Well to start off, I got my hands on some goodies for damn near nothing, basically a 3" body lift, Ford keys & Rear Add-a-leafs. Friend was going to use them on his silverado until an encounter with a city bus. So now they are mine. Basically when i'm done doing everything I plan on coming out with a combined lift of 5" if not a little more. I plan on running the keys to level out the leafs, which should be in the neighborhood of 2-3" total lift, that plus the 3" body. This isn't the way it should be lifted, I know and in the future I will be doing it correctly with a real lift kit. But for now.... I'm going to run with this.

Here is my quesiton, what size tire am I going to be able to squeeze in there? I have an extra set of tires & rims (35" BFG's on 15" rims) I had on my 75' Blazer before jumping to a 44" Super Swamper Boggers. I'm wondering if the 15"s would even fit over the brakes, i highly doubt they would and figure a 16" is the smallest size i can get away with just looking for a definate answer.

Now going with a 16" rim, will I be able to run a 16x10 rim? with a 35"x12.5" tire? Or what would be the max size I can get away with. Everything I've read says to run a 4.5" backspace, does that sound right?

THanks
Jason

 

Just to add another thought here, how about running 315-75-16 on the stock rims, according to BFG the rim width is sufficient, now i just wonder about backspacing.

 

year make, model
most are lowered on this forum
might want to ask here
http://www.fullsizechevy.com/

 

yea that could help, its a 99' Silverado Z-71 ECSB

 

i don't think the 15 will fit without grinding down the calipers, and balljoint stud
i'm pretty sure the 35 12.50 will rub bad especally on 10" rims
you could probably clear the 315/75/16's on 8" rims will probably rub on fender well at cab on turns and especially when turning and hitting bumps
i'm pretty sure the stock rim is 7.5 and they call for a 8-11 inch rim
try asking on the other forum i'm sure someone there will know better or has done the same as you are planning

 

Yea on the other forum I found some info saying the stock is 7.5" not 8" as i thought. It looks like the only way i'm going to clear the rubbing issue is going with either a 305-70-16 or a 285-75-16 both which come out to 33.1" OD according to BFG & the 285 can be mounted on a 7.5" wide rim. So im thinking that tire w/ the stock rims should be fairly decent and rub very little if at all.

 

i don't think they will rub at all, i had 285/75/16's on my stock 2k silverado and had no clearance problems

 

Come to think of it after pulling my head out of my *** and actually looking, right now on my stock Z-71 i have 285's on it, the last owner put a nice set of BFG A/T on there. Now the thing is going, to a 305 isn't doing me anymore but giving me about an 1 to 1-1/4 of tire width. I'm really debating on setting the entire suspension up then trying to talk one of my local tire guys into getting in some 315"s and letting me try them out to see how badly they rub. Or if i'm lucky find someone local running that size who's willing to let me borrow they're wheel/tire for 10min.

 

hey i had to get a 6" suspention to clear my 315/75/16's on 10's and its only 34.8 inch i was running the 285/75/16's on stock rims with no problems, so i had to go 6" to get that extra 1.7" of tire, its the inner fender well and the tire width that kills you when you turn, you could probbably clear the 315's on an 8" if you don't mind it rubbing when u turn, or you can get brutal with the sledge hammer and and slam the inner fender in an 1", if you live close to connecticut we can throw mine on to see what happens