Tires and lift nowledge please

[shadetreevanman]

My buddy is running Weldtec's 5" lift kit on his Express Extended. Their kit uses a 3" spindle, 2" coil spacer in front. He put 285/70R17s on it and had to cut back the fender to prevent rubbing.


I went with just the 2" coil spacers on mine. 265/70R17s and did not have to cut the fender. No rubbing at all.


Besides the obvious difference in lift and tires is the offset of the rims. His aftermarket rims put the tire further out than my stock 2009 truck takoffs.

BTW, both of us run the Hellwig sway bar in the rear and will will never own another van without one. I just ran some twisty highway up by Ojai in mine and it has very little noticeable lean in the curves.

[marret]

As Whit said, you have a suspension lift.

What is the height of your front wheel well?

My front wheel well is 40.5 inches.

I have 8.5" wide wheels, but am not sure of backspacing or offset, but I think 0/4.75.

I don't think calipers will be an issue.

[WhitH]

I like seeing this GM action, good stuff. Calipers shouldn’t be an issue as Marret said. And yes, if you try and go up to a 285x70x17 you’ll likely need some trimming. I did a bit but not too bad. The body mount also will likely need some.

[wvuboy44]

Originally Posted by WhitH

I didn't measure it from the beginning so its hard to know. Mine is a 4x4 with torsion bar front end so I just have re-indexed keys/levers. I'd guess I'm about 3" lift. My front wheel wells sit around 39.5" off the ground at the top right now.

I'm at 40", too. I read somewhere stock is offset +28. If I understand offset, your 0 have u poking out any? Was your 0 to avoid rubbing suspension on inside of well without poking too much? And do I need to worry about leaving room anywhere for offroad purposes (6-8" ledges)? I'll chill out now on bugging ya. Thanks very much, Whit

[wvuboy44]

Originally Posted by marret

As Whit said, you have a suspension lift.

What is the height of your front wheel well?

My front wheel well is 40.5 inches.

I have 8.5" wide wheels, but am not sure of backspacing or offset, but I think 0/4.75.

I don't think calipers will be an issue.

Thanks, marret. I'm at 40". Seems like I can fit 2757017 with some trimming if I get a wheel with 0 offset, 4 backspace. I'll see if there dealer will throw 1 on for me to test. Those mini fenders are back ordered. I may do a hatchet job on that area for now and then pretty up later with the fender... If that's doable. Thanks for your knowledge

[wvuboy44]

Yeah, shade, those 2657017s seem to be a popular choice for no trimming on a 3" Lift. I'm gonna try and squeeze another half inch of ground clearance by trimming with 2857017s with 0 offset... Cool on the swaybar. Thanks!

[WhitH]

I went 0 offset because I tend to like my tire and wheel to sit pretty even with the fenders. These do stick out, but only a small amount. Initially I had some with a lot of negative offset and they just stuck out too much and they rubbed the fender a lot.

[marret]

I had more rubbing on the plastic fender liner with the wheel turned and deflection. There was a raised area in the plastic that I flattened using heat.

If needed you could then trim the rear part of the fender.

[WhitH]

Yep, they are pretty easy to Dremel or grind away a bit and they are fiberglass I think or a composite of some sort so they don't rust.

[wvuboy44]

One more question... IF stock offset is +28, and I'm going from 9.6" wide stock tire to 11.2" (1.5" wider), which would stick out .75" more???, would that then require moving the larger tire in .75", or about 20mm, which would mean the original +26 going to 46, which I've never heard of and is not the 0 marret has or the +10 a tire shop suggested. I don't want more than 1 inch poke and would prefer flush if that doesn't hit un trimmable stuff on the inside. Again, thanks for any schooling