Top 10 Best Tires for Ram 1500: 2024 Pickup Truck Test

Lauded as one of the most powerful pickup truck lines, the Dodge Ram 1500 has skyrocketed in sales for decades. However, customer feedback in certain regards seems quite mixed due to the significant quality variations in the tire types installed. 

That explains why browsing through options carefully to single out the best tires for Dodge Ram 1500 is important; none of its upgrades and feature highlights would work in your favor if assisted by incompetent tires. Scroll through our guides for 10 promising recommendations based on actual testing.

A. How to Choose The Best Tires for Dodge Ram 1500

1. Understanding The Dodge Ram 1500

Dodge Ram 1500 is a pickup truck primarily tailored for paved surfaces (e.g., highways) and on-road rides. Hence, you should choose tire models that promote striking balances between daily traction and comfort, with decent clawing actions to handle light snow or thicker gravel. 

The light truck is equipped with the 4×4 (four-wheel-drive system), aided by higher ground clearance to handle off-road surfaces like rugged dirt trails or muddy conditions. Aggressive tires with sturdy groove/sipe combinations, extra in-built block features, and even stone ejectors will be welcomed; and if you want optimal off-road performances without sacrificing comfort and noise control, there are also premium tire models for such preferences.

Still, note that the Ram 1500 still lacks the required flexibility for extremely rugged terrains, so off-road max traction tires should be out of the question. Pickup trucks like these also receive quite negative feedback regarding high-speed, sporty performances (especially when loading heavy cargo), so do not opt for specialized performance tires during your browsing.

Ram 1500 has a towing capacity of roughly 2000 lbs, so remember to settle for tires with a load index of 99 onwards (unless you have very low demands regarding this criterion). With so much extra weight, the truck tends to struggle to pull or park within tight spaces, so it’s better to look for tire models with flexible, wide rolling ranges sensitive to small steering changes along the way.

2. Choosing The Right Tire For Your Ram 1500

Ram 1500 has both significant advantages and disadvantages, so it might be quite tough to cater to those design features while putting your priorities above all else. Weigh up your driving needs and budget carefully before settling for one of the following tire types:

Highway All-Season

Do you mostly engage in highway rides? Then tire models tailored for smooth highway experience will be your best friends, delivering excellent traction while lending sufficient attention to steering and cornering. Pricing ranges vary depending on your riding quality preferences; the more cushioned they are, the higher they will charge.

Crossover/SUV Touring All-Season

If you opt for grippy traction while towing moderate cargo loads, these crossover/SUV tires should do. Like highway tires, they also offer good traction and decent composure across wet and snow weather – though the exact price will depend on the brand and your requirements for riding comfort.

c. All-Terrain

As the name suggests, all-terrain tires aim to balance on/off-road qualities with decent riding comfort and noise control. Opt for on-road AT tires if casual drives are still your priority at the end of the day. Off-road AT tires, on the other hand, lean further towards off-road demands (with good to acceptable on-road manners, depending on the pricing). 

Have a tight budget and low driving demands on both terrains? Then commercial AT tires will be an excellent choice, though you should note that their performances and overall comfort might not be on the same level as their on-road/off-road AT counterparts.

Winter 

Winter tires are the obvious choice if your Ram 1500 is mostly used in snow or has to travel through tough, snowy conditions. While most of these tires are not recommended for summer usage, there are still some exceptions (and, of course, at a very high price). Set your preferences straight to ensure your budget is well-spent.

B. How Did We Test and Pick The Best Tires for Dodge Ram 1500

196+ best-selling tires were put to rigorous summer and winter tests (and an extra off-road test for all-terrain tires). 

The follow-up shortlist was then narrowed down further as we installed their 275/65R18 tire size versions on our Ram 1500 Big Horn (latest update), whose performances were ranked in order based on both our team’s scores and customer feedback. From there, we singled out the best ten performers that made their way to the top of the entire list.

