Same circle. Same bore. Different number of holes.
There is a five-year window where Ram sold two completely different trucks, both badged 1500, at the same time, on the same lots. From 2019 through 2024 you could buy a Ram 1500 Classic, which is the previous truck carried over, or a Ram 1500, which is the new DT. They look related. They are not interchangeable.
What makes this worse than the usual overlap story is the specific way they differ.
| Truck | Years | Pattern | Bore | Thread |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4th gen (DS) | 2009-2018 | 5x139.7 | 77.8 mm | see below |
| 1500 Classic (DS) | 2019-2024 | 5x139.7 | 77.8 mm | M14 x 1.5 |
| 1500 (DT) | 2019+ | 6x139.7 | 77.8 mm | M14 x 1.5 |
| TRX (DT) | 2021-2024 | 6x139.7 | 77.8 mm | M14 x 1.5 |
Read that table again. The bolt circle is 139.7 mm on both. The hub bore is 77.8 mm on both. The only thing that differs is the lug count.
So a customer who does what we are all taught to do - measure the circle, measure the bore, match the numbers - gets the right answer to both questions and still orders the wrong wheels. Worse: because the circle and bore match, a five-lug Classic wheel will actually sit down on a DT hub and centre itself properly. It simply has one hole too few.
A year-make-model lookup cannot resolve a 2019 through 2024 Ram 1500. Nothing can, except counting the studs or looking at the grille.
How to tell which truck you have
Count the lug nuts. Five is a Classic, six is a DT. That is the whole test and it beats every other method.
If the truck is not in front of you, the DT has the taller, more upright grille with RAM spelled out across it, and the Classic carries the older crosshair-descended grille with the badge on the tailgate. But go and count the studs before you spend money.
Factory offsets
Five-lug trucks (2009-2018 and the 2019-2024 Classic):
| Wheel | Offset | Tire | Typical trim |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7Jx17 | ET25.4 | 265/70R17 | Tradesman, Express |
| 8Jx17 | ET25.4 | 275/70R17 | |
| 8Jx20 | ET19.05 | 275/60R20 | Big Horn, Laramie |
| 9Jx22 | ET19.05 | 285/45R22 | Limited |
Those two offsets are not arbitrary. ET25.4 is exactly one inch. ET19.05 is exactly three quarters of an inch. These are imperial-designed wheels wearing metric labels, which is a small thing that tells you a lot about how the truck was drawn. Anyone publishing "+25" and "+19" is rounding away Chrysler's actual design intent.
Six-lug DT factory offsets: we are not printing them. We could not get per-trim DT offset data from a source we trust. The one database retrieval we did get back was visibly corrupted - it returned the wrong bolt pattern entirely for the truck we asked about - and a number that arrives alongside a wrong number is not a number. This is the single largest gap in our Ram research and we would rather say so than fill it in.
What we can give you for a DT is what it left the factory wearing:
| Trim | Wheel | Tire | Approx. diameter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tradesman, Big Horn | 18 inch | 275/65R18 | 32.1 in |
| Sport, Laramie | 20 inch | 275/55R20 | 31.9 in |
| Limited, Longhorn | 22 inch | 285/45R22 | 32.1 in |
| Rebel | 18 inch | 275/70R18 | 33.2 in |
| TRX | 18 inch | 325/65R18 | 34.6 in |
| RHO (2025+) | 18 inch | 35 inch off-road | 35 in |
Note how flat the first three rows are. Ram held overall diameter at roughly 32 inches from the 18 to the 22, which is the same design discipline Toyota applies to the Tacoma: the wheel grows, the sidewall shrinks, the speedometer stays honest.
The stud thread question, which we cannot settle
Older Rams used an imperial 9/16-18 stud and modern ones use M14 x 1.5. Everyone agrees on that. Nobody agrees on when it changed.
| Source type | Claim |
|---|---|
| Retail fitment guide | Imperial through 2011, metric from 2012 |
| Parts retailer guide | Imperial through 2012, metric from 2013 |
| Aftermarket stud catalogue | Its 9/16-18 stud application list for the 1500 ends at 2008 |
Three sources, three answers, and the one we would normally trust most - the parts catalogue, because a stud application list is a physical fact rather than a copied table - contradicts both of the others. We could not find a second stud catalogue to break the tie.
So we are not printing a changeover year. If your Ram is anywhere between 2007 and 2013 and you are buying lug nuts, bring the truck or bring a nut. Thirty seconds with a thread gauge settles what an afternoon of reading cannot.
