Trail Or Terra Grapplers

jarettg · March 25, 2011

looking for your guys' thoughts. I found a great deal on the internet for some 20" Black XD Monsters with Nitto Grappler Tires. I can go with:

305/55 Terra 33.2"

285/55 Terra 32.3"

305/55 Trail 33.4"

295/55 Trail 32.9"

There are some great reviews on the trails so far, it doesnt appear that there a lot of guys on the site running them.

I have a 2" RC front level and 3" rear blocks and am putting on a 3" Zone BL this summer.

What do you guys think? I dont want any rubbing. I wont be doing any hardcore mudding or trail driving. I am mostly looking for an agressive looking all terrain tire for the summer months. I will be putting on some blizzaks on the all terrain stock rims for the winter.

truck without the body lift

trails

terras

cparks555 · March 25, 2011

I think the 305 Trail Grapplers would look awesome! I think you will need to have the body lift already on the truck to fit them though, good luck.

jarettg · March 25, 2011

I think the 305 Trail Grapplers would look awesome! I think you will need to have the body lift already on the truck to fit them though, good luck.

true, i may have to do it at the same time. what is the diameter of your tires? what do you have for a lift?

SJP12 · March 27, 2011

I saw a silverado running the mud tire 305/55R20 with a leveling kit (not sure if it was a 2" or 2.5") and there were no signs of rubbing on the front end. Truck did not have a body lift.

stlavsa · March 27, 2011

I saw a silverado running the mud tire 305/55R20 with a leveling kit (not sure if it was a 2" or 2.5") and there were no signs of rubbing on the front end. Truck did not have a body lift.

NO you NEED wayyy more lift than 2" to clear a 305/55/20.. Its not even close. You have to cut a good bit of metal and do some hammering to get it to work..305/55/20 is a huge tire it works great with 5" of lift. The bodylift and 2" level will clear them good, or something like the rancho suspension lift thats 5" lift.

And if you want an aggressive looking tire there is no question you need the trail grappler, the terra grappler looks like a street tire. Especially once its worn even a little bit.

LilJuicedCoupe · March 27, 2011

What about fitting a Cooper Discoverer STT in 33x12.5? The 20" is listed at 32.66" tall. Might fit.

brnr17 · March 27, 2011

I just finished putting on a 2" level and 3" zone body and put some 295 Trail Grapplers on underneath. I'll get some pictures and let you see them. I followed the advice of the forum for size and type as i was also looking at the terra's. Once you see both tires in person, you know you made the right choice going with trails. I'll get some pics slapped up in the next 2 days for ya.

stlavsa · March 27, 2011

What about fitting a Cooper Discoverer STT in 33x12.5? The 20" is listed at 32.66" tall. Might fit.

Might fit SORTA but still def gonna rub in forward and reverse.. the problem isnt just the height of the tire but the width... it might be a little shorter than a 305/55/20 but its extra lil bit of width will make up for it.

SJP12 · March 28, 2011

I saw a silverado running the mud tire 305/55R20 with a leveling kit (not sure if it was a 2" or 2.5") and there were no signs of rubbing on the front end. Truck did not have a body lift.

NO you NEED wayyy more lift than 2" to clear a 305/55/20.. Its not even close. You have to cut a good bit of metal and do some hammering to get it to work..305/55/20 is a huge tire it works great with 5" of lift. The bodylift and 2" level will clear them good, or something like the rancho suspension lift thats 5" lift.

And if you want an aggressive looking tire there is no question you need the trail grappler, the terra grappler looks like a street tire. Especially once its worn even a little bit.

Well I'm looking at the picture right now, I would be happy to email it to you so you can see. I did not take a picture but the inside of the front wheel wells were not modified at all? The 305/55R20 is a really wide tire also.

stlavsa · March 28, 2011

I saw a silverado running the mud tire 305/55R20 with a leveling kit (not sure if it was a 2" or 2.5") and there were no signs of rubbing on the front end. Truck did not have a body lift.

NO you NEED wayyy more lift than 2" to clear a 305/55/20.. Its not even close. You have to cut a good bit of metal and do some hammering to get it to work..305/55/20 is a huge tire it works great with 5" of lift. The bodylift and 2" level will clear them good, or something like the rancho suspension lift thats 5" lift.

And if you want an aggressive looking tire there is no question you need the trail grappler, the terra grappler looks like a street tire. Especially once its worn even a little bit.

