Hey guys, I'm close to buying a 97' 2500 and was wondering if any one knows what do i have to do to fit 35x12.5 on the 2nd gen dodges? If i can get away with no rubbing with a leveling kit i want to but im afraid it might rub too much. would a leveling kit take care of it? Or would i have to include the 2" body lift?

The problem with a leveling kit is it pulls the axle toward the cab but I believe it will fit 35's although it may rub at full lock. I wouldnt put a body lift on anything personally.

Ya i had a buddy tell me that leveling kits were hard on the front end but i dont understand why it would pull the axle towards the cab? I dont really like body lifts either but i know there a little cheaper than suspensions. is my best bet a 4"front and 2" back suspension lift? is something like that even available?

Anytime you raise the front up without a trackbar or control arm upgrade your gonna make the front axle closer to the cab and offset to one side or the other (cant remember which way it goes). Death wobble has been blamed largely on leveling kits too. If your using stock wheels then I bet you will be ok without a leveling kit but it may hit at full lock. I know if you use 3rd gen wheels then a 285/75/17 will fit and is just over 34 inches tall but only 11.50 wide.

The other problem that comes up is the fact you increase you drag coeffiency (more face in the wind) hence reduce your MPG's, then with larger tires you increase your rolling resistance (more tread face) and rotational mass (total weight per tire). This all in turn reduced MPG... I'm actually going the other direction look to reduce my height and/or thinking in the future of maybe going down another size in tire. But something to think about... http://forum.mopar1973man.com/showthread.php/1995-Change-tires!-235-85-R16-to-265-75-R16?highlight=tire

the axle does move closer to the cab because the trailing arms tying the axle to the frame are on the rear of the axle so when you increase the distance from the frame to the axle the angle of the trailing arms increase and pull the axle to the cab. this could be corrected with lengthening the trailing arms. the same rule applies to the steering linkage the distance to the steering box to the axle increases a dropped pitman arm helps correct this. now what will fit 4x4 dodges have great clearance from the axle to the fender stock however when turning larger tires begin hitting the trailing arms the only correcting of this is to decrease backspacing on the rims either by spacers or rim replacment, 35's rubbed the trailing arms on my truck but the hummer rims i installed reduced the backspacing by a inch and now i can turn my steering from lock to lock with no rub. all that to say this stock rims = a 33 inch max tire with no more of 10 inch width.

sorry its taken me so long. ok that makes sense... i have thought about the wind resistance but honestly i would give up 1 or 2 miles to the gallon for a truck that i can be really happy with the way it looks. so Koyote your saying that if i get the parts to strengthen and support the leveling kit it would be a safe route? and moparman would 2 inches make mileage drop noticeable? Thanks for the input

35's are pretty good sized. The key to good mileage is just going slow. I think you can still get some good numbers if you keep it at 55. Probably be more in the 23mpg range though, I get around 27 doing 55 with my tiny tires.

I tried the Walmart Liberator 285/75R-16's which were good tires for the dollar spent but they sucked off road and in mud. They were prone to punctures too. These were just shy of 33" tall and filled the wheel well pretty good but not like I wanted. My fuel economy actually went up with the larger diameter tire running empty and keeping my speed below 55 mph. Above this speed, fuel economy dropped like a Simonized piano. I later moved up to the BFG 295/75 All Terrain T/A KO's which are just about 33.5 maybe a scoesh more. They ride excellent, very quiet, great off road trails, and much better but not great in mud. They are also MUCH more puncture resistant although my wife just blew that theory last week. I have never had a flat with these tires but then again my wife has had 2 flat tires in 2 months or different vehicles. (I think it may be driver related in her case) :banghead: In fact, these tires are VERY stout and strong, I will have to say that I did have one flat but that was NOT my fault and the truck was parked. One of the local, backwoods, snaggle toothed, "Deliveranc Minded", *** boy, drug dealing, hillbillies shot up our house and hit my truck with a .45 caliber pistol. The bullet punctured the side wall but the tire contained the bullet and captured it. This inbred, hillbilly gayboy fired from about 35 yard away (I estimate). That speaks pretty highly of the strength of these tires. They do rub on the lower track bar at full turn but for 99% of driving it is not a problem or issue. The tires have many reviews in which folks have driven them as much as 80,000 miles. I have gotten very good tire wear out of them myself. When I finally do wear these tires out, I will buy another set just like them if they are still available but I think I will go the next size bigger to 315/75R-16.

