Hello I was curious about back spacing and tire size on my 2004 Z71, I am in the process of getting a body lift done and I am not sure if I should stick with the 265/17s I have right now and new wheels or try the 285/17s with the wheels, I am looking at the American Racing Wheel Baja, I'm just worried because I had a heck of time about 3 years back with my ZR2 when I did a body lift and bought American Racing wheels called Sliders, the place doing it said 32" tires would fit fine on it with the body lift but with the back spacing of the wheels they never did fit so I stuck with the 31" tires. I wanted to check and see if anyone on here has done this size and changed the wheels on there Silverado, thank you.

 

You can run 285/75r/17s on your truck with out a lift kit. I run them on my 00/Z71 and have never had a rub. In fact, I have had many people ask if I in fact have a lift kit. No worries m8
GL
Greek

 

Let me know if you try this, I plan on doing the same.

 

Makoltd, You don't ahve any rubbing? I was going to try 285 on mine, but everthing I see says you need at least the leveling torsion keys to get 33".

 

I'm running 285's. Remember the rim offset I posted about? 4.5" I believe is correct. I run BFG ATR 285/75r/16s. I like to see a lot of tire and keep my rims from getting hurt. My rims were a colaberation between Chip Foose and American Racing for the 2000 Sema Show. 10 Sets were made for the Silverado and took me almost a year to find. I was going to go to 295's but they only had 3. I have about 5" of clearance front and back. I have been on many a hard trail and have never touched. The tire shops didn't want to put them on but I insisted they do it. No regrets and they were pleased to know they could sell a larger tire for the stock Silverado. My 00/z71 looks as if it has a lift kit. I believe it's the Edelbrock IAS Preformer shocks which ride and additional 1" higher than the stock Bilstiens without camber issues. My last set of tires went to 75k and had a ton of tread still. If you mess with your torsion bars, do it correct and use a new key set. I don't forsee going any bigger so I will stay stock. Try it guy, you will be pleased. As for the shocks, you will feel a whole different ride. No more frwy bumps and corners are flat even at 75mph w/zero leaning. Hell of a shock and easy to install yourself. I did all 4 of mine twice now, each time taking less than 1-1/2 hrs. BTW, they come with a lifetime, none fine print warranty. If they leak or fail, you get a new one up to 1,000,000 miles. Proper replacment of this kind of shock is 85k where your stock shocks should be replaced every 35k. At $69 each, a hell of a deal.
Take care
Greek

 

I am running stock wheels (don't know the back spacing). But my rims ar 17". That may be the difference as this will be 1" taller than you are running. Do you know of anyone who has tried 285/75/17 with no lift? I do not want to change rims at this time if I do not have to. I would rather wait till I can afford a lift and 35" tires. I am going to have to buy tire soon so this is sort of urgent for any help.

 

just for clarification, there is currently no such tire as a 285/75/17. you can fit either 285/70/17, or 285/75/16 inside the well of a 99-up z71, though you will likely have to trim the plastic a bit to prevent rubbing on full-lock turning. not a big deal. There is 2/10 of one inch difference in height between the two, and 1/10 inch difference in section width.

The bigger deal for some may be the difference in fuel mileage and performance when you jump from 245 to 285. Expect slower acceleration, and lower mileage, even after adjusting for speedometer error.

 

lots of good info guys. i wanna lift the front end of my truck to level it. are the torsion keys recomended? do i have to get longer shocks? what is the largest size tire can i fit under there is it the 285/75/16 (33?)?

 

buckmeister2 - sorry I meant 285/70/17, that was a typo.

03z71 - From what I understand torsion keys are a good way to go. Then you don't have to give up ride comfort. Don't just crank up torsion bars though. Some people will try to talk you into this. You will end up with alignment issues, warn out parts, tires wearing uneven, etc. I don't think you can fit any more than 33" tires without fender trimming. I have never actually done the lift myself, but I have done alot of reasearch.

 

Anyone else have info on this? I don't want to convince store tires will fit, order tires, tires not fit and look stupid. I really hate looking stupid, since then when you go back to shop it feels like everyone knows. Know what I mean?