Are We Giving The Correct Tire Size Advice?

HawkScot · April 12, 2011

Yup, I am also going to change my advice, from no, it does not work, it rubs.... to yes, it works, but not very well.

stlavsa · April 12, 2011

It all started cuz some guy comes in here and says how his 33x12.5x22s on OEM wheels fit with just a 2" leveling kit and there is NO RUBBING AT ALL..

Do i believe him? yes, sorta. I believe that it doesnt rub for him, but i am also 100% sure it would rub for me, if not, its because those tires run small..

sickpainter · April 13, 2011

It all started cuz some guy comes in here and says how his 33x12.5x22s on OEM wheels fit with just a 2" leveling kit and there is NO RUBBING AT ALL..

Do i believe him? yes, sorta. I believe that it doesnt rub for him, but i am also 100% sure it would rub for me, if not, its because those tires run small..

I live in NC if you would like you can drive down from PA and come ride in my truck, look under it, listen to it, inspect it, look at the splash sheilds, look and the sway bar, and what ever else you may like, I really could care less on your side of the computer weather you think my tires rub, what are you basing this off of your all knowing power? I am basing it off of true fact that I see and hear with my own two eyes and ears my set up does not rub, I put a 2'' rough country leve and the 33x12.5r22 toyo's on. They ride great do not rub do they have some noise yes a little but thats it. come see for yourself.

Stevens03 · April 13, 2011

It all started cuz some guy comes in here and says how his 33x12.5x22s on OEM wheels fit with just a 2" leveling kit and there is NO RUBBING AT ALL..

Do i believe him? yes, sorta. I believe that it doesnt rub for him, but i am also 100% sure it would rub for me, if not, its because those tires run small..

I live in NC if you would like you can drive down from PA and come ride in my truck, look under it, listen to it, inspect it, look at the splash sheilds, look and the sway bar, and what ever else you may like, I really could care less on your side of the computer weather you think my tires rub, what are you basing this off of your all knowing power? I am basing it off of true fact that I see and hear with my own two eyes and ears my set up does not rub, I put a 2'' rough country leve and the 33x12.5r22 toyo's on. They ride great do not rub do they have some noise yes a little but thats it. come see for yourself.

JackedBeaver · April 13, 2011

I don't mean to be a smartypants, but a circle will fit in a square hole...

Are we still arguing about this?!?!? If it rubs, it doesn't fit... if someone considers rubbing "ok"... then i suppose a circle will fit in a square hole I'm gonna have to change my entire approach when people ask for advice on whether things "work" or not.

Superperv23 · April 13, 2011

I don't mean to be a smartypants, but a circle will fit in a square hole...

and a square will fit in a circle hole, and triangle will fit in square hole or circle hole and both will fit in a triangle hole and so on and so on

stlavsa · April 13, 2011

It all started cuz some guy comes in here and says how his 33x12.5x22s on OEM wheels fit with just a 2" leveling kit and there is NO RUBBING AT ALL..

Do i believe him? yes, sorta. I believe that it doesnt rub for him, but i am also 100% sure it would rub for me, if not, its because those tires run small..

I live in NC if you would like you can drive down from PA and come ride in my truck, look under it, listen to it, inspect it, look at the splash sheilds, look and the sway bar, and what ever else you may like, I really could care less on your side of the computer weather you think my tires rub, what are you basing this off of your all knowing power? I am basing it off of true fact that I see and hear with my own two eyes and ears my set up does not rub, I put a 2'' rough country leve and the 33x12.5r22 toyo's on. They ride great do not rub do they have some noise yes a little but thats it. come see for yourself.

What do you mean by noise? Do you mean the humming of the tires on the road? Or the sound of the tires hitting the fenders? (i believe your just talkin about road noise).

My "knowing power" is the fact that no one else has been able to run a 33x12.5 on 2" of lift without rubbing (including myself).. Have you driven the truck off-road yet? Maybe in a rut, off-camber, turning up hill at full lock? Like i said, there is a possibility that its just a little smaller than some of the other 33x12.5s and it gives it enough room to clear. Maybe because its on such a big wheel, its designed to be a little more low profile??

In the end, this thread is about tire size and if we are being too conservative with our sizing recommendations...Well we got dozens of people who come on here complaining about the rubbing, and we got 1 guy that says it clears perfectly no modifications.. Should we really change our recommendations because 1 guy got it to work 1 time?? In my opinion, the answer is no.

blackout07 · April 13, 2011

I live in NC if you would like you can drive down from PA and come ride in my truck, look under it, listen to it, inspect it, look at the splash sheilds, look and the sway bar, and what ever else you may like, I really could care less on your side of the computer weather you think my tires rub, what are you basing this off of your all knowing power? I am basing it off of true fact that I see and hear with my own two eyes and ears my set up does not rub, I put a 2'' rough country leve and the 33x12.5r22 toyo's on. They ride great do not rub do they have some noise yes a little but thats it. come see for yourself.

