CobraEatr

I ordered mine Feb 23, and the order still has not been accepted by GM. I'm buying one next week from another dealership.

It’s definitely possible. Some guys are running 12.50s on the stock wheels. When my truck finally gets delivered (I ordered the d@mn thing Feb 23) that’s the setup I plan to run - stock wheels and 37x12.50x20. It will rub a little at full lock, but I’m ok with that.

Killer video man, very informative. Truck looks great. Love how the tires fit tucked inside the fender wells. Very nice!

Looks awesome man! Turned out really nice!

Man that’s perfect! Thanks!

Very nice! Yea, switching to the Toyo MTs will look pretty d@mn good. Do you by chance have any more pictures of your truck with the lift and stock wheels? Just wondering if the new cognito spindles kicked the tires out even just a touch past the fenders? I’m hoping they don’t increase the track width at all. Thanks for all the info. You have been a ton of help.

Roger that. Any reason why you are selling the Ridge Grapplers? Just like the look of the Toyo MTs better?

Awesome! Please post pics (front, back, and sides) when you are done. That's going to look really nice.

I am currently running stock UCAs, but my plan was to switch to a set of Cognitos. The guys who install Cognito UCAs with their leveling kits don’t seem to have any issues. Maybe the lift kit with the new spindles somehow interferes with Cognito UCAs. Not sure why else it would rub when the leveling kits Cognito sells (with upgraded UCAs) do just find.

Wow, that’s great news. Thank you. Those look like Ridge Grapplers. What size tires are you running? Your truck looks awesome! Also, are those the stock wheels in your pic?

Well piss! Lost another one to the dark side. I need more info from the stock wheel guys. I have yet to see an aftermarket wheel that I like better than the stock wheels, and wheels that stick out past the fenders look ridiculous to me - but that’s because I’m old (42). Good luck to you either way.

The 37x12.50x20 tires will definitely fit on the stock wheels with a leveling kit. I found two posters on here that did it and it looks great. It does rub a bit at full lock (both posters say so), and that’s why I considered the 11.50. The one posters name is gswift. Look him up and you can see his pics. His truck looks amazing. He went with the 37x12.50x20 Ridge Grapplers.

It’s not very common, but I like the “stuffed” look of the tires tucked in. I want to level the truck but I have also considered installing the Cognito 4” lift kit. Yes, I know the differences and that the lift kit is much better. However when I contacted Cognito and asked if the 4” lift kit will work with my stock 20” wheels, the tech at Cognito replied: ”While the kit allows for up to a 37x12.5 Tire on a 9-Inch Wide Wheel with 5.5-Inch Backspacing. We can run stock wheels with stock tires, but with wider/taller tires they would possibly contact the arm, and would require a lot more trimming.” I know there are some guys with Cognito leveling kits and UCAs running the stock wheels with both 35s and 37s. But can I do the same thing with the 4” lift? The only thing that changes is the new Cognito spindle. I can’t see it affecting anything, but I need to be sure before I start ordering parts. I don’t mind a little rub, but I at least need to make sure that the stock wheels and tires will bolt on and not get stuck hitting the UCAs. My wheels are the stock Chevrolet 20” wheels that are black and gray. Specs on them are: Factory 20x8.5 Wheel Offset = +47 mm - Back Space = 6.60" Inches. Thanks in advance.

Yes, please let us know how it goes. I’m in the exact same situation that you are in. I too want the “stuffed” look and am going to run the 37s. My current plan is to go with the Cognito premier leveling kit, use my stock 20” wheels, and install either 37x11.50 or 37x12.50 Nitto Ridge or Trail Grapplers. Nitto is the only company to make a 37x11.50x20. I want the thinner tire but am worried that the tires will look too skinny. The 11.50 tires are lighter and have less rubber contacting the road, so I know the mpg won’t suffer as much as the 12.50 tires. I am going to assume that the shop you found with the tires in stock are 37x12.50x20 since the 11.50s are very rare. I can’t find many pics of the 37x11.50 on a leveled 2500hd. Please take a lot of pics (both side, front on, and rear) and let us know how it goes. Good luck!

That’s a great idea. Thanks swift! Maybe the 1” difference in width will keep the tires from touching the UCA.

Wow, that looks really good. Before you added the spacer, how bad was the rubbing? Was it something you could have lived with?

