Best Winter Wheels for 2019-2024 Ram 1500: Weld vs MTX

A second set of winter wheels is the smartest money a 2019–2024 Ram 1500 owner can spend before the first freeze. Mounting dedicated winter tires on their own wheels keeps road salt and brine off your factory or summer rims, lets you swap seasons in your driveway in under an hour, and — with the right diameter — adds the tire sidewall that soaks up frozen potholes and bites into snow. This guide compares the two best-value winter wheel lines we stock for the fifth-generation (DT) Ram 1500, Weld Off-Road and MTX, with Vossen as the premium step-up, so you can match a wheel to your truck’s exact 6x139.7 fitment and your budget.

Why run a dedicated winter wheel set on a Ram 1500?

A separate winter wheel-and-tire set protects your expensive wheels and gives you better cold-weather grip for about the cost of one tow out of a ditch. Road salt and calcium-chloride brine are brutally corrosive; they pit chrome, bubble clearcoat, and seize lug seats over a single Northern winter. Dedicating a cheaper, powder-finished alloy such as the Weld Ridge or an MTX to winter duty means your factory 20s or summer wheels spend January in the garage, not in the salt.

There is a performance payoff too. Winter tires are a legally separate compound engineered to stay pliable below 45°F, and mounting them on their own wheels means a 10-minute seasonal swap instead of a shop appointment to dismount and rebalance twice a year. Going down a size — from a factory 20-inch to a 17- or 18-inch winter wheel — adds sidewall that cushions frozen expansion joints and lets the tread squirm into packed snow. That is exactly why our top pick is a 17-inch wheel.

Weld Off-Road vs MTX: the head-to-head

Weld Off-Road wins on construction and winter-ready sizing; MTX wins on 20-inch style for the dollar. The Weld Ridge is a flow-formed monoblock — Weld rotary-forges the barrel so it ends up stronger and lighter than a comparable fully-cast wheel — and it comes in a 17x9 that no one else in this group offers, which is the ideal winter diameter. MTX’s Gangstar and Phantom 6 are cast 20-inch wheels with aggressive, modern faces and gloss-black finishes that look the part on a lifted or leveled DT, usually for only a little more than the entry Weld. Vossen’s HFX-6 is the premium, deep-concave option for owners who want show-wheel looks that can still take a winter tire.

The winter wheels we compared for the 2019–2024 Ram 1500

The Weld Ridge 17x9 is the winter wheel we would bolt to our own DT. Dropping to a 17-inch diameter from the factory 18- to 20-inch rim opens up tall-sidewall winter tire sizes like 265/70R17 that ride softer on frozen roads and resist sidewall damage from hidden ice ruts. The ET-12 offset and 9-inch width push the tire out for a planted, slightly aggressive stance without needing a lift, and the simulated-beadlock satin-black face hides brake dust and salt film. It is also the lowest price in this comparison — around $312 a wheel — so a full set of four stays well under the cost of a single factory TRX wheel.

The MTX Gangstar is the value play for owners who want to keep the factory 20-inch look through winter. Its conservative +18mm offset sits close to the DT’s factory geometry, so a 275/60R20 winter tire tucks cleanly under the fender without rubbing on a stock-height truck, and the gloss-black split-spoke face is an easy match for blacked-out Rebel and Big Horn Night Edition trims. At roughly $345 a wheel it is only a little more than the entry Weld, and the 20-inch diameter means you can reuse a winter tire size close to your factory setup.

The MTX Phantom 6 is for the owner who wants stance over subtlety. Its 20x10 width and -18mm offset push the wheel well outboard for a deep-lip, flush-to-proud look, which fills the arches on a leveled DT. That aggressive geometry does come with winter caveats: expect to run a narrower winter tire, confirm clearance at full steering lock, and plan on wider fender coverage so you are not blasting slush down the side of the truck. At about $388 it is the most dramatic-looking wheel of the group while still sitting comfortably in the budget-friendly range.

Prefer Weld’s strength but want to keep the factory 20-inch diameter? The Ridge 20x9 is the same flow-formed, rotary-forged construction in a taller size with a ET0 (zero) offset for a flush, modern stance. It is the pick if you plan to run the same winter wheel year-round as a tougher replacement for a bent or curbed factory rim, rather than swapping seasonally. At around $422 a wheel it slots between the MTX options and the premium Vossen while carrying the most proven off-road wheel name in the group.

The Vossen HFX-6 is the premium step-up for owners who refuse to let “winter wheel” mean “ugly wheel.” Its Hybrid Forged construction and super-deep concave face deliver show-car looks in an 18-inch size that still accepts a tall, grippy winter tire — the sweet spot of style and cold-weather sidewall. At around $575 a wheel it costs the most here, but it is still a fraction of a full forged setup and fits the broadest year range, covering both the DT and earlier Ram 1500s on the 6-lug pattern. Confirm your truck is the 6-lug model before ordering.

Fitment: make sure they bolt to your DT, not the Classic

Every wheel in this guide fits the fifth-generation (DT) Ram 1500, which uses a 6x139.7mm (6x5.5-inch) bolt pattern, a 77.8mm center bore, and M14 x 1.5 lug threads. The critical catch is that Ram sold two different trucks side by side: the new-body DT and the older-body Ram 1500 Classic. The Classic is the previous fourth-generation truck and uses a 5-lug 5x139.7 pattern, so none of these 6-lug wheels will bolt to it. Check your truck: six lug nuts per wheel means the DT and these wheels are a match.

One more detail: these wheels are machined with a 106.1mm center bore, which is larger than the DT’s 77.8mm hub. That is normal for multi-fit truck wheels — they are designed to center on the lug seats — but we recommend adding a set of 77.8mm hub-centric rings to eliminate any chance of cold-weather steering-wheel vibration. NLP Performance can include the correct rings with your order.

What size and offset should you run in winter?

For pure winter performance, a 17- or 18-inch wheel beats a 20-inch wheel every time. A smaller-diameter wheel carries a taller tire sidewall, and sidewall is what absorbs frozen potholes, protects the rim from ice-rut impacts, and lets the tread flex into packed snow. Tall winter tire sizes such as 265/70R17 and 275/65R18 are also cheaper and far more plentiful than 20-inch winter options, so a 17- or 18-inch set like the Weld Ridge 17x9 or Vossen HFX-6 18x9 lowers the total cost of your winter package. Factory DT offset is about +19mm; staying near that number (the MTX Gangstar’s +18mm is closest) keeps the tire tucked, while the aggressive negative-offset Phantom 6 trades some winter practicality for a bolder stance.