Affordable Winter Wheels Setup: Ram 2363

[beyondgravity]

Well I finally took the time this holiday break to get my Ram 2363 wheels ready.

Sanded them at first by hand, got very sore quick haha. Then realized my hand sander worked for 95% of the wheel. The rest went rather quickly.

Picked up a "graphite" wheel spray paint from Amazon which turned out quite nice. I didn't prime or clearcoat since I didn't have the time/want to be bothered for wheels I'll use <5 times a year for a few days at a time.

Painted vs. sanded. Left one has about 2 coats. I did 3-4 at the end.

Came out quite nice. After driving a few hundred miles, they held up nicely even through some sandy areas. I'm still missing center caps. Need to figure out which ones fit. Anyone know?

I did splurge a bit and picked up the Badland jack from Harbor Freight. I had a 1.5 ton aluminum and a Pittsburg 2.5 ton that was slowly leaking fluid. So why not treat myself.

It was easy to see how out-of-shape I was since these wheels/tires are sooooo heavy. Luckily I had one of these wheel jack/dolly things to lift and line up the lugs. They're noticeably heavier than the OEM 22" setup.

One minor (maybe not so minor?) thing I noticed. Driver's side tires poke out a tiny bit more than the passenger side. I double checked and offsets for all wheels are the same (not staggered on the Ram). I wonder what it is.

This is same side (I wish I got a pic of the other side) but lifted up a bit since I was on an incline.

Anyone know why the tire would seem to poke out a bit more on one side?

Efficiency wasn't terrible. On normal roads, I don't really think I noticed anything. Even on a longer trip to the ski resort (sea level to 5000 feet), it seemed to be similar to what my 22s would be. I wasn't exactly driving fast though since I wanted to mainly test out the wheels. Didn't want them falling off .

Shop had them balanced/mounted on the wheels at only 30psi. I inflated them to about 53psi. Tires said max load pressure is 80psi. My little inflator took forever to get from 30 to 53 haha.

Had the lugs torqued to 120 ft/lbs. Checked after first drive and re-torqued. They loosened a tiny bit. Then after the long drive to/from ski resort, they didn't budge.

Some steering wheel shake, but it was "different". Shake due to bad balancing doesn't really go away when you hold the wheel. This one stopped as soon as you held it.

Tangential question: Is there a good place to put the badlands jack in R1S.

Well I finally took the time this holiday break to get my Ram 2363 wheels ready.

Sanded them at first by hand, got very sore quick haha. Then realized my hand sander worked for 95% of the wheel. The rest went rather quickly.

Picked up a "graphite" wheel spray paint from Amazon which turned out quite nice. I didn't prime or clearcoat since I didn't have the time/want to be bothered for wheels I'll use <5 times a year for a few days at a time.

Painted vs. sanded. Left one has about 2 coats. I did 3-4 at the end.

Came out quite nice. After driving a few hundred miles, they held up nicely even through some sandy areas. I'm still missing center caps. Need to figure out which ones fit. Anyone know?

I did splurge a bit and picked up the Badland jack from Harbor Freight. I had a 1.5 ton aluminum and a Pittsburg 2.5 ton that was slowly leaking fluid. So why not treat myself.

It was easy to see how out-of-shape I was since these wheels/tires are sooooo heavy. Luckily I had one of these wheel jack/dolly things to lift and line up the lugs. They're noticeably heavier than the OEM 22" setup.

One minor (maybe not so minor?) thing I noticed. Driver's side tires poke out a tiny bit more than the passenger side. I double checked and offsets for all wheels are the same (not staggered on the Ram). I wonder what it is.

This is same side (I wish I got a pic of the other side) but lifted up a bit since I was on an incline.

Anyone know why the tire would seem to poke out a bit more on one side?

Efficiency wasn't terrible. On normal roads, I don't really think I noticed anything. Even on a longer trip to the ski resort (sea level to 5000 feet), it seemed to be similar to what my 22s would be. I wasn't exactly driving fast though since I wanted to mainly test out the wheels. Didn't want them falling off .