Well I'm looking at the picture right now, I would be happy to email it to you so you can see. I did not take a picture but the inside of the front wheel wells were not modified at all? The 305/55R20 is a really wide tire also.

I have ran that exact tire size (305/55/20) with 2" of lift, with 6.10 backspace which is even more conservative than the OEM wheel and it still rubbed like CRAZY.. Rubbed if you were turned sharp in forward, (not even full lock), anytime you hit a bump with any amount of turn on the wheel, rubbed oin any off-camber turn or incline, and rubbed BADD in reverse like you basically can forget about parking lots all together, cause you cant back out of a parking space with those tires..

After that I actually ran those tires with 7.5" of suspension lift because they are so big for these wheel wells on the GMT-900s.. When i had just the 2" leveling I kit and 305/55/20s I had removed the front air dam, and trimmed all the plastic i could on the back of the wheel well,.. only other option was cutting and pounding.. Just do a quick search on here, its no secret that you cant clear that tire size with level kit. These wheel wells are too small and squared compared to other truck makes and even the older gmt-800s..

People have had to trim to get the 305/55/20s to clear with the 4"BDS suspension lift, and still deal with rubbing.. to properly clear them you need 5" of lift... thats a rancho, or 2" level + 3" Body lift. Ask matt he ran the 305/55/20 with a 3" body lift and it rubbed, so he went to a 305/50/20.. THAT is the tire size that is recommended for the 2" level kit, 305/50/20, not 55...

LilJuicedCoupe · March 28, 2011

Ask matt he ran the 305/55/20 with a 3" body lift and it rubbed, so he went to a 305/50/20.. THAT is the tire size that is recommended for the 2" level kit, 305/50/20, not 55...

So the 305 width is cool with a 2" RC level kit using stock wheels. That would be about 12" wide depending on the wheel width.

stlavsa · March 28, 2011

Ask matt he ran the 305/55/20 with a 3" body lift and it rubbed, so he went to a 305/50/20.. THAT is the tire size that is recommended for the 2" level kit, 305/50/20, not 55...

So the 305 width is cool with a 2" RC level kit using stock wheels. That would be about 12" wide depending on the wheel width.

umm ya it can be done.. I am not gonna say its the optimal setup to have, but its do-able. Its a good offset to have in order to prevent chances of rubbing, so in that respect its a good wheel, but its a little skinny for a 305.. It will work, I had 305s on an 8.5" wide wheel and they were fine. A wider wheel like 9-10" will fit the tire better, give you a flatter contact patch and the tire will just basically wear and handle better because its sitting flatter..

What I would recommend would be do a chalk test, start at like 35 PSI and chalk the entire contact patch, and adjust the PSI accordingly to get the chalk to wear evenly meaning the tire is sitting flatter if that makes sense...

Edit: but if u do go 305s make sure they are the 50s... that extra 5% of the 55 series is just too much.. Im guessing the 50 series is going to be a lower load range tire meaning its gonna be lighter too so the truck will run nicer, it will have less rotating mass, and the final drive gearing will be closer to stock..

LilJuicedCoupe · March 28, 2011

Thanks for your input. There are a couple of 305/50R20s I found that I'm interested in. Cooper has a Zeon LTZ that looks suitable. And General Grabber AT2 is available in 305/50R20. Also on my list is BFGoodrich 285/55R20 but it's heavy at 57lbs.

jarettg · March 28, 2011

sounds good, thanks for the input. i think i will be going with the 295's, 305 is a very wide tire and i dont need to burn the extra gas to get around the city!

brnr17, if you can post those pics it would be appreciated! how long did the BL take you to install? would you reccommend doing it or having a shop do it?

blackout07 · March 29, 2011

I saw a silverado running the mud tire 305/55R20 with a leveling kit (not sure if it was a 2" or 2.5") and there were no signs of rubbing on the front end. Truck did not have a body lift.

NO you NEED wayyy more lift than 2" to clear a 305/55/20.. Its not even close. You have to cut a good bit of metal and do some hammering to get it to work..305/55/20 is a huge tire it works great with 5" of lift. The bodylift and 2" level will clear them good, or something like the rancho suspension lift thats 5" lift.

And if you want an aggressive looking tire there is no question you need the trail grappler, the terra grappler looks like a street tire. Especially once its worn even a little bit.

Well I'm looking at the picture right now, I would be happy to email it to you so you can see. I did not take a picture but the inside of the front wheel wells were not modified at all? The 305/55R20 is a really wide tire also.

Been there, tried that, got the t-shirt...It ain't happenin'.