2010 - 2013 Ram Power Wagon Wheel and Tire fitment Information

        When fitting aftermarket wheels and tires, choosing the correct combination makes all the difference. The main objective most of us will be after, is to fit larger than OEM size tires. Installing our most common suspension components and following our guide here, will help you fit the most common larger size tires, with the least amount of drama.

Read This Below Note, Before Continuing

     The below fitment information pertains to trucks with no lift, a Leveling Kit, our 3” lift system, etc, as they all clear the same size larger tire. That detail might surprise many reading this, but on these Ram Trucks a Leveling Kit does not make you clear bigger tires better than a bone stock truck. If you want to know more about this, there is more detailed reading about 5 paragraphs down….

Fitting 35” tires

     The stock Power Wagon off the Dealer lot comes with basically a 34”x11.5” tire. With the stock wheels, you can fit a 35”x12.5 wide tire with only possible mild rub at full steering lock, on the upper control arm. Add our High Clearance Control Arms and, and there will be no rub anywhere. Add +18mm to +25mm wheels, and there will be no rub on the OEM control arms, but you will need to trim the fender liner plastic a bit. Add our High Clearance Control Arms, and +18mm to +25mm offset wheels, and 35’s will clear everywhere with no rub or trimming needed.

Fitting 37” tires

     37’s fit a bone stock Power Wagon with just slight rub on the Upper Control arm and Swaybar at full steering lock, and just slight rub on the plastic fender liner. Add our Control arms and there will be no Control arm rub, and less will need to be trimmed off the fender liner. Add +18mm to +25mm wheels and now there will be no full steering lock rub, and the only trimming needed will be the plastic fender liner and the Metal Rocker Seam behind it.

Fitting larger than 37” tires

     We really don’t suggest this unless planning really heavy trimming, and this trimming may get into the outer fender painted surface, into the bumper, etc. 38”x13.5” tires would be the largest realistically possible, unless going full Fiberglass Fenders, then you can maybe squeeze in 40’s. You must also use all of our products intended to help you with clearance, and then stick to +18mm wheels so your rub at full steering lock is not terrible. Often times when being very aggressive off road, and running a 38” tire, the top of the tire can also even rub the top of the OEM wheel well opening. This is why 40’s would need glass fenders front and rear.

Rear Suspension And Clearing Larger Tires

     If you keep the un-modified OEM rear leaf springs, up to a 37” tire will clear just fine, unless driving very aggressively at high speed off-road. If you want to fit up to 38” tires and you want to drive hard off-road, you’d need our Long Travel leaf springs. Reason being, our Long Travel Leaf Springs move the axle back about ½” to give more clearance at the front side of the fender opening, to help the tire not contact there at full bottom out.

Quick Note On Wheel Offset limits

     Some people want to make their truck very wide. For many reasons, we do not suggest doing this. The OEM wheels on Ram Trucks generally sit between +57mm and +44mm Offset. Positive offset pulls the wheel closer to the center of the truck, where less positive or negative offset makes the truck wider. The sweet spot of +18mm to +25mm wheels makes the truck a little wider than stock to help the tires clear the suspension components when turned to full lock, but not so wide the tires wipe out the fenders. Going to a 0.00mm offset wheel would be the absolute widest we’ll be somewhat OK with, and even then it’s past the sweet spot, and you’re going to be stuck with 35” tires usually. The less positive offset the harder it will be to clear the fenders when turning, so if you want to run -44mm offset wheels, more power to you, but plan on 33” diameter tires at the largest.

The 3 inch lift Myth: 3 inches of Suspension Lift Equals More Tire Clearance

     The most common lift height for Dodge Ram Trucks falls within the 0-3 inch range, and a very common misconception is that 3” of lift or a Leveling Kit by itself makes you able to fit larger tires. Unless you plan to only drive in flat parking lots at slow speed, this is completely untrue. So to be clear, a leveling kit or even a properly built high end 3” lift alone, does NOT improve tire clearance. We’ll explain why below.

