Uneducated second gen owner in need of help

[Kane4sythe]

I have asked questions on here before, but now as I have some money saved up I am ready to spend a little on my truck and have a question to ask, that will most likely lead to 100 other questions. To start off with, I have a 2001 24 valve that just hit 194000 miles. I bought the truck completely stock performance wise other than an edge comp box, and have done nothing to it since. The only issues with the truck that I know of is the transmission pan seems to have a leak, which I believe I can easily fix by replacing the gasket, and I have a broken sway at bushing, but I have asked about this before and some people on here have said that they completely removed their sway bar and have no issues and as I have been driving the truck for a few months with a broken bushing I am not very concerned about it, unless you guys think I should be. So enough with all the back ground, my main thing is: I’m tired of running these stock wheels, I want something a little different. I was think about going with 20x12 and possibly 305 50 tires. What I don’t want to do is anything to the truck. Is this an ok move or do you guys believe this is a completely stupid move to put these wheels and tires on my truck with 0 modifications to the truck and stock suspension and steering. I don’t want to do something that will ruin my truck but would also love to put these on my truck. If there is something that needs to be done in order to put these on my truck, what would you guys recommend doing first?

Thank you in advance, and recommendations and comments are much appreciated, and please keep in mind I have no experience with any sort of mechanics so this is all a learning experience, so if you do reply to me, expect many questions ?

Edited June 21, 2019 by JAG1

[98whitelightnin]

 We are a bunch of old farts, at least in our way of thinking and most of us run stock size wheels and tires

[IBMobile]

 

35 minutes ago, 98whitelightnin said:

                                                                    We are a bunch of old farts,

Save your money for parts you'll be needing like a new dash, heatercore, injectors, VP44, and on and on.   

[Kane4sythe]

46 minutes ago, 98whitelightnin said:

are a bunch of old farts, at least in our way of thinking and most of us run stock size wheels and tires

Oh my ?

5 minutes ago, IBMobile said:

Save your money for parts you'll be needing like a new dash, heatercore, injectors, VP44, and on and on.   

Dash is new, and I have a brand new raptor 4g lift pump. What problems occur with the heatercore and injectors?

[IBMobile]

Those were just some examples of things that go bad with trucks that are this old and have that many miles on them.  The heatercore will leak coolant and the injectors can be weak and worn out after 100k miles.  Let's not for get about front end work and transmission troubles that may or may not rear their ugly heads. 

[Kane4sythe]

13 minutes ago, IBMobile said:

Those were just some examples of things that go bad with trucks that are this old and have that many miles on them.  The heatercore will leak coolant and the injectors can be weak and worn out after 100k miles.  Let's not for get about front end work and transmission troubles that may or may not rear their ugly heads. 

Oh gotcha. I understand. I’m just tired of running stock wheels and want something new. I know there’s tons of issues that may arise and I am prepared for that, I just figure I’ll take it one day at a time and worry about those when the time comes.

[dripley]

I looked those tires up and was surprised to see they are not much different than the 265 75 16's. They are 1.6" wider which will put some more stress on the steering. 

 

Not much of a fan of the 20" wheels, but thats an old farts opinion. Yep there more of us here. But its your truck and you should dress it out as you see fit. 

 

Sway bar bushing easy to replace just do them both. Or you can run without it if you want. Mines off right now but will be going back soon enough. Drives empty fine.

 

Not really knowing what condition you truck is in hard to say what goes out when you are least expecting it. I'd keep a couple grand handy for unkowns.

[Kane4sythe]

1 hour ago, dripley said:

looked those tires up and was surprised to see they are not much different than the 265 75 16's. They are 1.6" wider which will put some more stress on the steering

I’m honestly confused with the tire measurements. Sometimes I’ll hear people say “33s” and other times I’ll see people say out three numbers like 300 50 20. What does all this mean? I’m pretty sure that the last number matches up with the diameter of the wheels, but past that I’m confused. Yeah, I have some money saved up strictly for the truck Incase something goes wrong, now I have a little extra and am ready to start doing some stuff to it. I just want some different wheels that add a little bit of width to the truck. Nothing too crazy, I just like the wide look.

[dripley]

I am not the best ot explain it but in a nut shell  the 305 is the width of the tire, the 50 is the depth of the sidewall, and the 20 is the rim size. If you google tire calculator there will be several places the you can compare tire sizes. I run 265 75 16's. Your 20's are just a touch bigger, 32 tall to mine that are 31.6 tall. The comparison calculator will show you that. The taller tire will throw you speedo off a little as in you will be going faster than it says.  The tires that stand proud of the fenders will throw what ever you drive thru onto the truck. Just a price you have to pay for the wider stance. the wheel offset will play into it to. The stock wheels are 6* offset I believe but cant remember whether it is positive or negative. My after market wheels are 0* offset and that pushes the wheels out about 1.25" further that stock. The 12's at 0* will push them out maybe 3.5" past the fender. So check the wheel offset unless you want them out there.

