how much?

[CRaSHnBuRN]

How big of tire can I fit on a stock 2003 chevy Z71? Its the girlfriends truck, and she keeps *****ing that its to small, and she wants a lift. I don't think she wants or needs alot, but I gotta admit it looks like a damn lowrider 2wd truck the way it is now. Hell, my taco prerunner with the smallest tires available was bigger than her truck. I'm thinking she has 245s or at the most 265s. I figure first we would see what the biggest tire we could fit stock was, then look into lifts. Are there any small, cheap lifts out there with the exception of body lifts?

[CheapJeep]

You can run 285's (33"s) with just a t-bar crank. Also Rough Country and a couple of other companys make lift keys and add-a-leafs or blocks for about 3"s of lift in which you could run 305's.

[JB]

get Ford keys and 305s

[agjohn02]

it'll ride like crap. as me how i know. maybe if you get longer shocks or lengthen the shock mounts it'll be better. i havent done that, but they still ride like crap if you screw with them.

get her some 265's and remind her that she is a girl.

[CRaSHnBuRN]

yeah, I've told her all the bad things, but she still wants to lift it a some point.

and whats so bad about a girl with a big truck, john? You got issues? :flipoff2:

[DRAGOONRANCH]

I say go with the keys and ad-a leafs, so what if it rides like crap, the extra vibration might.... uh, nevermind not going there. :flipoff2:

[eight]

Turn the bars for an inch. At least on the old z71s that wasn't nearly as bad of a ride as 2".

[stx4wheeler]

look into some bfg mt like i have that are 33x10.5 instead of a 33 12.5, i like mine alot, and thats what i have on my totally stock white bronco.

[Sharpe]

Try to convince her to leave it alone. As everyone knows, the novelty will wear off fast and she will want the nice ride of the stock setup back soon after. Not to mention cranking the torsion bars makes the tires wear funny.

In any case that truck should have come with 245's (why...I have no F'ing clue) and it should fit 265's with no mods whatsoever.

[FJAggie07]

The 2500 HD diesel from that model year comes with 245's and 285's rub at full turn in the front, but only because of the weight of the diesel, so i think 285's (32.8") should be fine

[CRaSHnBuRN]

I think if we were to do it, we would try 285s, and then trim where it rubs. She doesn't take it offroad, so it doesn't matter if it rubs a little

[uglyota]

why not 33s with a 1 or 2" BL? Then it won't ride any different

[CRaSHnBuRN]

I've considered that as well.

[eight]

255/85/16. That's a 33x10. There's one in the back of dodge right now if you'd like to mount it up and try.

[CRaSHnBuRN]

I can ask her. I don't know if she is in any real hurry, I think she just wants to get an idea at this point

[CheapJeep]

They only make 3" bl's for the nbs trucks. There isn't enough difference between the 255 Kopecki is talking about and a 285, only about .5" in width.... With a 3" body lift, and (minimal) torsion bar crank you can run 315"s (35's). The only thing I ever did on my old truck with this same setup was trim the air dam (I later ran 305's for better highway miles with 3.73's for towing etc...).

[eight]

Guess math isn't needed much for you. Here I will educate.

The first number in the tire size is the width in milimeters. 285 - 255 = 30. You can fit 25.4 of those milimeters in an inch. 30 / 25.4 = 1.18 inches.

[Graystroke]

towing w/ 305's in a Z71 w/ 3.73's :p



right.......a lawn mower

[sasquatch]

(I later ran 305's for better highway miles with 3.73's for towing etc...).

doesnt make any sense

[AggieTJ2007]

Robbie if they only make 3" BL all you have to do is cut the puck to the lenght that you want it to be

[CheapJeep]

I don't know why anyone would go to all the trouble of cutting all of the pucks down and buying new hardware just to get a smaller amount of lift...just leave it as a 3", it's really not that much anyways. Going from a 35" to a 33" does in fact improve your highway mileage, how does that not make sense?

[uglyota]

rotating mass is one of the biggest energy drains on a vehicle. 35s weigh more than 33s, and that weight is farther away from the center, so that makes them an assload harder to turn over. If they're wider and softer that's more contact patch you have on the ground and more friction you have to overcome as well. Having your truck higher off the ground means it's less aerodynamic. The only argument you could fathom to make in this case is that your gearing is effectively higher with bigger tires, which only helps if your motor has plenty of power and is above its efficient operating range on the highway

[CRaSHnBuRN]

you know what? I may be a little drunk at the moment (putting it mildly), but I can't quit laughing at the fact that you'll are arguing about this. All I really needed was a little info about what size tires she could fit stock, and if there were any mild lift options out there. The fact that you'll are arguing about it and actually trying to get technical about it is what I love about this place. Though in the end, I like her mother's answer the best. Here is what she said. "if you don't like the height it is now, why not sell it and get a 3/4 or 1 ton? It'll fit bigger tires and be able to tow if you ever had a reason to". I like how her mom thinks

[uglyota]

doh, I just saw that he said "going from 35s to 33s" not the other way around. Yes smaller tires are more efficient.