I’m going to run stock wheels. I saw today in the “how have you modded your truck” thread that you used spacers. I was disappointed when I read that because I would prefer not to use spacers. I like the tires tucked in as much as possible. I wanted to go with 37x12.50x20 Nitto Trail or Ridge Grapplers. If you have any more pics of your truck I would love to see them. Any and all angles. I may end up just using the spacers. How bad was the tire/UCA rub at full lock before you added the spacers?

Alpha, nice looking truck. You are correct that a true lift is the best way to go, but I'm not going that route - for a number of reasons. The first is the cost. The Fabtech kit you have is $3,800, and that doesn't include the labor cost to install. I'll bet labor was at least $1,000. The second reason why I'm not doing a lift kit is that I don't believe that you can't go back to stock if you ever decide to. Stock differential mounting brackets must be cut when installing a lift kit and if for some reason I decide to go back to stock height, that won't be possible. Leveling kits are typically a bad idea, but not if you get more functional upper control arms, drop the differential with spacers, add some very good shocks, and don't turn your torsion bars up too much. As long as you do all of those things, the truck will ride very nice and you won't have any problems with it. Some even increase the comfort of their rides like gswift did, above.

Swift, your truck is the reason why I want the Cognito premier kit. I saw it on this board last week while searching leveling kits. It looks awesome. That’s the exact look I’m going for.

Kylant, how does your truck ride? As good as stock or better? Did you change out the shocks and keys or just the UCAs? Thanks.

Tbully, It’s funny that you responded to one of my posts. I’ve been searching and reading your posts all day today in various threads after I saw one you put in the tint thread. Your truck looks awesome and I like your Ridge Grapplers. I think that I’m going to get the same brand tires. I might use a 35x12.50x20 or a 37x12.50x20 though. I ordered my truck a few weeks ago and I have been researching lifts and leveling kits like crazy ever since. My last truck was a 2010 2500HD (gas) and I put 34” tires on it and cranked the torsion bars a little bit. I also had Bilstien 5100s. I want my new truck to ride much better than my old truck. Cost isn’t really an huge issue, but the amount of hacking and cutting involved with a lift kit bothers me. Instead I’m pretty sure that I’m going to do the Cognito Performance leveling kit with UCAs, keys, Fox 2.0 reservoir shocks, and the pittman idler supports ($1,999). Then I plan to buy a SuspensionMaxx differential drop kit (just four 1/2” spacers and longer bolts) and install that as well. From everything I read (specifically a user on this board named gswift), the Cognito Performance kit will not only raise the front end of the truck up to level, but it will also substantially increase the ride quality - even over stock. The Fox reservoir shocks have a much longer travel and thus make all the difference in the world. Combine that with the pittman idler arm kit that tightens up all steering slop, and the $2k for the kit should definitely be worth the price tag - at least that’s my hope. I likely won’t receive my truck for another +8 weeks according to my dealer, but I’m trying to learn as much as I can now, so that the day that I take ownership of it, I can begin all the mods.

All UCAs hit the bump stops at some point depending on the severity of the bump you drive over. My point is that you do not have a lift kit on your truck. Superlift does not make a 3” kit. You have reindexed keys and your torsion bars are turned up. Superlift’s smallest genuine lift kit for the 2020 trucks is 6 inches. You have a 3” leveling kit with new keys and new UCAs. Your “lift” was achieved by cranking the torsion bars up. I’m not trying to start a fight, just merely pointing out the facts. I don’t want others to read this thread and think that Superlift makes a 3” lift kit. Superlift does call it a lift kit, but it’s a leveling kit. Real lift kits do not use the torsion bars to raise the vehicle. They come with new spindles/knuckles to actually drop the location of where the stock hubs bolt on. The cost of Superlift’s 3” leveling kit is $615. There is not a real lift kit around anywhere that sells for under $1,000. Most are between $2,500 - $3,500. I plan on doing a leveling kit as well (Cognito 3” with Fox reservior shocks), but honestly that’s not the right way to do it. I don’t really want to drop $3,500 for a legit lift kit and I also don’t want to hack up the underside of my new truck. Again, not trying to pick a fight, I just want to get the correct information out to people who are researching this topic.

I just checked Superlift's website to look for their 3" lift kit. It's actually a 3" leveling kit. They call it a lift kit, but it is not a lift kit. The kit comes with new keys, UCAs, and spacers for the differential drop. Those that install this kit will still eventually have issues with their tie rods, CV angles, and dropout from the UCA hitting the bump stop. It won't ride as good as it does stock unless you install a real lift kit.