Is it worth the hassel for an extra inch???

[swrider]

Sooo, get your mind out of the gutter. I am talking tire size here

Anywho. I am the happy owner of a 2014 Silverado Z71, who is looking to purchase my first set of tires. And ofcourse since i have to buy new ones, maybe its time to go bigger???

But like the title says, is it worth it???

The truck came with factory BFGoodrich in 265/65R18, which roughly translates to a 31" tire. I was thinking about going up to 33" tires, either by a 285/65 or 275/70 and keeping the stock wheels.

Now i haven't gone out to the garage and measured the inside of the wheel wells to see if the 33's would fit. More than likely not, so that would mean at the least adding a leveling kit that would raise the front by about 2". Which is fine because i don't particularly like the raked look that the truck has.

But then, having bigger tires will mean a small hit to the mpg, my speedometer would be off by a little, i might even have to do some trimming, ohh yeah, and the service department at Chevy said that it might void the warranty?!?!?

Yeah, sooo, in reality adding 33" tires to my truck would only really give me an added 3/4" extra clearing under the differentials; is that really a big gain when it comes to offroading? The whole reason for lifting a truck and adding bigger tires is more clearence, but from where i sit that only comes out to 3/4"!!!

Is that really something i will notice???
Yes bigger tires like 35's would be different, but from what i understand that would open up a whole new can of worms that i don't really want to deal with. I always thought 33's were the sweet spot for going off the beaten path, but really, 3/4" extra clearence ???

Thoughts and opinios are welcomed.
Thanks!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Happykamper]

I don't think you will get any rub going with just 33" on your rig...but like you said the absolute worst case scenario is level kit. The only thing you have to worry about is next set is 35" and a 3.5" suspension lift !! Lol
Get what you want and don't worry about a couple extra dollars, you will,find them somewhere else. And besides the question isn't really is it worth it ?
You just want someone to say ...it's ok ! And it is. Enjoy your rig .

 

[Happykamper]

It will not void your warranty

 

[Hopeless Diamond]

Try this calculator, you'll need to know the rim width and offset.

http://www.rimsntires.com/specspro.jsp

 

[ExplorerTom]

It will not void your warranty

The only way it would void the warranty is if they could directly blame the larger tires on the failed component. Which 31 vs 33 is unlikely.

But car companies do employ a ton of lawyers.

 

[herm]

I have an 09 with 275 70 18 coopers and there is a good amount of room still. I have snows in the stock size on 17s and I get about 1 mpg more with them. The snows are a good 20 lb lighter each also.

 

[AA1PR]

I upgraded my Yukon several years ago to BFG TA KO's in 33's or 285/70/17

the ride is so much smoother, I dont feel all the bumps as I did with the 265's

I dont travel a lot, so gas mileage doesnt affect me

I had to trim one area in the rear wheel wells to clear a rubbing issue and you might too

I say go for them

 

[wrmmt]

I have 33s on my 2013 silverado that is leveled with Kings. Havent had any issues with rubbing and I think it looks a lot better than stock too! I don't remember for sure, but I don't think I lost too much in terms of MPG. It certainly wasn't more than 1mpg per tank. I would say go for it!

 

[swrider]

Thanks for all the replies guys. Yeah I was very surprised when the service tech wouldn't even tell me if I could fit bigger tires, guy just got all defensive; made me feel like I was doing something crazy!
Anyway, I wanted the 33's because of the added clearance, I guess I am under the impression that I "need them"; but after crunching numbers and seeing that I only gain 3/4" over stock setup it made me doubt whether or not I was right. Hence this post.
HappyKamper, I do enjoy my rig, and will more so this summer once all my camping gear is sorted and boxed up for ease of loading :ylsmoke:
wrmmt, I've read your built, nice rig you have there!!!
Can you tell me what the Kings level kit you used???

 

[SloPoke]

I know for a fact you will get more clearance than 3/4 of inch, you should be getting that or more just from the tire swap, the 2 inch lift spacers have to give a little bit more. I have 10 years of experience at an offroad shop. I dont mean to sound rude but what numbers did you crunch to get 3/4? going from 31's to 33 is 2 more inchs of tire, which is only 1 inch cause it goes on both sides. your lift spacers will be pushing your tires down more, i cant imagine they dont give you at least another inch or more at the diff. Either way i say go for it, i am not a big fan of the lower front end of newer trucks. Good luck and i hope you find the solution your looking for.

 

[jeep-N-montero]

I know for a fact you will get more clearance than 3/4 of inch, you should be getting that or more just from the tire swap, the 2 inch lift spacers have to give a little bit more. I have 10 years of experience at an offroad shop. I dont mean to sound rude but what numbers did you crunch to get 3/4? going from 31's to 33 is 2 more inchs of tire, which is only 1 inch cause it goes on both sides. your lift spacers will be pushing your tires down more, i cant imagine they dont give you at least another inch or more at the diff. Either way i say go for it, i am not a big fan of the lower front end of newer trucks. Good luck and i hope you find the solution your looking for.

After 10 years you still don't understand the relationship between tire size and differential clearance and we are supposed to believe your gibberish? Draw a circle 31 inches around, and another circle 33 inches around, then measure from the center to the edge of each circle and note the difference between them of approximately 1 inch depending on tire mfr. Now explain how a lift spacer ABOVE the axle can increase the distance between the differential and the ground?

 

[swrider]

Hey SloPoke,
So to clarify, when I say 3/4" clearance I am referring to clearance under the differentials. And I come up with that number by calculating the actual tire dimensions. So on my stock setup I have 265/65R18, 265mm for the cross section with an aspect ratio of 65%, which gives you a wall height of 6.78" ( [265 *0.65] / 25.4 ). So the actual height of the tire comes to (6.78 * 2) + 18 = 31.6"
if I go to a 295/65R18 the numbers come out to 33.1" or 0.75" more clearance than stock.
What do you mean when you say that they lift spacers will push the tires down more???

 

[DaveInDenver]

Your calculations are all correct, you don't gain a ton under the diffs just due to tire size.

What do you mean when you say that they lift spacers will push the tires down more???

He may mean that when you lift you may cause the lower arms to angle down. They are probably parallel (more or less) to the ground now but with lift they'll probably be slightly angled down. This in effect gives the center section (diff and cross member) additional clearance. The outside of the arms at the lower ball joint only gains the tire diameter difference. Again, the change won't be substantial by itself, but it all adds up.

 

[jeep-N-montero]

On an IFS rig there will be marginal gains if you increase spring height/rate but it will affect ride quality and alignment, but your rear diff will still be an anchor dragging and hitting the rocks your front managed to clear.

 

[calicamper]

I hear there are pills you can get that promise an inch or more.

Tire size changes the ride and how easy it its to crawl over stuff. If fuel consumption is a hot topic any switch from highway tire to offroad focus will be a hit even at the same size. My sequoia went ftom 18mpg trip averages to 15mpg averages by switching from a highway tire to a BFG rugged Terrain same stock size. Not exactly sure it was worth it. We rarely take it off pavement.