C. Best All-Season Tires for Ram 1500

1. Michelin Defender LTX M/S

Best uses: dry and wet conditions below 10 inches,  highways, mountain passes, canyon roads, moderate snow traveling, light off-road gravel dirt and rock

Michelin Defender lives up to its premium pricing with excellent and confident stability across most dry summer highways, even when we enter rugged surfaces around mountain passes and canyon roads. The 3D Active Sipes took no time settling into the road patterns while establishing pronounced contact points under the contact patch, trampling down all possible drifting symptoms before they worsened. 

You should be able to experience gentle, sweeping cuts at regular driving rates with only minor over-reactions through accelerations. Cornering attempts are as delightful as straight-line ones, thanks to the weaving lateral channels and solid on-center ribs that keep wavering at a pleasant minimum. Understeering/oversteering incidents lurk around at times but are far from dangerous; hence, even beginners can regain the car’s momentum in only seconds.

Most of this aggression was retained well in wet weather, save for infrequent hydroplaning in water beyond 10 inches. And even in those situations, the worst we experienced was only faint protests that could be controlled with pronounced push-pull force. 

You can see its lateral grooves and open channels translate into wintry conditions with excellent reliability for a non-snow tire – enjoying punctual steering feedback and clean-cut strikes that always stay within safe, predictable territories. Sure, it will get twice more sure-footed with snow chains, but you can travel without them just fine. 

Once moving to off-road dirt, the car is a crowd-pleaser with its capable MaxTouch Construction and wide shoulders, easily plowing through gravel with decent composure and no requirements for extra steering force. Better yet, through gentler graveled paths with no twisty sections, you can even enjoy the same smooth, cushioned feel as in dry road conditions and little to no tread noises!

Sand and rock performances are more or less similarly tamed. Still, it is a pity that the Defender’s heavy drags on the mud are slightly more obvious than on other terrains, especially considering the well-designed channels and sipes.

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2. Firestone Destination LE3

Best uses: dry and wet paved roads and highways, light dirt and gravel, moderate snow depths, towing, long rides

With critically acclaimed full-depth features and optimized tread patterns, the Destination LE3 proved its class-leading status right after the first few bites into our highway ride: the grooves embraced road patterns so nicely that traction losses were barely noticeable in the grand scheme. 

Tire drags only lurk (very faintly) around the flanks at higher speeds than 55 MPH and keep themselves pleasantly lowkey at any other numbers, paving the way for high-level towing tasks of 1500 to 2000 lbs around straight-line and tight cornering attempts alike. Intentional late braking mid-entries might be slightly riskier for beginners but 100% doable for any driver with average steering skills, so chances of unexpectedly plummeting off the liner are low.

The tire also behaves well on slippery surfaces and moderate puddles (2 to 7 inches). Although occasional stutters cannot be helped on graded surfaces, Destination LE3 conveniently keeps slippage within limits by distributing water well under the sidewalls using even tire rolls and capable HydroGrip Tech. 

We could also observe most of these sharp anti-aquaplaning edges when moving to snow terrains; aside from the pronounced coughs under increased snow volumes, it does not lose entire contact with the road textures and still distributes snow/delivers accurate input when necessary, resulting in better overall control and more solid footings on steep ascents. Icy roads give the Dodge Ram more difficulties – but overall, they still play to your favor at driving rates below 30 MPH. 

On another note, the tire falls slightly below expectations regarding off-road performance. While its tread grooves still react well to light gravel trails and gentle sand/smooth rocks, there is a notable lurk in deep pit mud that could have been quite disconcerting if you have no prior experience.

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3. Goodyear Wrangler Workhorse HT

Best uses: Highways (even with sharp turns), heavy loading, straight-line roads in wet weather, moderate snow, long rides with comfort, towing

Goodyear Wrangler rises above most of its Goodyear siblings on paved highways, owing its power to the aggressive shoulders and impressively unwavering ribs that stay unfazed by rough steering inputs and sharp-degree turns. Aided by the quick-witted yet aligning steering feedback, you can load your cargo up to 2000 lbs while navigating through roadblocks in breezy strikes free of drags and extended delays.

