OWL/RWL tires in 35x12.5x20 (or 295/65/20)?

[Grit dog]

Doing a little recon in case I see's a Black Friday tire deal pop up out of the depths of the supply chain issues and inflation....
New shoes for the square, once i get it painted, really after some sort of white letter tire that doesn't have a "tribal design" (LOL) sidewall monster mudder tread pattern. AKA, something somewhat period correct looking.
Tires going on white or black 20" steelies with OEM hubcaps, maybe trim rings too.
Ok with mudders but a good aggressive all-terrain would be a better choice for the eventual mall crawling and pavement pounding it will do..
Current list of possibilities that I think have some sort of white letters IN THAT SIZE:

NONE! Can't find any.

Red letter General Grabbers might look sick and appears they make 'em in that size.
But seems that size are all black letter tires, even some of the ones that generally are white letter (BFG AT/MT, Cooper Evolutions or STT Pro, Maxxis Bighorn like what's on it now ,good 80's "look").

Suggestions?
Thanks!

 

[BKING33]

Unfortunately almost all oversized 20" tires are black walls. The firestone destination xt is the only one I see with owl. Unfortunately almost all oversized tires are on back order. I sell tires at my job and it is horrible right now. If u can change rim size you might have more options with a 315/75R16.

 

[Grit dog]

@BKING33 thanks for the recommendation. Not a bad lookin tire, the XT. Do you know if the MT comes in white letter? I had 275 65 20s of those and they were black letter.
Not encouraging to hear your report, from someone in the business. But par for the course with everything else that is screwed up in the world!

 

[BKING33]

MT are a black wall. Yes I really hate this. No fun telling a customer I can't get what they want. I keep about 1000 tires in stock at work. I buy tires from about a dozen distributors and no one has what I need for stock orders sometimes.

 

[Catbox]

You may have to man up and just do it yourself at this point.

Google "tire white paint pen" and loads of options come up, like this one from Wallyworld...

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[RecklessWOT]

Generally larger rim diameter tires don't come with RWL/OWL. Typically it's not a popular style because most people that want 20s are going for a "flashy" look with brodozer wheels and sh!t and the white letters clash with big chrome spinners and stuff, the people that want a "period correct" look with chunky tires that have smooth sidewalls and white letters generally don't go for big huge wheels. Obviously not all people think like that, you and the big steelies are an exception, but the vast majority of people with bigger wheels just don't want that look, so they don't bother making them because it's not worth it to produce tires that only cater to a very small segment of the market.

Plus, the whole idea of the white letters is that it breaks up the plain look of a gigantic sidewall on a tire with a smaller rim diameter and adds a bit of style to what would otherwise just be a plain black boring chunk of rubber. If someone has big huge wheels, usually there's not enough sidewall to need to be dressed up. The big rim is the center of attention, why muddy it up with flashy white letters stretched around the thin rubber band that encircles all that metal? Unfortunately yeah those rubber stickers that get glued on or that tire paint in the previous post are generally your only option. Even in the picture though, look at that Audi wheel- it's all silver metal with barely any black rubber, it looks out of place having the white letters jammed in there as an afterthought. Granted even on a set of 20s having 35" tires would probably give you enough meat to fit some white letters in and not look silly like that Audi wheel does, but unfortunately having 20s automatically puts you in that market where there are not a lot of options for the look you're going for, because it's usually one or the other. In the world of big rims, the look you're going for kind of makes you the odd man out, almost everyone else with 20s either has their truck slammed on rubber bands or if it's lifted with big tires they just want those dumba$$ brodozer wheels and nobody puts RWLs on those.

 

[Grit dog]

You may have to man up and just do it yourself at this point.

Google "tire white paint pen" and loads of options come up, like this one from Wallyworld...

You must be registered for see images attach

LOL, I've never heard or even thought of the term "man up" and paint pen in the same sentence!
Just giving you a hard time...
That's a good idea. I may pick up one of them tire paint pens and white letter the mower tires and see how well it holds up. (Should have thought of that a couple months ago, with any luck, I'll only make one more round shredding leaves and park the mowers for the winter...)
I was thinking about the peel n stick ricer car tire stickers though.....for about 30 seconds, lol.

 

[Grit dog]

In the world of big rims, the look you're going for kind of makes you the odd man out, almost everyone else with 20s either has their truck slammed on rubber bands or if it's lifted with big tires they just want those dumba$$ brodozer wheels and nobody puts RWLs on those.

True story. Worst part will be if I do get that setup (the steelie dubs) and then think it looks stupid after dropping 3 grand+ on tires and wheels.
Which is another reason I'm thinking about this now. Not cheap in the first place, but Detroit Steel Wheels hasn't increased their prices in the last 2 years, yet at work I'm getting bent over to the tune of 20-50% steel price increases every time I turn around! Thinking about pulling the trigger on the wheels even though the truck has a few (hopefully) months to go yet before it's on the road again.