     When lifting a Ram Truck’s suspension up to 3” of height, you want to retain all the upward(bump) travel you possibly can. When designing our suspension systems, retaining this travel is arguably the most important factor, as total suspension travel is KING when it comes to ride quality and suspension performance. With that in mind, this means that when you hit a bump in the road, or say a curb cutting a bit tight into a driveway, as the suspension compresses the tire moves upward to the same position it would have been before you lifted the truck. It might take a bit more force to get as high into the fender because the truck IS taller than stock, but the suspension WILL bottom out to the same OEM stock position at some point in time. If you must drive slower and stay away from bumps so that these larger tires don’t rip your fenders out, what is the point in having a truck? We are a performance suspension company, and we want you to use all of the suspension.

     With the above data noted, If you do decide to lift your truck beyond the 3 inch height threshold, you will also be mandated to lower/drop your bump stops about 3” or more. Limiting travel for the drop brackets and additional components will allow you to install a larger tire size, because the suspension will not be compressing as far of a distance. Also note that going above a 3 inch lift height requires many more components, and they are much more complex systems to build properly.

Trimming, As A Means To An End

     We will never expect you to cut exterior metal fenders or painted surfaces, but trimming metal that sits inside of the outer body shell is fair game, and we consider trimming those small metal pieces completely normal steps to getting tires to clear. So, when someone asks us if much larger tires clear the fenders on these trucks, we advise that they do clear very well with a little work. This little bit of work might include trimming some normally hidden metal, often referred to as the Rocker Seam, Pinch Weld, etc, so be prepared that we consider this a normal part of the process.

     Another way to look at it… If you don’t want to trim anything, or nothing more than plastic, you need to stick to 35” tires. Most of the time nothing more than a sharp utility knife is needed to get the 35” tires to clear, if at all. If you are planning on 37’s, no matter what you do, you need to be OK with getting the SawZall out and cutting the noted metal. We recommend a long fine tooth blade mounted in a Sawzall to make quick work of the situation. Once the metal is trimmed, apply a bit of paint to seal the metal, and you’re ready to roll.

Using Offset To Measure Your Wheels, And The Advantage Of Using This Method

     The simple definition of what Wheel Offset is, is how far and what direction, the wheel’s mounting surface is shifted away from the tire’s centerline. When choosing what aftermarket wheels to purchase, using Wheel-Offset as the measuring technique, is much more foolproof compared to using wheel Back-Spacing. Reason being, we need to know exactly where the edges of the tire tread will be when turning. An 8 inch wide wheel size with +18 mm offset and a 12 inch wide wheel with +18mm offset, will both put the tire tread in the same exact position where that tread might contact your fender liner.

The Problem With Using Wheel Backspacing Data

     When it comes to assessing critical actual tire tread placement, wheel Back-Spacing specs are super difficult to use. An 8 inch wide wheel with 4.5” backspacing, vs a 10” wide wheel with 4.5” backspacing, makes the truck with the 10” wheels 2” wider on each side of the truck. This 4” truck width difference could be the difference between rubbing the fenders with 33” tires, or NOT rubbing the fenders with 37” tires. If the wheels you are considering purchasing are listed but Backspacing dimension, reach out to the manufacturer and try and get the Offset data to refer to, before you end up with the incorrect wheels needed.

Final Note, Regarding Pushing the Limits a bit.

     If you are ok putting in a little extra work regarding removing more plastic and trimming metal, also maybe a bumper corner, you can often push past this guide a slight bit and go more extreme with tire size and wheel offset. Meaning, if you want the truck a bit wider a 37”x13.5” tire could fit with a 0.00” Offset wheel, but you may be pushing the floor in a bit near the rocker to help things clear. If you are OK with more Control Arm and a little Swaybar rub, a 38”x13.5 tire can squeeze in ok with +18mm wheels, but there will be more rub when turning, and driving hard off road. This more pronounced rub is more than we would expect the average Joe will be OK with, but generally it won’t do any substantial damage to the truck. It’s just a bit annoying at times.