 

My old arse tells me to get the truck right first and then add the extras. But then again it aint my truck.

[Mopar1973Man]

31 minutes ago, Kane4sythe said:

Sometimes I’ll hear people say “33s”

When some one calls that is the total height of the tire. 

 

31 minutes ago, Kane4sythe said:

other times I’ll see people say out three numbers like 300 50 20.

3 numbers are...

 

mm measure across the tread, then the next number is percentage of the tread face in the side wall height, then third number is the wheel size in inch. 

 

Like I run 245/75 R16 tires. 

 

245mm (9.64567 inches) across the tread. Then 75% of 245mm is 183.75mm (7.23425197 inches tall), and 16 inch rim. 

 

https://tiresize.com/calculator/

 

 

[dripley]

yep what he said.

[Kane4sythe]

6 minutes ago, dripley said:

My old arse tells me to get the truck right first and then add the extras. But then again it aint my truck.

I completely agree with you. No point of having nice wheels and tires if the truck don’t run. I just don’t know what do do with the mechanical side, nothing seems to be wrong with it. I just wish there was a place I could take it to where they could do a run through and honestly tell me if there’s anything wrong with it. A little about my self, I’m 16 years old and have never been around any types of mechanics. For some unknown reason I fell in love with second gens and some how convinced my parents to help me out in getting one. I’ve been busting my butt working almost everyday of the week just so I have money for my truck. I finally have some set aside and just want to make it look a little nice. So as I’m sure you can imagine, this is a completely new world to me and I’m just trying to learn as much as I can.

[Mopar1973Man]

1 minute ago, Kane4sythe said:

I just wish there was a place I could take it to where they could do a run through and honestly tell me if there’s anything wrong with it

 

I'd gladly do that task. Just did that exact thing for a gent down in Parma, ID. Meet him for the first time and looked over his truck and gave him a task list to look into. Then next we'll start talking labor and what jobs I'll do. 

[Silverdodge]

Personally I run 35 12.5 17s with a -12 off set and like that look and also my best advice to u is not to do anything drastic like go huge injectors ect and also keep up on the maintenance and there good reliable trucks but remember when it goes down it will be expensive ?

[Mopar1973Man]

1 minute ago, Silverdodge said:

remember when it goes down it will be expensive ?

 

Yup. That is very true. Best to build in stages. Like other have suggested take care of the repairs first. Then do your upgrades. Best to build slow and in stages. 

[Silverdodge]

1 hour ago, Mopar1973Man said:

 

Yup. That is very true. Best to build in stages. Like other have suggested take care of the repairs first. Then do your upgrades. Best to build slow and in stages. 

Hell I went threw 2 rear ends in 2 months my other half was not happy about that one and also maintenance wise never ever ever ever buy the cheapest of anything 

Edited June 21, 2019 by Silverdodge

[Macarena Man]

Your truck came with 16" rims . . . run a 285 x 75R-16

The rims have the proper offset, etc. to give you decent wear on the front end/steering components.

20" rims are a little 'yupp-ish' . . . but, I'm another old guy.

Edited June 21, 2019 by Macarena Man

[JAG1]

There is quite a bit of things that need attention first that are in the article section. All mostly for reliability and the long haul. I love having two of these trucks that run so sweet by my hand and this site's help including some member in doing that. 

 

I'm very proud to have my two first gen trucks and so proud of the fact that they are old and yet run so nice. One needed a new vibration damper. After putting it on the weekend my plumber and neighbor were surprised how smooth my truck ran. It was the first comment they made when riding with me. I'm building a new home and had to have the bank inspector ride with me up to the job as the road was new and had rained a lot. She was a nice lady and she even noticed how nice it ran. Now that's a real lady that can tell that to me. I wanted to marry her after she said that, but I already have an angel at home.

[wil440]

4 hours ago, Silverdodge said:

Personally I run 35 12.5 17s with a -12 off set and like that look and also my best advice to u is not to do anything drastic like go huge injectors ect and also keep up on the maintenance and there good reliable trucks but remember when it goes down it will be expensive ?

That picture is ironic... a gen 2 sat below a mahoosive sign that just says AFFORDABLE    priceless 

[JAG1]

Now, if that was a newer Common Rail sittin' there I'd be rollin on the pavement.