Fitment Secrets: What Every Offset and Tire Size Looks Like On Your Ram, Ford, or GM HD Truck

Wheel offset refers to how far a wheel sticks out from the hub mounting surface of your truck. We like to use offset to refer to where a wheel sits, as it factors in both the width of the wheel and how the hub sits, which tells you where the actual lip of the wheel will sit. The more positive the number, the more tucked under the truck. The more negative, the more it will stick out.

Of course, that's only part of the picture since the tire you mount on that wheel also impacts where things will sit relative to the fender of the truck. It's easy to get overwhelmed trying to make the right choice for your truck. 

To make things easier to visualize, we took the time to mount both 37/12.5 and 37/13.5 tires on our 18x9 0 offset and +19 offset wheels so you can see EXACTLY what each setup looks like! Let's dig in to see what setup is best for you.

The final stance of your truck is all about mixing the right wheel offset/width with the right tire width for your goals. We like to think of the wheel spec as your baseline for stance, and then the tire width as the fine tuning from there. 

If you want a more "flush" with the fender stance on your RAM, Ford, or GM HD truck we recommend our +19 offset, 9" wide wheel spec.  If you want a wider "poke" fitment, then you can go with a 0 offset, 9" wide wheel spec. 

From there you can control things via the tire you pick. A 12.5" wide tire will add minimal width past the wheel lip, while a 13.5" wide tire will add considerable width past a 9" wide wheel. The tire itself also matters. For example, the Toyo RT trail shown sits pretty true to size with minimal side lugs sticking pas the tire. Something like the Nitto Ridge Grappler also pictured has larger, squared off side lugs that add visual width. You can take that to even more extreme comparing something like a mild Nitto Terra Grappler all terrain tire and a Toyo MT mud terrain. The all terrain will have minimal to no large side lugs, while the mud terrain will have large, aggressive side lugs that sit past the tire itself and add even more width. Let's take a look at what that translates to on the truck. 

The most conservative setup, +19 offset with a mild 37/12.5 tire will sit nice and flush with the truck, offer the least trimming possible, and be a classy overall setup. If you want a subtle look on your Ram, Ford or GM HD truck this is the way to go!

Taking things a bit wider, installing a 13.5 wide tire on a +19 offset 9" wide wheel fills out the fenders a bit more, gives a slight poke, and also makes the tire look visually larger. In this comparison we also moved from a Toyo RT Trail to a Nitto Ridge Grappler with larger side lugs, which exaggerates this difference.

If you felt like the +19 offset wheel and 37/12.5 tire looked too mild for your truck but you still want a more "flush" overall stance, this is a perfect happy medium! 

If you're looking to have the face and lip of the wheels sit a bit wider on the truck, that's where a 0 offset wheel comes into play. That pushes the whole wheel and tire combination out further, with poke from the fenders. 

The most mild version of this is going to be the setup shown with a 37/12.5 tire with a mild side lug like the Toyo RT Trail shown here. This setup will require pretty minimal trimming, but offers a wider overall look. 

If you're looking for an aggressive setup with some noticeable poke out from the side of the truck even with fender flares, we recommend a 0 offset wheel with 13.5" wide tires. In this combo, we also opted for the Nitto Ridge Grappler, which has larger side lugs to square off the tire and make it physically wider than the stated size. This is the most aggressive width combo we recommend for most level height HD Ram, Ford and GM trucks and balances looks with manageable trimming well. 

As you can see, the width of the wheel and tire also makes the setup look physically bigger, even though all of these combos use a 37" tall tire. 

If none of these options look big enough for your goals, enter 38s. With the size of these modern diesel trucks, it makes sense as the bodies are so large, a larger tire is what looks the most proportionate. Thankfully on the RAM and Ford platform, fitting a 38 with under 3" of lift is totally doable with some trimming, but on the GM HD platform 38s aren't a possibility until you go with 4" lift and taller. 

In these photos we have an 18x9 0 offset Foundation wheel combined with a 38/13.5/18 Nitto Ridge Grappler. This is going to be the widest, most aggressive stance we recommend for 3" lift and less, and offers a really proportional look with "stuffed" fender wells and a healthy amount of poke from the fenders. If you like functional yet aggressive look no further. 

On the left we have 37/12.5/18 Toyo RT Trail tires mounted on +19 offset 18x9 Foundation wheels. On the right we have 37/13.5/18 Nitto Ridge Grapplers mounted on the same wheel spec.

On the left we have 37/12.5/18 Toyo RT Trail tires mounted on 0 offset 18x9 Foundation wheels. On the right we have 37/13.5/18 Nitto Ridge Grapplers mounted on the same wheel spec.

Stance on a truck really comes down to personal preference on looks, but after a lot of mystery hopefully this helps to visualize exactly how your truck will sit on each spec.

We like to use wheel offset as your baseline factor for stance, and then tire size to fine tune from there. For example, +19 offset on a 9" wide wheel will set your base line flush stance, and you can then mix that with a 12.5 wide tire to stay fully flush, or a 13.5 wide tire to get a little extra width. If you want a wider stance, use a 0 offset wheel as your base, and then mix that with a 12.5" wide tire for a slight poke, or a 13.5 wide tire for a wider stance. 

As you can see, a +19 offset wheel with a 37/13.5/18 Nitto Ridge Grappler actually sits extremely close to where a 0 offset wheel with a 37/12.5/18 Toyo RT Trail sits, so there's a lot of wiggle room combining different brand and model tires on different wheel specs to help you achieve the exact look and stance you're hoping for. 

Have questions? Don't hesitate to reach out to us!