Was this truck purchased new?

sickpainter · April 14, 2011

I live in NC if you would like you can drive down from PA and come ride in my truck, look under it, listen to it, inspect it, look at the splash sheilds, look and the sway bar, and what ever else you may like, I really could care less on your side of the computer weather you think my tires rub, what are you basing this off of your all knowing power? I am basing it off of true fact that I see and hear with my own two eyes and ears my set up does not rub, I put a 2'' rough country leve and the 33x12.5r22 toyo's on. They ride great do not rub do they have some noise yes a little but thats it. come see for yourself.

Was this truck purchased new?

yes I purchased the truck new and

I have been off road and no problems, although I don't go "4wheeling" I go offroad for hunting and other things. I daily drive the truck as well, I work at a bodyshop so i even put it on the lift the other day to see any signs of wearing any where that I might not feel or hear some how and no wear signs either. Another guy at my shop has a 07 silverado with 22in aftermarket wheels and 285/55/22 nittos and his rubs like a bit** and he had to cut sheet metal and his fender liner and it still rubs, his truck is the reason I chose to stay with 33's and I figured it would rub a lil but I was amazed that It doesn't rub at.

ryan_hermanutz · April 14, 2011

I think the debate on if "Rub" is acceptable or not mainly comes down to what the owner is going to use it for and what they find acceptable. On some of the other forums they are younger and don't seem to care if they have to trim they just want the 33" for the number and don't care what the results are. You also have people who really will never take it off-road so trimming to get rid of the "rub" is okay for them. On the other side you have the owners who actually take the trucks off-road, if you have the "rub" on-road the off-road "rub" can be more like a tear something off. You also have the owners who just want a tire that fits without any "rub" and don't want to cut/trim.

stlavsa · April 15, 2011

I live in NC if you would like you can drive down from PA and come ride in my truck, look under it, listen to it, inspect it, look at the splash sheilds, look and the sway bar, and what ever else you may like, I really could care less on your side of the computer weather you think my tires rub, what are you basing this off of your all knowing power? I am basing it off of true fact that I see and hear with my own two eyes and ears my set up does not rub, I put a 2'' rough country leve and the 33x12.5r22 toyo's on. They ride great do not rub do they have some noise yes a little but thats it. come see for yourself.

Was this truck purchased new?

yes I purchased the truck new and

I have been off road and no problems, although I don't go "4wheeling" I go offroad for hunting and other things. I daily drive the truck as well, I work at a bodyshop so i even put it on the lift the other day to see any signs of wearing any where that I might not feel or hear some how and no wear signs either. Another guy at my shop has a 07 silverado with 22in aftermarket wheels and 285/55/22 nittos and his rubs like a bit** and he had to cut sheet metal and his fender liner and it still rubs, his truck is the reason I chose to stay with 33's and I figured it would rub a lil but I was amazed that It doesn't rub at.

was the OEM size 285/45/22? Seems to me that if that equivalent size tire was in a 18 or 20 that it would rub on silverado without a level kit, but somehow since its a 22 clears without a level kit.. (hope that made sense). I think it has something to do with the profile of the 22 it doesnt have any sidwall bulge and maybe the tires run a little lower profile in that size..

sickpainter · April 15, 2011

I live in NC if you would like you can drive down from PA and come ride in my truck, look under it, listen to it, inspect it, look at the splash sheilds, look and the sway bar, and what ever else you may like, I really could care less on your side of the computer weather you think my tires rub, what are you basing this off of your all knowing power? I am basing it off of true fact that I see and hear with my own two eyes and ears my set up does not rub, I put a 2'' rough country leve and the 33x12.5r22 toyo's on. They ride great do not rub do they have some noise yes a little but thats it. come see for yourself.

Was this truck purchased new?

yes I purchased the truck new and

I have been off road and no problems, although I don't go "4wheeling" I go offroad for hunting and other things. I daily drive the truck as well, I work at a bodyshop so i even put it on the lift the other day to see any signs of wearing any where that I might not feel or hear some how and no wear signs either. Another guy at my shop has a 07 silverado with 22in aftermarket wheels and 285/55/22 nittos and his rubs like a bit** and he had to cut sheet metal and his fender liner and it still rubs, his truck is the reason I chose to stay with 33's and I figured it would rub a lil but I was amazed that It doesn't rub at.

was the OEM size 285/45/22? Seems to me that if that equivalent size tire was in a 18 or 20 that it would rub on silverado without a level kit, but somehow since its a 22 clears without a level kit.. (hope that made sense). I think it has something to do with the profile of the 22 it doesnt have any sidwall bulge and maybe the tires run a little lower profile in that size..

Stock tire was a 285/45/22 and didn't have any issues then either. Must be something with the wheel size and oem wheel?

Yz2k20 · April 17, 2011

Has anyone installed 275/60R20 on stock 20s? I'm still trying to decide on what leveling kit I will get but I need tires sooner than later so I would like to go ahead and get the tires installed first.

ledfoot09sierra · April 23, 2011

I think the answer is obvious here....