In rainy seasons, Goodyear Wrangler admittedly struggles with water distribution and footing stability at twisted, flooded corners and through zigzag switchbacks. Fortunately, thanks to the well-placed biting edges and four circumferential grooves, Wrangler Workhouse still composes itself well on straight-line roads (in both shallow and deep water) while recovering from understeering/oversteering at a decent speed.

There is not much to complain about Workhouse’s impact handling on-road; each thud lands snugly onto its designated spot, well-padded to the point that you can not even hear much road noises under the patch in abrupt accelerations.

Unfortunately, Goodyear must address the tire’s snow and off-road performance: it is decent/tolerable on snow and off-road dirt below 35 MPH but struggles significantly in the rest. On deep mud clays with textured patterns, your heavy Ram 1500 might take several minutes to wriggle itself out of the mess.

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4. Pirelli Scorpion WeatherActive

Best uses: heavy loading, highways, paved roads, moderate water, all winter terrains, towing, budget choice

One of the best all-rounders from Pirelli, Scorpion WeatherActive impresses right at first glance with the stable 3-rib designs and strongly-blended compounds, whose combined power translates powerfully onto daily drivings. We managed all basic driving situations (with occasional sharp turns and correction skids thrown in between) without extra steering or harder braking than required. Plus, given the controlled tire drags that growed fainter the longer the ride, our team could load cargo up to 1500 lbs without much hassle.

We were also pleased with WeatherActive’s sure-footed reactions in wet weather, which was only slightly behind its own dry performance when the Ram navigated ascents and wet bridges. Other than that, all its feature highlights in dry seasons are repeated here, assisted by the well-designed trumpet-shaped grooves that give intrusive rainwater no room to enter deep into the sipes.

For a non-winter tire, Scorpion is impressively stable and consistent across all winter terrains, even without snow chains; and given driving rates below 40 MPH, you will not find any traction differences during texture terrains (snow to ice or vice versa). 

Needless to say, with such unprecedented flexibility, Scorpion handles road impacts very well while keeping tread noises mostly under control. Treadwear rates are also class-leading, though we do wish for slightly better integrity when dealing with overheating roads and highly spirited rolls through rugged textures. 

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5. Bridgestone Alenza AS Ultra

Best uses: dry roads with dynamic curves, summer rains, short winter traveling, warm/cool weather, light towing tasks

It only takes Alenza AS Ultra a few brief initial shudders (that are barely noticeable) before the grooves and stable biting edges sink completely onto the roads at 40 MPH. Your Dodge Ram should adapt well to sharp steering inputs and even occasional chokes at dynamic curves without putting itself at severe risks, allowing sufficient margins for you to experiment with late brakings, close liners, and deeper dives at cargo of 1000 to 1500 lbs.

Thanks to the stable, well-adapting cornering ribs and aligning steering feedback, Alenza AS Ultra continues to shine in rainfall and has no trouble retaining its major footings in deep and shallow water alike. Hydroplaning issues seem a bit unpredictable in colder temperatures, but you can consider the infrequent slippage trivial in longer, more extended rides. 

Alenza is decent in light snow and generally rideable on deep snow and ice. Sure, the plummeting on ascents might be borderline annoying for fresh beginners, but given that it is a non-winter tire at quite a low price, these drawbacks are to be expected. 

What might put you off, however, is the overall riding quality: noises were low-key but occur quite often at 50 MPH onwards, and the tire jostles grow painfully more obvious if quick turns and zigzag switchbacks are involved.

