1500.
Some other decent tire brands to check for the Dodge Ram 1500 include Dueler H/L Alenza Plus, Firestone Destination, Cooper Discoverer, Goodyear Wrangler, Kumho Road Venture, Nitto Grapplers, etc.
Does the Year of Your Dodge Ram 1500 Matter When Buying New Tires?
Not necessarily, just make sure the wheels are in good shape as older wheels tend to have bends, cracks, chips, etc. that harm tire performance. It might even be a good idea to buy a new set of wheels for your new Dodge Ram 1500 tires (sometimes you can find really good deals).
What Are The Biggest Tires I Can Put On A Dodge Ram 1500?
I’d say somewhere around 35-inches without a suspension lift/upgrade. If you have stock Dodge Ram 1500 wheels, my best advice is to plug your truck’s info in on Tire Rack and let the system spit out a complete list of compatible tire sizes.