Trying to get the kid to help me decide what wheels he wants. Technically this will be "his" truck....ish. Fortunately he doesn't want brodozer wheelz, we already have one of those dumb looking things in the driveway (but I kinda like it....). And I'm still slightly torn between several different "period correct" or similar at least, types of wheels.

PS, first thing I'm gonna do once the truck is all back together is slap these wheels n tires on it for a photo op and then post it here on this forum right before lunch time so all you haterz lose your appetite and want to puke!

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[Grit dog]

^ Just know it will NEVER hit the road with those wheels on it, even if I did like the look. I'll have far too much time and effort into the paint job to beat the schitt out of it with tires that stick out 6" past the fenders!

 

[RecklessWOT]

LMAO that would literally bring me close to vomiting. For the love of god please don't do that even as a joke lol.

So hey, in all seriousness though, if you really feel this way:

Worst part will be if I do get that setup (the steelie dubs) and then think it looks stupid after dropping 3 grand+ on tires and wheels.
Which is another reason I'm thinking about this now. Not cheap in the first place, but Detroit Steel Wheels hasn't increased their prices in the last 2 years, yet at work I'm getting bent over to the tune of 20-50% steel price increases every time I turn around! Thinking about pulling the trigger on the wheels even though the truck has a few (hopefully) months to go yet before it's on the road again.

Then why are you still dead set on 20s, how did that become the magic number? I've heard a lot of people say that "oh there's not as many options available for smaller wheels, it's all about 20s now", but if the look you're going for is white letters, and 20s aren't offered with white letters, then it doesn't really matter that there are a hundred million tires to choose from that are 20s if none of them allow the look you want... If you want whites and can't get whites in 20s, how about 19s or 18s, hell even 17s? You're saying that you're afraid of spending 3 grad and ending up thinking it looks stupid, but honestly from whayt you say it probably is going to end up looking slightly more stupid than you hoped with 20s on it... I'm not saying "everyone must stay with 15s or 16.5s because the bible says so" lol, as nice as that would be, the only reason I like smaller wheels is because they allow the same "period correct" look that you also seem to like. But if the big wheels you were looking at won't even give you the look you were hoping for, then maybe you were wrong to think about 20s? I'm not trying to tell you what to do, but even your own post seems to contradict your supposed desire for 20s. Slightly smaller wheels will be cheaper, and have the potential to open up a lot more options for the look you want whereas the 20s ony offer different brands/tread designs that don't allow the look you want and cost a ton more. I'm not saying you must stick with 15" rallyes or anything like that, but it sure seems like you won't be as happy with 20s. Maybe don't get so dead set on that one size and just keep an open mind to what else is out there that you will enjoy on your truck.

You say you're building the truck for your kid, and who knows maybe your kid said "dad I want 20s", but seriously when I was 16/17 I wanted mirror tints, big flashy wheels, and blue racing buckets in my pickup. I was paying for most of it myself and asked for a few parts as birthday/christmas gifts or whatever, but thank god my father had good sense and said fcuk no to that type of stuff. Nothing wrong with going a little more modern but don't ruin the truck.

Also FWIW, I know a lot of people build trucks for their sons and that is super cool, I wish my dad had done that for me. But I also know I would have destroyed all the old man's work in the matter of a few months. We're talking about a teenager here, he's gonna do burnouts and jump it over stuff and spill drinks on the seats, etc. If you want to build a cool truck and let him drive it sometimes that's cool, but don't pour your soul and hard earned savings into a truck that you're just gonna turn over to a kid that will probably just put it in the ditch. Doesn't matter how well you raised him or how you hope he will act, young men are morons every last one of them, don't be shocked if he messes the thing up in a timely manner...

 

[77 K20]

Discount Tire Direct website lets you search with a raised white letter criteria.

In a 35x12.50r20 was :
-Firestone Destination X/T
-Milestar Patagonia MT
-Gladiator X Comp A/T

BFG also makes "glue on rubber raised colored letters". Can get raised white outline, raised solid white letters, and a red/white/blue color scheme. Spendy though... but looks cool. I saw some SEMA show trucks with them (mounted with them facing inward)

BFG "stickers"

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[Grit dog]

@RecklessWOT
Nice post man! I appreciate all the advice and opinion. I do.
Yeah you’re right. He might wreck it. Upside is, an old Chevy truck is cheaper and easier to fix than virtually any other vehicle, lol.
Gotta give credit where it’s due though. He, and his older brother, both are very good and attentive drivers. (And they both been driving anything with wheels skis or a prop since they could reach the pedals or start them. )

Im not all in on any option yet. Haven’t broke out the ole Amex yet, lol.

 

[Grit dog]

Looks like Mopar is having a buy 3 get 1 free sale through the end of the month. Kinda makes it like “normal” prices for 4 tires.

Now the pressure’s on!

 

[John-Ryan]

Cooper has a rwl in their atp3..have a set of 275/65 20 on my ram 1500..they measure out to 34.5x 11.50 and E rated. BUT they are an ugly tread that won't fit a square so nevermind, lol

 

[Grit dog]

@John-Ryan , haha yeah those tires are fugly.