2004 Silverado HD expedition project

[fastring]

My 2cents:

- Flats: It was the tires. I will only run BFG 3ply sides from now on, period.
- Rim Size: Not enough wall like others said, the 16" gives me more sidewall.
- Thin v Narrow: for me, its tire cost and MPGs. My truck is only for the desert and such (I have other cars for daily driving) but still, its a long drive to those places and even 1MPG when you are only getting 10 to 12 adds up. Biggest concern is tire cost. BFGs at 235/85/16 are cheap and are load range E.
- Steel v Alloy: I can hammer out steel and make it keep a bead, alloy cracks. That said, the H2 rims did well. I drove without a tire (just on the rim for ~30 miles and the rim held the bead once I got a new tire).

So, one flat at San Felipe 250 prerun. The weekend after the SF250, I got 2 flats on the Mojave trail...

 

[boellis87]

I'm a BFG fan myself. Load range E should definitely do the trick. Price and mpg's sound like as good criteria as any as long as you remember that you typically get what you pay for--enter the BFGs. I've got 54,000 miles on a set of MTs with probably 15% left on all but one; it wore funny during one overly long period between rotations. I agree on your point with the steel vs. aluminum wheels, although aluminum has it's advantages too. I just went with a set of steelies for my truck, but dang they're heavy (probably would kill the mpg advantage of a skinny tire, but I guess it's not bad to at least break even).

 

[bomar]

If you keep the 17's then look at the nitto terra grappler or dura grappler in the 285/75/17 size. I run it on my diesel 4runner and I love the tire size and the nitto.

It is great in all types of terrain.

 

[Lesspavedrds]

I am running h2 wheels and tires on an 03 silver ado crew cab short bed with fabtech 6 in lift. I actually dropped from 35x 12.5 bfgs to the more narrow hummer set up because my lift makes the spindles stick out more so the tires were about 3.5 in wider than the fenders. The look was ok but any water on the road or mud that you drive through ends up on the windows. If you get tacky mud it tended to land on the hood and roof.

Just something to consider that I wish I woulda thought about before spending the moola on wider wheels and tires.
:bigbossHL:

 

[john101477]

That black 4 door is one of the sweetest full size I have seen. Not a chevy fan but that's slick.
I am not a wide tire fan either. I like a 10.5 personally. 34x10.5 is probably my fave but hard to find. I am the oposite of most here as I will not buy BFG. I like toyo's I run them on my NPR for hwy. I use the toyo MT for my toyota and the dodge magnum roles on proxies. I do agree with those saying the 16 in rim is the way to go for 4x4. Sure makes a heck of a difference in a f250. The stock king ranch wheels vs 16 in stealies makes a huge difference in ride

 

[bobcat charlie]

I'm running 315/70/17 BFG AT's on Hummer H2 rims on my 8000# Ram and love them. The bead retaining lip is much more pronounced on the H2 rims than on the stock Dodge rims. I drop to 12#'s without fear of popping a bead. I popped the bead 3 times at 15#'s on the stock rims. I got better than 65K miles on my first set of 5 BGF AT's and I am at 71K on the current set of 6 tires. An easy 15K left, used ballance beads in this set and rotate every 6K.

 

[alexrex20]

old thread, not sure if the OP is still looking for tires, but i'll chime in anyway.

i have an 06 2500HD with a 3in lift and i'm running 315/70-17 BFG ATs on Hummer H2 wheels. i think the wheels look great on my truck, and they're so easy to find. just imagine how many H2s have aftermarket wheels, and you'll know why it's so easy to find a set of these wheels at the used tire shops. it's also real easy to find used 35in BFG ATs.

the OP has a 2.5in lift on his 2500HD. even if it's "only" the 6.0HO, the 35in tires will hardly affect performance and fuel economy. they will fit, with maybe the smallest bit of trimming on the rubber air dam below the bumper, and you might have to play with the soft inner fender liners. but a 2500HD looks great on 35s with minimal lift.

