New here/ Tire clearance question

[Nca2013]

Hey guys im new to this site and have a lift question (sorry if im in the wrong place) I bought a 1997 K1500 extended cab short bed last year on my 16th bday. I wanna lift it, and have done my research and on my limited budget i wanna buy a 3 inch BL and 2 inch blocks. I already have my torsion bars cranked to about 2 inches. I wanna run 15x10 eagle alloys with a 3.625 backspacing and a 35 inch BFG all terrain tire. I have no clue how well itll fit into my front end, does anybody have any advice? I dont wanna have to do too much cutting to my fenders, or spend all the money just to have them not fit.

 

[dirtridinz71]

With the wide offset rims you will have some good rubbing issues even with full torsion bar crank (which I would not suggest). Trimming the bumper and back of fender will be needed. If keeping that rim I would stick with a 33" tire and the 3" body lift with minimal crank.

 

[Nca2013]

Would a 15x8 rim make any difference? and how much power would be lost running a 35 or even a 33 with stock gears? i have 3.42s or 3.73s, not sure which. i can get gears and install kits for F&R for around 500 bucks.

 

[dirtridinz71]

The narrower rims will help. I had 3.73 and didnt find it to terrible with 33's but on 35's I find OD useless and not very good for every day driving. Went with 4.56 gears and much better but still wish I had gone for 4.88's.

 

[Nca2013]

Haha I guess id re gear..probably made the gas mileage a lot worse too. I dont really wanna run a 33..i think they look too small with a # inch body. My buddies runnin 33 inch BFGs with no lift with no problems, but i think they run small anyways. Thanks for your advice.

 

[RHamill]

I'm running a 3" zone body lift, 2" BDS tapered blocks in the rear, and about 1.5 inch crank in the front.

Wheels: 16x8 with 0mm offset.

I just have stock sized tires on for now, will be running 305/70r16s eventually.

Your gear ratio can be found easily in the glove box, check the RPO codes. GT4 - 3.73s, GU6 - 3.42s.

With the 3" BL and 2" block lift, you can run 35s with 8" wide wheels, but any wider and you will rub. I have seen proof that them lifts on these trucks with 16x7 and 16x8 wheels with no offset can run 315/75r16s without rubbing.

Talk to Squeaky3, he had 36s on his truck for a long time (he even ran 3.42s with them for a while).

 

[dirtridinz71]

Haha I guess id re gear..probably made the gas mileage a lot worse too. I dont really wanna run a 33..i think they look too small with a # inch body. My buddies runnin 33 inch BFGs with no lift with no problems, but i think they run small anyways. Thanks for your advice.

Gas mileage actually increased after the gears. Being able to use od and truck turning the tires easier gained 2-3 mpg

 

[Nca2013]

I might do 33s on a 15x10..i like the look of wide tires poking out the wheel wells. the truck has 3.42 gears, so I might go with 4.10s or 56's later on after some engine work is done..its starting to leak antifreeze out the head gaskets on colder nights, and was sputtering so bad this morning going to school I thought it was gonna stall. But I think that might be moisture in the distributor cap. It has 210,500 miles on the vortec 5.7 and 4L60E

 

[ChrisAU]

I ran 33x12.50x15's on 15x10's back in the day on my '92 with a good bumper trim and a little fender trim (like 3/8" tapering up about 4") with just a crank and 1" blocks out back.