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D. Best All-Terrain Tires for Ram 1500 

6. Vredestein Pinza AT

Best uses: dry roads with tight corners, asphalt roads, deep water, off-road dirt/sand/rock, all snow terrains, descents, long rides, long-term uses, light towing tasks

Vredestein employs multi-pitch patterns and aggressive shoulder elements for its Pinza AT, which worked extremely well during our dry-road test rides. Stutters mostly occur when the steering wheel slackens (not that it happens often) or from tight approach angles and remain low-key in any other situation so that you can navigate texture transitions and graded surfaces in nice, breezy cuts without much effort. 

Its slightly rougher sidewall elements also bond well with the asphalt and speed chokes, so you can perform the gentle and smooth pulls before lane changes and after hard braking. Deep stagnant water and flowing currents could hardly do anything to deter this confidence; aside from more evident jostles with cargos beyond 1200 lbs, we could not detect any major slippage or hydroplaning issues worth mentioning. 

Winter traction is a total delight – if not even slightly better than on regular wet surfaces at moderate depth below 5 inches – thanks to the large zigzag grooves delivering excellent clawing bites. And as an on-road AT tire, Pinza did its part on off-road terrains, keeping our Ram delightfully on track at any driving rate below 55 MPH (below 45 for mud). Better yet, providing well-prepared angles and light cargo of 400-500 lbs, we tackled tight corners, chicanes, and even blind curves with little to no drama.

Such capable performances tend to go with less-than-stellar riding comfort; but Pinza pleases you or even the pickiest truck driver with tamed noises and very subtle impact handling. Slightly more unpredictable jostles could be observed on ascents, but its extremely quick recoveries just seconds after easily compensate for that drawback.

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7. Yokohama Geolandar A/T G015

Best uses: dry roads, wild skids on-road, complex on-road curves, water around 7 inches, medium snow depth, off-road dirt and rock

This Yokohama representative leaves little room for complaints on straight-line dry roads, utilizing excellent cross-rotation treads and deep sipes/grooves combination for optimal footprints rarely seen in middle pricing ranges like this one. Basic driving situations aside, you can even manage abrupt chokes, 180-degree wild skids, or deep steering near blind curves to avoid collisions with decent control forces. As a result, Geolandar A/T G015 is quite generous with its towing loads, easily managing up to 1500 lbs in breezy 40 to 55 MPH.

While high-spirited cornering should still be approached with better strategic moves, the on-center rib stays strong enough against steering/road fluctuations – and hence, accompanying the Ram 1500 well into wet weather with only minor hydroplaning issues at deeper water beyond 7 inches. 

Its anti-hydroplaning grooves also carry themselves well into light snow, too, resulting in slightly wavering yet stable clawing into paved snowy roads without snow chains. Traction losses seem more notable in deep snow and get twice as obvious in ice – but overall, they still know their boundaries to avoid plugging the Ram 1500 into true danger. 

In off-road strikes, Geolandar G015 reaches its peak behaviors on gravel dirt: its clawing actions are quite similar to those on light snow, with a few accentuations here and there to gum the footings tighter onto the texture. Sand and rock are also pretty easy to handle, only throwing the Ram into real slippage around too-tight crooks or unplanned turns. 

On another note, mud traction is definitely G015’s weakest point: the tire composes itself well on straight-line roads, but any slightest signal of low-angled leans or heavier cargo than 600 lbs sends a flurry of jitters down its way. The screeching cornering noises (on all terrains, not just mud) and lackluster integrity against cold weather must also be addressed.

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8. Cooper Discoverer S/T Maxx

Best uses: all off-road terrains (dirt, sand, mud, rock), basic driving situations, gentle corners, well-paved snow, smooth on-road pavements

Cooper arms this Discoverer S/T Maxx model with numerous off-road features, notably the stone ejectors, open block edges, and in-block sipes that push the traction level to new heights while keeping off-road damage at bay. 

No wonder this commercial tire is a total delight on off-the-beaten paths (even more so than some on-/off-road AT tires), clutching their grips through constant steering changes so well that Ram 1500 almost does not falter once through casual straight-line rides on gravel trails. 