Shop had them balanced/mounted on the wheels at only 30psi. I inflated them to about 53psi. Tires said max load pressure is 80psi. My little inflator took forever to get from 30 to 53 haha.

Had the lugs torqued to 120 ft/lbs. Checked after first drive and re-torqued. They loosened a tiny bit. Then after the long drive to/from ski resort, they didn't budge.

Some steering wheel shake, but it was "different". Shake due to bad balancing doesn't really go away when you hold the wheel. This one stopped as soon as you held it.

Tangential question: Is there a good place to keep the badlands Jack in R1S? I am planning to try out next spring:
VEVOR Air Hydraulic Bottle Jack 20Ton 10.4"-19.7" High Lift Pneumatic Bottle Jack Portable Auto Repairing Shop Tool for Vehicles Trucks Cars
https://www.walmart.com/ip/3499586447

would it work?

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[Riviot]

Response from the tech was that for any 20" wheels they need to be the same size tire as the 20" stock tire.

Seems like that tech was a stickler, in my experience Bellevue definitely isn't. That sucks.

In other words recommended I buy 275/65/20 snow tires and come back in.

Like you said, that's dumb. Makes me question the tech, I would escalate too the Lead and just point out overall diameter.

If you already had the OE 20s, then why did you get the 275/60/20 winters instead of 275/65/20?

Weight, availability, etc? Or to pair with other 33" diameter tires without having to switch UI?

I have 2 sets both at 33" now, one AS and one AT. I much prefer bringing my AT down an inch than bumping up my AS, better efficiencies.

 

[KRo]

Whelp, my R1T turned 1 year old (yesterday) … and cold weather is FINALLY in the forecast here in the PNW, so it was time to wrap up my 2363 project and get them installed.

I chose Falken Rubitrek Tires (275/60R20 115T) to put on my 2363s. They are an AT tire similar to the Wildpeak A/T3W, but have more road bias stability/efficiency with the longer center block, and are also 3PMSF rated for when that is needed in the mountains. Anyways, they fit the bill for how I drive, and on they went!

My R1T came with the 22” tires/wheels, so I chose this diameter to be just a hair larger than the 22s, but don’t have to get the vehicle recalibrated. Spray enameled the wheels glossy black, got out the family Cricut and made yellow Rivian logos for the center caps.

When swapping the wheels at my business’s warehouse, I did a once over on the drivetrain/suspension/etc and all looked in good order. Gave the calipers a good cleaning and made the swap.

Odometer is about 17.5k miles, rotated my 22s three times at 5k intervals… they are TOAST! ?. Was wearing through the wear marks…. Oops! ?

I also weighed the 22” wheel/tire combo vs the 2363/Rubitrek combo and came up with these results;

22” pirelli/wheels: 75.4 lbs (likely a bit light as there wasn’t much tread left)
20” 2363/Rubitrek: 87.2lbs

The new setup pokes out a little bit, but it actually looks WAY better than I thought some old Ram wheels would look. In person is better than photos. Drives great, and significantly lower road noise than the 22” tires. I realize they are still new, so time will tell.

Added some photos for those that are curious.

- Standard height, lowest height, lowest height full steering lock. No issue with any rubbing as it’s about the same diameter as I had!
- Lifetime Odo with efficiency data on the now toast 22”
- bald 22’s - lol
- couple random photos.

 

[zefram47]

Weight, availability, etc? Or to pair with other 33" diameter tires without having to switch UI?

I have 2 sets both at 33" now, one AS and one AT. I much prefer bringing my AT down an inch than bumping up my AS, better efficiencies.

No one who actually *needs* ATs would do this. By going down to 33s you lose 0.5" of ground clearance. I get that's why you wanted to do it, but that doesn't answer why SSteveEV wanted to drop down. Part of the point of in why folks would do the 60 series vs the 65 series is to stick with the same tire diameter as their OE wheelset so they don't have to get things reprogrammed by Rivian.

