rel3rd

iTrader: (42)

I lowered my 2002 Z71 over the weekend...not much, but a lot lower than it was with the Rough Country leveling kit. Basically, I swapped back to the stock torsion bar keys, 2" drop spindles (which fought me every second of the swap), removed the blocks from rear. I have 2" lowering shackles too, but I was worn out from fighting the damn spindles all day.

Anyway, I also scored some decent looking 20" wheels with 2 of the 4 tires worn out. Tire place down the street has some 275/60R20's in nice shape for a great deal, so I was thinking about getting them...IF they wouldn't look stupid and/or rub. I could also buy 2 replacements for the current size on the rims, which is 275/45R20, but they are less than 30" tall.

The specs online say the 275/60's are 33" tall, which I am not crazy about, since the 265/70/17's I run now are over an inch shorter.

No rubbing whatsoever as of today, but keep in mind I plan to swap the shackles and then slightly de-crank the torsion bars to whatever makes it sit level...

You guys think that a 33" tall tire will defeat the purpose of going lower, and/or possibly rub, or should I be OK???

OR...

Should I go slightly smaller with the 275/45/20's? or some other size???

In a nutshell, I am looking to do this as cost effective as possible.

Changing speedo/shift points is a non-issue since I have HPTuners.

Thanks in advance...

05gmcsierra

iTrader: (3)

looks like ur going even lower then what i have.. stock height with the front keys turned down and shakels and no blocks in the back... with that said i dont think u can fit the 33s i had 32.6 when i had my 24"rims and on stock height on the front they would rub. if ur going that low in the front i say stay with a 30"tire all around.. i have a 30.5rt now and it looks perfect.. im planning on lowering the truck all around 2more inches but keeping the 30.5s all around..

rel3rd

iTrader: (42)

Thanks for the reply. I think you are right. The 33's would be too tall for even a mild lowering like mine. I have 265/70/17's on there right now and they have plenty of room without looking too big or too small. BFG specs say they are 31.7" tall. A half hour ago, I just scored a set of 4 new take-off 245/60/20 Yokohama Geolanders for $200 off of Craigslist. Yokohama's site says they are 31.6" tall so I won't even have to change speedo. They say they fit 7-8.5" wide wheels. My new/used wheels are stamped 20x9 but actual measurement is 8-5/8" from inside of bead to inside of bead area soI should be OK.

Do you happen to have any pics of your setup?

AKlowriderZ71

iTrader: (22)

The 275/60R20's will not fit. I'm assuming that your 265/70R17's fit without rubbing, I'm not really sure just how much you lowered your truck.

Here's my truck with 275/45R20's.


Here's my truck with 275/55R20's.


Hope that helps a little.

05gmcsierra

iTrader: (3)

thats gonna be a perfect size... i use to run the 265/7017s before but im now currently running the 245/70/17...their an inch smaller than the 265s.. they look a bit on the small side rt now but once i drop the truck 2 more inches its gonna look good.. i just wanted something smaller for better track times..

rel3rd

iTrader: (42)

Helped a bunch. Thanks. No rubbing whatsoever, as it is.
Mine pretty much sits identical to how yours does in the top picture, with the 265/70/17's, although I still need to do the shackles.
I guess you were typing as I posted my last reply. Basically, I figured I'd keep the same height tire so I wouldn't have any issues now or in the very near future. Just need to order up some shocks. I'm 99% sure I still have the numbers you gave me a while back when I PM'd you about how you lowered your truck.

I hope you're right. The more I kept thinking about it, the more it made sense for me to stick as close to stock height as possible. A few minutes after I made this thread, I found the Yokohamas 20 minutes away from me.
No drag racing for me. Can't risk breaking the daily driver, but those slightly shorter tires are a very easy way to give you some lower gearing.

rel3rd

iTrader: (42)

Talked my non-mechanically inclined son through the shock swap on my truck yesterday...went with KYB Monomax's. I can't drive until this stupid cast is off, but riding shotgun it "feels" a lot better...

AKlowriderZ71

iTrader: (22)

Did you remove the rear bumpstop extension brackets? With them gone, there's a hole already in the frame to remount the bumpstop. Important to do, but often overlooked.

rel3rd

iTrader: (42)

Yessir, it is now mounted directly on the framerail. It had roughly 3" or better clearance, but I told him to move it anyway. Couldn't have been any easier.