10' and up PW question.

[Cactus Red]

With some 4th Gen wheels for sale here on the board, I was curious to know if they are still true PW rims like those of the fabled yesteryear's. I know mine are a double bead seat, not ALCOA's like the early rims were, but they are still unique to the PW. The reason I question it, is that the Jeep Rubicons used to have a unique wheel too, and that's no longer the case.

So what say you?

[RustyPW]

Good question. Don't know.

[MOPARManiac]

I thought I read somewhere that they are not unique or special on the Gen 4 PW's. The wheels look pretty much the same as the Outdoorsman Model. I do like the look of them, but some aftermarket wheels would be nice.

[TwinStick]

Someone with a 10'-up will have to check when they get new tires. Take some detailed pics for us.

[Juday]

How would one go about checking this? Just take a picture of the wheel with the tire off?

[FirerescuePW]

Yep. There should be a lip or groove-looking area where the tire bead seats. This retains the bead when you air down for offroad use.

[Cactus Red]

Damn, that took a lot of searching, but I found a picture of a Jeep rim, but not a PW rim. Anyway, the bead seats on the '05 to '09 PW have very large double bead seats not unlike the one show. The old style TJ rim shown had larger ones inside and out than we do. The NHTSA mandated double bead seats a few years ago, but they are very shallow in comparison. The old TJ rims gave most tire shops fits - they are tough to break down. On the PW rim, the inside and outside bead seats are both similar in size, the mandated ones are quite shallow.

[Cactus Red]

Called the dealer...

Kinda went like this:

"Is that a 1500, 2500, or 3500 Power Wagon?"

It's a 2500, the Power Wagon is a unique truck that only comes as a 2500.

"Ok, Uh, I see a lot of options for it on wheels. Does it have 17', 18, or 20's?

No, it has a wheel specific to the Power Wagon. It's a 17". If you look at my VIN, it should specify that build. I'm trying to find out if a new Power Wagon has the same wheels as my '09 does.

"Well, with the list of wheels I see here, I really can't help you with out a VIN from a new truck"

OK, thanks...

Shocking I know...

...another dealer with parts monkeys that don't have a clue.

[04Ram2500Hemi]

Called the dealer...

Kinda went like this:

"Is that a 1500, 2500, or 3500 Power Wagon?"

It's a 2500, the Power Wagon is a unique truck that only comes as a 2500.

"Ok, Uh, I see a lot of options for it on wheels. Does it have 17', 18, or 20's?

No, it has a wheel specific to the Power Wagon. It's a 17". If you look at my VIN, it should specify that build. I'm trying to find out if a new Power Wagon has the same wheels as my '09 does.

"Well, with the list of wheels I see here, I really can't help you with out a VIN from a new truck"

OK, thanks...

Shocking I know...

...another dealer with parts monkeys that don't have a clue.

It's stories like this that make me thankful for my service department. So far I feel like I've been pretty lucky with the guys who work on my truck. I just hope they know what the Power Wagon is some day if it needs some sort of serious work.

[RAM4ROKS]

I'm curious to find this out as well, if they are PW specific then I will keep my stock rims for sure when I mount my 37s, if they are the same for all Rams, I may decide to get some aftermarket wheels.

[MOPARManiac]

Go to Ram.com and look at the wheels on the Power Wagon and wheels on the Outdoorsman, they are the same.

[myoung84]

Go to Ram.com and look at the wheels on the Power Wagon and wheels on the Outdoorsman, they are the same.

Here's a pic of a 2012 Outdoorsman. They are different wheels...

[MOPARManiac]

I don't know, all the Outdoorsman I have seen have wheels like the one below. They are just like the wheels on my Power Wagon.

[Dawizman]

My 2010 trx4 had the same wheels as the powerwagon, and they had a double bead. I didn't get to see, but I was told that the tire shop had a bit of fun putting new tires on them.

[coder]

The Power Wagon's 17x8 forged-aluminum wheels feature a modified wheel bead seat to increase tire bead surface area and bead retention under low tire-inflation pressures.

Alcoa manufactured these wheels in 2005 and maybe early 2006, they have been made overseas by other companies ever since.

For 3G trucks only the PW had these wheels, in 4G trucks they used them in 1 or 2 other 2500/3500 models but the wheels have basically remained unchanged.

[TwinStick]

I believe that you could order the PW rims separately, as its own option for certain years. May still be like that, IDK. That would also explain why non-PW's have them on, even though it is a new truck. Who would buy a new truck & then buy used rims to put on it ?

[bones]

.... Who would buy a new truck & then buy used rims to put on it ?

heh heh heh

Well actually.. I didn't "buy" old rims, but I did have them swap the "old" rims from my '12 PW onto the new '13 Laramie for simplicity sake of keeping my BFG M/T's and not having to wait around to unmount and remount 8 tires. So my old '12 PW has brand new rims and tires on it.

[coder]

I believe that you could order the PW rims separately, as its own option for certain years.

There was no factory option for PW wheels on other models, but there are other wheels that look very similar but don't have the bead retention lip inside.

This is from a 2008 Brochure wheel #8 is the PW wheel #9 and #10 look the same but aren't they are for other models.