YOU don't think rubbing is an issue, but the majority of this site does. So when someone posts a question and asks "what fits", we tell them. You're more than welcome to respond with a larger tire size.... just make sure you tell them its going to rub.

You ARE the exact reason I got screwed and had to cut metal on my brand new truck. When I confronted the person I confided in he said "oh yeah it does rub but I don't think its a big deal". He failed to mentioned that when he PMed me back initially with "oh Yeah they fit fine man".

Edit: if you can't tell, I'm still pissed about that. I did not enjoy cutting the fenders on my Denali. Although it looked perfectly fine when I was done (because I had experience with it on my silverado) it was a decision I made to not trim any metal on that truck. A little bit of plastic is one thing.... but not metal.

I was pissed too... I had my first setup with 305/55/20s and 2" level back when these trucks were still fairly new and then the general concensus was.. "yah they will fit"... They rubbed like a bitch and i was PISSED.. It wasnt close, it coulda been 8.5" wheels, 9" wheels, 7" wheels, 10" wheels non of them were gonna clear the wide, tall, tire with 20/32nds of tread depth. Who wants to spend $35,000.00+ dollars on a brand new truck, running like a dream, then the very next day you install the level kit and 33s and you cant even drive it normally it rubs loudly and scares everyone in the parking lot?? Turned your brand new 35k truck into a piece of shit.

You might think that some trucks sit differently and thats why some fit and some dont, but it still boils down to needing 5" of lift to properly clear them, so its not like one guys 2" level kit is gonna work and anothers doesnt"...

As far as Im concerned theres no reason to recommend the 305/55/20 tire size to the guys with the level kits when there is the 305/50/20. it WILL clear with just the level kit, and there are a few a/t tires available in that size, and they look much better than the taller skinner 285 width option.

I want to install 305/50/20 non nobby all seasons(Falken Ziex S/TZ04), using 9" wide wheels,but would like to leave my '09 sierra at stock height. Are You certain that it will rub if not leveled(from experience?), if so, inside or out (or both), is it possible to avoid the rub by changing just the offset in this application?

I appreciate all of your comments (-/+) as I'm about to invest $2,500 & I need to know what I'm getting into...

thanks & regards,

Joe

stlavsa · April 23, 2011

I think the answer is obvious here....

YOU don't think rubbing is an issue, but the majority of this site does. So when someone posts a question and asks "what fits", we tell them. You're more than welcome to respond with a larger tire size.... just make sure you tell them its going to rub.

You ARE the exact reason I got screwed and had to cut metal on my brand new truck. When I confronted the person I confided in he said "oh yeah it does rub but I don't think its a big deal". He failed to mentioned that when he PMed me back initially with "oh Yeah they fit fine man".

Edit: if you can't tell, I'm still pissed about that. I did not enjoy cutting the fenders on my Denali. Although it looked perfectly fine when I was done (because I had experience with it on my silverado) it was a decision I made to not trim any metal on that truck. A little bit of plastic is one thing.... but not metal.

I was pissed too... I had my first setup with 305/55/20s and 2" level back when these trucks were still fairly new and then the general concensus was.. "yah they will fit"... They rubbed like a bitch and i was PISSED.. It wasnt close, it coulda been 8.5" wheels, 9" wheels, 7" wheels, 10" wheels non of them were gonna clear the wide, tall, tire with 20/32nds of tread depth. Who wants to spend $35,000.00+ dollars on a brand new truck, running like a dream, then the very next day you install the level kit and 33s and you cant even drive it normally it rubs loudly and scares everyone in the parking lot?? Turned your brand new 35k truck into a piece of shit.

You might think that some trucks sit differently and thats why some fit and some dont, but it still boils down to needing 5" of lift to properly clear them, so its not like one guys 2" level kit is gonna work and anothers doesnt"...

As far as Im concerned theres no reason to recommend the 305/55/20 tire size to the guys with the level kits when there is the 305/50/20. it WILL clear with just the level kit, and there are a few a/t tires available in that size, and they look much better than the taller skinner 285 width option.

I want to install 305/50/20 non nobby all seasons(Falken Ziex S/TZ04), using 9" wide wheels,but would like to leave my '09 sierra at stock height. Are You certain that it will rub if not leveled(from experience?), if so, inside or out (or both), is it possible to avoid the rub by changing just the offset in this application?

I appreciate all of your comments (-/+) as I'm about to invest $2,500 & I need to know what I'm getting into...

thanks & regards,

Joe

Im gonna say that with +30 offset (best to avoid rubbing on leveled or stock trucks.. that you will rub without the level kit. Might only be slight, like full lock reverse and offcamber turns and bumpy turns, but i bet it will.. I duno the worst you could do is buy it, try it, and if it rubs you gotta do the level kit. its only an extra 80 bucks and an hour of your time..

If you wana play it safe and insist on no level kit, do a smaller tire.