I also had a set of the BFG at/ko and had them on 3 different vehicles. They arent very good off road at all but I used to take them rock crawling before I got my swampers. I put them through living HEdoubleL and they never tore a sidewall or got punctured anyway. I didnt like them because they held rockes bad and ate my shiny new rockers up on my new toyota.

I run a 2" level kit on my 3rd gen, and I don't think the wheel wells are too much different as far as tire fitment goes. I have run both 285/70/17 and now a 255/80/17. Both of them have enough room to run HD chains, so I can't see why a 35" tire wouldn't fit. There are also some 1" level kits out there, which don't effect axle placement as much, but still improve the looks and stance. I have debated about ditching the 2" for a 1", but like how high my bumper, oil pan, and winch (when installed) sit with the 2" so I'll probably keep it.

I have a friend with 315/75R16 Baja Claws with a 2.5 level kit and he gets a little rubbing on the back part of the fender on the passenger side when turning really sharp. I plan to get some 315s as well, just not sure which ones yet. With my 285s I get 18 MPG!!

I'd like to see some 2nd Gen 2500's with different tires sizes to evaluate. 265's 285's...305's and 315's

Here you go:

These are 285s!

Here is both 265 and 235 lets see if you can spot them...

are you running stock suspension Prowelder? I'm leaning to 285's myself, but I like to have a full wheelwell, even as hard as it is in a Ram.

are you running stock suspension Prowelder? I'm leaning to 285's myself, but I like to have a full wheelwell, even as hard as it is in a Ram.

The front has a 2" level kit and that is it. The rest is stock. I'm planning on going to 315s on my new set when I buy them. On the highway the larger tires should help drop the RPMs down a little so maybe they will help or maintain the MPGs.

Sorry to say it won't... The RPM's might drop but your adding more rotational mass, more rotational resistance (tread face is wider). Just shaving 22-25 pound of weight off the tires will gain you 1-2 MPG... So what you gain in getting the RPM's down you'll lose in the rotational mass and rotational resistance of the tires. You'll gain more by actually changing the gears... Think about it ricers tires weigh like 25-30 pounds... Mine weight 60 pounds... And I know 315 are pushing nearly 100 pounds... Now you'll say you can roll them round easy... Get a axle to stick on the hub and the turn the axle without a lever device and you'll find larger tires are hard to twist. But now do this with a lighter tire and you'll find it much easier.

Sorry to say it won't... The RPM's might drop but your adding more rotational mass, more rotational resistance (tread face is wider). Just shaving 22-25 pound of weight off the tires will gain you 1-2 MPG... So what you gain in getting the RPM's down you'll lose in the rotational mass and rotational resistance of the tires. You'll gain more by actually changing the gears... Think about it ricers tires weigh like 25-30 pounds... Mine weight 60 pounds... And I know 315 are pushing nearly 100 pounds... Now you'll say you can roll them round easy... Get a axle to stick on the hub and the turn the axle without a lever device and you'll find larger tires are hard to twist. But now do this with a lighter tire and you'll find it much easier.

Got something for you to chew on Mike... A lot of guys say their milage has improved on dually trucks when they added 22.5/ 19.5 wheels and tires... They weight more but help drop the RPMs... Just something to chew on, that's all. Really as long as I don't lose milage, I'm not worried about gaining any. But once you get the larger tire going, it doesn't stop as easily either. I run mostly highway so I'm mainly conserned when I get it wound up, unlike in town or short running.

True... I just tend to think about majority of people live in the city and do a lot of start and stop driving in town... This is where it goes down hill... But yeah your right once the vehicle is rolling and can keep it rolling you will gain or keep the MPG's but getting caught in heavy traffic it can bite back...

i have not been able to hit 20+MPG since i change the rears from 33x12.5r16.5 to 245x75r16. and those were some heavy beasts! but it lowered 60mph rpm.