Tire sizes by lift height
| Setup | 4th gen and Classic | DT |
|---|---|---|
| Stock | 33 inch max | 33 inch (33x12.5R20) |
| Level | 33x12.5R20 reliably | 33 inch wide; narrow 35s possible with careful offset |
| 3 inch lift | 35x12.5R20 | 35x12.5R20 |
| 4 to 6 inch lift | 35 inch on wider wheels | 35 inch on 12 inch wide wheels |
This table is single-source and we are flagging it as such. The source itself hedges in a way we think is honest: a narrow 35, something like a 35x11.5, can work on a levelled DT with careful offset selection, but a full-width 35 pushes clearance without further work. That distinction between a 35 and a 35 is exactly the kind of thing that decides whether a build goes smoothly.
The TRX is not covered by any of the above. It has its own wide-body fenders, its own track width and its own geometry. Generic DT fitment advice does not transfer to it and we will not pretend otherwise.
Offset, and what the aftermarket is actually selling you
Factory Ram offsets run roughly +19 to +25. The aftermarket truck wheel market runs mostly from about -24 to +20. That is a shift of 40 to 50 mm outboard per side on a typical purchase.
What that buys is clearance - between the tire and the upper control arm, between the tire and the frame - which is what lets a bigger tire steer to full lock. What it costs is scrub radius, which grows close to one for one with the shift, and wheel bearing loading, because the load line from the contact patch moves outboard of where the bearing pair was designed to take it.
It is worth knowing that the visual result and the mechanical cost are the same thing. There is no version of pushing the wheel out that gets you the stance without the geometry change. A well-chosen wheel is kinder than a spacer of equivalent visual effect, because it can move the rim outward for tire clearance while keeping the tire centreline closer to stock - but the hub does not know how the wheel got where it is.
Coverage and BC
BC requires the tread to be covered by the fender or the flare. On a Ram this usually means that a significant offset change needs flares to go with it, and the factory flares on a Big Horn are not generous. Worth pricing at the same time as the wheels rather than discovering afterwards.
Torque
We are not publishing a Ram torque figure. The number in circulation comes from retail blogs, and one of them presents it as a range rather than a specification, which tells you it is not a specification. FCA gates its manuals behind a VIN login, so we could not reach a manufacturer document.
Use the placard in your door jamb. And re-torque at 100 kilometres - free, on anything we fit.
Wheels we can get
Both Ram patterns are well covered, but they are not the same catalogue and a listing that says "Ram 1500" without a lug count is a listing to be careful with.
- Black Rhino - available in both 5x139.7 and 6x139.7 and the broadest range we deal with. Our usual starting point on a levelled Ram.
- Fast HD - load-rated, sensible offsets, the right answer for a truck that works rather than poses.
- Level 8 - clean designs, good value, strong in 17 and 18 inch.
- Dirty Life - the lifted-truck look, mostly aggressive offsets. Check coverage first.
- RTX - practical winter-set wheels in both patterns.
The short version
- 2019 to 2024 Ram 1500 is two different trucks. Count the studs.
- Same 139.7 circle, same 77.8 bore, different lug count. The measurements will not save you.
- Classic offsets are exactly one inch and three quarters of an inch in disguise.
- We will not print DT per-trim offsets or a stud changeover year, because we could not source either one properly.
- The TRX is its own thing.
All specifications above are North American market only.
Confirm the fitment with us before you order. Give us the year, model and trim and tell us what tire you want to end up on, and we will tell you what has to happen to the truck to get there.
About SHC Auto
We have been fitting wheels and tires in Victoria since 1991, out of the same shop at 474 Bay Street. Alongside wheels and tires we do suspension and lift work, window tint, paint protection film, vinyl wraps, ceramic coating, paint correction and detailing, caliper painting, chrome delete, and vehicle graphics and signage. We also do the things most shops send out: curb rash repair and wheel refinishing, TPMS sensor supply and fitting, tint removal, and re-torque after install.
The catalogue on our website is a fraction of what we can actually order. We are an authorized dealer for more than three hundred aftermarket brands, and a good number of them never made it onto the site because there is no data feed for them. That includes most of the lift and levelling kit market. If you cannot find something, ask us rather than assuming we cannot get it.
SHC Autographx and Tires
474 Bay Street, Victoria, BC
Monday to Friday, 9:00 to 5:30. Closed weekends.
Free shipping anywhere on Vancouver Island.
Planning a build? Bring the truck by 474 Bay Street. It is much faster to look at what you have and tell you what it will take than to work it out over email.