Rock textures bond well with the tread grooves like they belong, and loose terrains seemed delightfully smoothened down when we kept things civilized at 40 MPH. Better yet, given that your cargo is not beyond 500 lbs, Ram 1500 will retain relatively the same road grip through any texture transition (rock to sand, sand to mud, etc.), giving you incredible edges in severe weather and storms!

While its on-road performance (both in dry and wet weather) might not be as dept due to the significant hydroplaning and notable lack of steering stability, Cooper Discoverer S/T Maxx can still keep decent reactions through beginner-level navigating, ascending, or non-challenging cornerings with little to no fuss. 

What takes most of the score away, however, is the major vibrations over road cracks and equally horrible tread noises, worsened by the evident tread dents over sharp debris that make this tire an uncertain contender regarding long usage.

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9. Sumitomo Encounter AT

Best uses: off-road dirt/rock, light sand, all straight-line on-road surfaces, gentle corners, light/deep snow, budget choice

This reputed off-road tire lives up to expectations on off-road terrains; the stepped edges, open shoulders, and zigzag sipes do a spectacular job keeping the tire on its ground on textured, gritty surfaces (seen often in rock) or thick gravel clusters at deeper corners. 

The Ram 1500 could afford 40-55 MPH with little to no difficulty, and we managed to rev past 65 MPH when all passengers and cargo were removed entirely. Hard brakings might result in a few overreactions during ascents, but you can trust the tire to work just fine with light/moderate brakings that leave no room for redundant skidding. 

Loose terrains also play within safe territories, thanks to the intricately designed channels that distribute clutches and sand particles well – while spreading tire rolls over wide footprints to maximize full road connections. We could drive over 45 MPH (over 40 for mud) with a little jostle through chicanes, but that is likely the only occasion you need to worry about possible traction losses; keep your rides below those numbers, and the Ram is good to go. 

With such impressive off-road composure, Sumitomo Encounter AT clearly leaves nothing to worry about once you return to regular on-road terrains; on well-paved surfaces, each contact point strikes so powerfully that even a minimal flick of the wrist is enough to bring in instant steering feedback. Hydroplaning and snow slippage are also well-controlled, aided by consistent cushioned feels that grow more stable the longer the ride.

For an off-road tire, Sumitomo Encounter’s treadwear rates are very impressive despite temperature extremes, and its budget-friendly range is another huge bonus. Our complaints only lie in the unpredictable squeaks in slippery/wet weather and pronounced wavers during mid-corner accelerations. 

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E. Best Winter/Snow Tire For Ram 1500

10. Bridgestone Blizzak DM-V2

Best uses: all winter terrains, straight on-road endeavors, moderate water, seasonal usage

Blizzak is undoubtedly a wintertime superstar. While its traction peak still occurs mostly on light snowy roads below 5 inches, deeper snow and ice seem to pose not that much of an issue, either – evident in the powerful cuts and cornering aggression that stays resilient despite snow chains.

Icy traction falters slightly compared to snow but is still very competitive at 40-45 MPH. That means if you travel across all winter terrains (light snow/ deep snow/ice) within this speed range, the Blizzak will behave the same from the beginning to the end of the entire trip!

Its on-road behaviors are also very reliable for a winter tire, undeterred by road bumps and large cracks (as often seen even in standard touring tires). Still, we would love to see more refinement in its dry cornering stability, and the tire’s admittedly weakening belts in extreme weather temperatures should make you think twice about using it for extended trips once winter is over.

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Conclusion

While one cannot deny Ram 1500’s innovative and updated designs, whether they translate well to actual practices depends on your chosen tires.

Keep your needs and budget in mind while browsing through our suggested top 10 of the best tires for Ram 1500, and feel free to navigate detailed reports of each tire mentioned here (uploaded on our website) for a more inclusive overview.