 

[SilveradoHD]

That black 4 door is one of the sweetest full size I have seen. Not a chevy fan but that's slick.
I am not a wide tire fan either. I like a 10.5 personally. 34x10.5 is probably my fave but hard to find. I am the oposite of most here as I will not buy BFG. I like toyo's I run them on my NPR for hwy. I use the toyo MT for my toyota and the dodge magnum roles on proxies. I do agree with those saying the 16 in rim is the way to go for 4x4. Sure makes a heck of a difference in a f250. The stock king ranch wheels vs 16 in stealies makes a huge difference in ride

I have looked at the Toyo M/T's cut worry about wear and the affect on my MPG. I drive the truck to work every day, and will have to drive a lot of highway miles to do any exploration camping. Sorry for my late reply, I have been putting in a lot of hours.

 

[SilveradoHD]

old thread, not sure if the OP is still looking for tires, but i'll chime in anyway.

i have an 06 2500HD with a 3in lift and i'm running 315/70-17 BFG ATs on Hummer H2 wheels. i think the wheels look great on my truck, and they're so easy to find. just imagine how many H2s have aftermarket wheels, and you'll know why it's so easy to find a set of these wheels at the used tire shops. it's also real easy to find used 35in BFG ATs.

the OP has a 2.5in lift on his 2500HD. even if it's "only" the 6.0HO, the 35in tires will hardly affect performance and fuel economy. they will fit, with maybe the smallest bit of trimming on the rubber air dam below the bumper, and you might have to play with the soft inner fender liners. but a 2500HD looks great on 35s with minimal lift.

Thanks for the info. I bought the H2 wheels without tires because I was worries about rubbing in rough terrain. Do you have any problems with that and what lift are you running? The tires are easy to find and it would simplify things a lot.

 

[RR1]

If you keep the 17's then look at the nitto terra grappler or dura grappler in the 285/75/17 size. I run it on my diesel 4runner and I love the tire size and the nitto.

It is great in all types of terrain.

ProComp has a great AT tire load range E.

http://www.procomptires.com/truck-jeep-tires/xtreme-all-terrain-radial.aspx

 

[bftank]

just a thought, if you are worried about tire wear you might consider upgrading your steering mechanism. tierods centerlink etc for some beefier stuff, like these http://dmaxstore.com/index.php?main...ducts_id=377&zenid=t2oqghs8vta2l6k49ck6akt0q7. the duramaxs easily knock the alignment out of these on dirt roads with bigger tires.

tire wise the bfg mt is really popular up hear in the gas fields of nw colorado and they are averaging 50,000 miles before replacement, which is saying something out hear.

i would suggest fitting a 315/75 series tire to the truck. can be done cleanly with minor trimming with your leveling kit. guy on pirate 4x4 put 35's on with no leveling kit and some trimming.

i didn't notice if it was diesel or not, if it is diesel is it the lly (04.5+) or the lb7 (04-01)? the lly had some issues with overheating that i would address to make your rig more reliable/ capable.

going with the diesel theme a 4" exhaust($270) and programmer will help with mileage.

get a shell throw some plywood platform in it and go for it. sorry for the long post.

 

[SilveradoHD]

No appologies needed for the long post. I appriciate all of the info. In my younger days it was all about trying to see how much mud I could get through so looking at other tires besides MT's is hard to do even though I know it's the right thing to do. I looked at the BFG AT's but as odd as this may sound part of my issue is that so many people run them. My logic is probably backwards.

My truck is a 6.0 gas, and the only mod has been Flowmaster exhust. The advice for the front end is great and I will look into that it. Thanks for your help. By the way I love Colorado, you are very lucky to be so close to that many trail opportunities.

 

[bftank]

thanks and anytime.

 

[alexrex20]

i'm running the 315/75-16 BFG ATs on H2 wheels with a Tuff Country 2in lift kit (torsion bar keys and AAL). the total lift before the bigger tires came out to about 3in.

 

[SilveradoHD]

i'm running the 315/75-16 BFG ATs on H2 wheels with a Tuff Country 2in lift kit (torsion bar keys and AAL). the total lift before the bigger tires came out to about 3in.

No problem with rubbing on offroad situations? Of course it's not like I would be doing any rock crawling, but mild to medium trails. Can you post some pics? Thanks.