 

[Riviot]

No one who actually *needs* ATs would do this. By going down to 33s you lose 0.5" of ground clearance. I get that's why you wanted to do it, but that doesn't answer why SSteveEV wanted to drop down. Part of the point of in why folks would do the 60 series vs the 65 series is to stick with the same tire diameter as their OE wheelset so they don't have to get things reprogrammed by Rivian.

What defines an AT "need"? Forest service rangers and those living atop Mount Olympus? It's all about wants, and for me, I wanted 3PMSF with better all around performance than stock tires, including efficiency. That last bit requires smaller size for less weight.

We should be able to change diameter ourselves, but that's another discussion.

@KRo, great post! Why did YOU switch to 60?

 

[SSteveEV]

Weight, availability, etc? Or to pair with other 33" diameter tires without having to switch UI?

Spot on guesses, thanks for answering for me. Plan is to keep my ATs mounted for occasional use with a 20" snow for availability (both initially and in case of damage), comfort, range, and price. Have another 20" set planned for an AS or summer setup so 95% of the time I'll be on a 33" diameter with self changed seasonal swaps.

 

[KRo]

@KRo, great post! Why did YOU switch to 60?

Reasons for my change;

- cost (because not all of us have disposable incomes) Hence the use of some 2363 wheels vs getting something ‘nice’ or forged.
- not having to recalibrate the vehicle as I change them myself
- keeping most of my efficiency that I have on my 22s. I drive a fair amount, and I will commonly get close to my range in regional daily driving. Adding a charging stop between client appointments (I’m a contractor) would disrupt my schedule.
- keeping the sidewall shorter to have similar responsiveness that I enjoy on the 22’ wheels
- more aggressive tread for the driving conditions I sometimes encounter, but I’m typically 95% road with occasional rougher terrain. These are also winter tires for me and fit the bill for most PNW conditions I may encounter, but also remain a small enough diameter to use Z-chains if/when we get an ice storm, but don’t chew up the pavement when I don’t need studs.
- these also may be used for light trail conditions, but my vehicle doesn’t have the underbody shield, so I’m not likely to abuse it. A/S tires could suffer a bit in muddy or soft sand conditions, but I considered them.
- Keeping all of my ride height capabilities intact without any rubbing, especially as the 2363 wheels have significantly less offset.
- bigger tires add weight, and if I were in a location that I would really be using the capability that a larger tire can provide, I wouldn’t have had 22s in the first place.

That pretty much sums up the main points. I throughly enjoy NOT spending $400-$500/mo on fuel anymore (‘08 Tundra previously) … and the range I currently get in the R1T is actually MORE than my Tundra ever got on a tank of gas. ??‍

 

[Riviot]

That pretty much sums up the main points. I throughly enjoy NOT spending $400-$500/mo on fuel anymore (‘08 Tundra previously) … and the range I currently get in the R1T is actually MORE than my Tundra ever got on a tank of gas. ??‍

That's wild! I never even thought about "range" on my old Disco, but you got me mathing and I'm in the same boat, more range with the Rivian.

 

[shamoo]

Tangential question: Is there a good place to keep the badlands Jack in R1S? I am planning to try out next spring:
VEVOR Air Hydraulic Bottle Jack 20Ton 10.4"-19.7" High Lift Pneumatic Bottle Jack Portable Auto Repairing Shop Tool for Vehicles Trucks Cars
https://www.walmart.com/ip/3499586447

would it work?

I don't know about the Walmart one, but I think there's a Harbor Freight bottle jack that folks recommend. Keep in mind there's a small one and a larger one. You need the latter.

As for securing the Badlands jack in the vehicle, I'm sure you could. They sell 3rd party mounting plates and brackets for it (the kind that you can bolt to a truck bed floor). I'm sure you could whip something in the R1S. I don't know if it will fit under the floor/trunk space but it might since it is pretty large. Just wedge something in there too so it doesn't roll around.

