Lift Suggestions?

wave032000 · January 28, 2011

I have a 2008 Sierra Ext Cab 5.3 Flex with standard 17" wheels with 265/70R17 Goodyear Silent Armor Tires. I am looking to get a set of 20" wheels and upgrade to 285/65R20 Goodyear MTR w/ Kevlar tires. The only issue I am having is deciding how much of a lift I need to get a little to no rubbing. I don't mind cutting the plastic to accomidate the new look. I have a friend who is going to give me for cheap a new set of 20x8.5 OEM Denali chrome wheels. Any suggestions?

brad519 · January 28, 2011

Goodyear lists that tire as being 34.8 x 11.5 so I would think you may need to get a 6" lift.

A 3" body lift with a 2" level MIGHT work since the tire is 11.5 wide.

But I'm just guessing and you're looking for definite answer so stay tuned for the more knowledgeable folks to chime in on this.

Blackout07 (Matt) and Jimmyboy8301 (James) seem to be pretty good at giving advice on tires and lift needed. If they don't post an opinion later you might want to PM them for the advice

wave032000 · January 28, 2011

Thanks for the advise. I will certainly pm them if they don't respond. Much appreciated. I was thinking of doing a 2" level witha 3 inch bl.

blackout07 · January 29, 2011

3" body + 2" level at the minimum, and plan on trimming. I ran a 305/55 on a 20x8.5 (+18) with that setup and I got some rubbing in most off camber situations. Any tight turns into parking spots, backing and turning sharply on an incline/driveway, etc. I was fine under normal roadway driving conditions though, and I never did any trimming. You MAY get by with only trimming plastic, but I would bet that wouldn't cure all potential rubbing. I would go with a 6" suspension if it's in your budget, if you're set on those tires.

Just for comparison:

My old combo: 305/55/20 = 33.21 x12.01 - 20x 8.5 (+18mm offset / 5.5" backspacing)

Your planned combo: 285/65/20 = 34.8 x 11.5 - 20 x 8.5 (+31mm offset / 5.9" backspacing)

You can see the difference in backspacing is minimal between the stock GM 20's and the aftermarkets I ran, but there is a considerable size difference between the two tires.