The new setup pokes out a little bit, but it actually looks WAY better than I thought some old Ram wheels would look. In person is better than photos. Drives great, and significantly lower road noise than the 22” tires. I realize they are still new, so time will tell.

I'm not familiar with those tires, but I'm surprised anything is quieter than the factory 22"s. Mine were pretty quiet. In fact, I don't even think it crossed my mind it made any noise.

The KO2s are LOUD haha. A very significant humming at highway speed, or basically anything above 50mph. And I have like 50% tread or maybe even less at this point since I got them used.

 

[freshpow]

I'm late to the party and am just getting around to winter tires. I've had great experiences with Blizzaks in the past so am going with the Blizzak LTs. Would like to snag a pair of the Ram 2363s on the cheap but haven't had any luck yet. I'm going to mount the Blizzaks on the 20" Rivian AT rims for now but hopefully will be moving them to a set of 2363s in the near future. Any advice on which size Blizzak I should be getting? I ordered 275/65R20s to match the stock ATs, but are these going to rub when mounted on the 2363s? I've seen a lot of 275/60R20s referenced - is that a better fit?

 

[zefram47]

I'm late to the party and am just getting around to winter tires. I've had great experiences with Blizzaks in the past so am going with the Blizzak LTs. Would like to snag a pair of the Ram 2363s on the cheap but haven't had any luck yet. I'm going to mount the Blizzaks on the 20" Rivian AT rims for now but hopefully will be moving them to a set of 2363s in the near future. Any advice on which size Blizzak I should be getting? I ordered 275/65R20s to match the stock ATs, but are these going to rub when mounted on the 2363s? I've seen a lot of 275/60R20s referenced - is that a better fit?

Not sure where in Colorado you are, but I just swapped my Blizzaks onto the MSW wheels, so I have a set of the 2363s that I need to get rid of. They did not rub for me with 275/65/20 in Standard height, but they would rub going over bumps in Low. Seems like the folks that did the 275/60/20 haven't had issues, but with stock 20s that size would make your spedo more off.

Edit: For anyone seeing this now...sold them to freshpow.

 

[Riviot]

I ordered 275/65R20s to match the stock ATs, but are these going to rub when mounted on the 2363s? I've seen a lot of 275/60R20s referenced - is that a better fit?

If you don't want to change your computer, I'd stick with 65. Your trip meter will be off by 3% (take distance, speedometer, or efficiency and ÷1.03 for the truth). Rubbing? No more rubbing than the stock wheels, I'd get periodic rubbing in low and a lot in lowest with those. I still get some in low with 60s.

I went with 60s for better efficiency on my AS set and wanted my computer updated for better mileage and speedometer. Then my ATs came later and I liked the size so I stuck with it. You could do 21/22" wheels in the computer with 275/65R20 without issue, just multiply by 1.03.

 

[freshpow]

Not sure where in Colorado you are, but I just swapped my Blizzaks onto the MSW wheels, so I have a set of the 2363s that I need to get rid of. They did not rub for me with 275/65/20 in Standard height, but they would rub going over bumps in Low. Seems like the folks that did the 275/60/20 haven't had issues, but with stock 20s that size would make your spedo more off.

Thanks - PMd you on the wheels

 

[boborob]

All apologies if already discussed but I've been lurking for some 2363's for a while and haven't come up with anything. I see some auto scrap yards not too far away likely have some. Is this a terrible idea to poke around there? Is there unseen damage that would make it a sketchy buy even if things look alright to my eye? Thanks!

 

[mpw81]

All apologies if already discussed but I've been lurking for some 2363's for a while and haven't come up with anything. I see some auto scrap yards not too far away likely have some. Is this a terrible idea to poke around there? Is there unseen damage that would make it a sketchy buy even if things look alright to my eye? Thanks!

None of the junk yards in the north Denver/Arvada area had anything in December when I checked them all one Saturday. Could be new arrivals though. I didn't go out to the lots in Aurora/commerce city.

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