3" Lift with 31-33" with 3.73's PROS CONS

opsbear7 · March 18, 2006

Alright...I have been reading previous posts and information for about an hour and a half now and I just am going to have to ask because it is a specific question.

If i were to get a 3" skyjacker lift with 32ish" tires and i have the 3.73 gears on my 03 1500 Silverado:

1)What would my final gear ratio be?

2)How much slower am i going to feel getting off the line than my with my stockers

3)To solve this could i get like 25 HP gain to make up for the lost ground with the lower gear ratio

4) If you were me(keep in mind i dont have a deep pocket) how big of a tire would you go up to without regearing in my situation?

95Blaze · March 18, 2006

Well adjusted the t-bars 1.75 higher, then I installed a 3 inch body lift and 325 60x18 terra graplers with 3.73 gears. I can't spin the rear tires as easily as I used to. But for $300 I'm sitting almost 5 inches higher in the front 3 in the rear before I installed insalled the larger tires. If I had more money to spend I would have went with a 6 inch suspension lift, just my opinion.

Elwood 2000 · March 18, 2006

A 285-70-17 tire is roughly 33 inches tall and you should not have to re-gear at all with that tire. Spend a few bucks on a Westers tune (or another brand of your choice), have him adjust the speedo, increase power, reduce torque management and you will feel like you are in a totally different (for the better) truck.

Best bang for the buck!

opsbear7 · March 18, 2006

A 285-70-17 tire is roughly 33 inches tall and you should not have to re-gear at all with that tire. Spend a few bucks on a Westers tune (or another brand of your choice), have him adjust the speedo, increase power, reduce torque management and you will feel like you are in a totally different (for the better) truck.

Best bang for the buck!

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Thant's awesome...Now i am fired up to get the lift and tires.

02z · March 18, 2006

Hey guys...I'm a noobie to this site...but have been posting at fullsizechevy.com for a year or so.

I'm running 305/70-16's (33x12.50) on my 02 Silverado with 3" BL and 3.73 gears. It has plenty of power and gets an average of 16 mpg...it has gotten as good as 18.5 with 100% 65 mph highway driving. I say anything up to a 33 inch tire is good with 3.73's.

opsbear7 · March 18, 2006

Hey guys...I'm a noobie to this site...but have been posting at fullsizechevy.com for a year or so.

I'm running 305/70-16's (33x12.50) on my 02 Silverado with 3" BL and 3.73 gears. It has plenty of power and gets an average of 16 mpg...it has gotten as good as 18.5 with 100% 65 mph highway driving. I say anything up to a 33 inch tire is good with 3.73's.

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thats good to hear.....i will def go with a 33 then../

opsbear7 · March 20, 2006

I think i am going to go with the Goodyear Wrangler Silent Armors...they look sweet and my buddies got them and says they are amazing...any opinions.

Bruce03Silverado · March 22, 2006

This past weekend I just put a 3" body lift on my 03 1500 4x4 with 305/70/16 BFG AT TA KO's and 16x8 Mickey Thompson Classic II's. I also have 3.73 gears. Prior to the lift I had 285/75/16 BFG AT TA KO's on the stock rims. I added a Volant cold air, Superchips tuner and Magnaflow catback to compensate and those REALLY woke the truck up!! You will feel a bit more sluggish off the line, but I added the above to compensate and it did more than compensate for the larger tires.

I do have to ask why you would want to spend 3x more for a 3" suspension lift when you can get a 3" body lift for $500 and you'd be the same height? I put a set of Rancho RSX shocks on my truck and that was it. If you're just looking for height save the $$ on a 3" suspension lift and use that to get your cold air, exhaust and tuner. Go with a body lift if all you want is a 3" lift. It took us about a day to do and looks AWESOME! Even if you went with a body lift later on down the road you could always do an added suspension lift for even more height but I would suggest the body lift if all you want is 3". Just my opinion.

As far as the tires go I have never been a fan of Goodyears. I bought my second set of BFG AT TA KO's to go with my body lift and they are by far the best tires I've had on a vehicle (minus of course the Firestone Firehawks I have on my 02 Firehawk) I've ever owned. If you have questions about the body lift feel free to ask away or PM me and we can take it to e-mail - there's a lot to think about and I can tell you how I went about doing mine.

Good luck!!

opsbear7 · March 22, 2006

This past weekend I just put a 3" body lift on my 03 1500 4x4 with 305/70/16 BFG AT TA KO's and 16x8 Mickey Thompson Classic II's. I also have 3.73 gears. Prior to the lift I had 285/75/16 BFG AT TA KO's on the stock rims. I added a Volant cold air, Superchips tuner and Magnaflow catback to compensate and those REALLY woke the truck up!! You will feel a bit more sluggish off the line, but I added the above to compensate and it did more than compensate for the larger tires.

I do have to ask why you would want to spend 3x more for a 3" suspension lift when you can get a 3" body lift for $500 and you'd be the same height? I put a set of Rancho RSX shocks on my truck and that was it. If you're just looking for height save the $$ on a 3" suspension lift and use that to get your cold air, exhaust and tuner. Go with a body lift if all you want is a 3" lift. It took us about a day to do and looks AWESOME! Even if you went with a body lift later on down the road you could always do an added suspension lift for even more height but I would suggest the body lift if all you want is 3". Just my opinion.

As far as the tires go I have never been a fan of Goodyears. I bought my second set of BFG AT TA KO's to go with my body lift and they are by far the best tires I've had on a vehicle (minus of course the Firestone Firehawks I have on my 02 Firehawk) I've ever owned. If you have questions about the body lift feel free to ask away or PM me and we can take it to e-mail - there's a lot to think about and I can tell you how I went about doing mine.

Good luck!!

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Thanks for the Info...At first i was looking into getting a body lift but then i started looking around and for some reason (i think it is a personal pet peeve) it drives me crazy with the frame being low down and the body being on "blocks" for some reason those two things just bug me. Anyways i would just go with the suspension now and if i really want more i will get the BL too. I am not sure though. I am going to open up a post on BL vs SL for a 3" soon. As for the tires i have never had to buy new ones but i am debating betweent the Goodyears and BFG's, but i do not want to go with anything more than 33" becaus3e i have the 3.73's....As for other upgrades to compensate i will do exhaust and a tune.

Bruce03Silverado · March 22, 2006

285/75/16 and 305/70/16's are both 33" tires - the 305's are just wider. You can get gap guards to cover the space in the frame and body and you wouldn't see it. I drive my truck 100mi a day and use it frequently for work around the house, carrying around my 3 german shepherds, etc so functionality was the most important thing for me so with the body lift I get the height I want w/o impacting the suspension at all. I have my Firehawk so that is the car I baby. I need the truck to be as functional as possible so in all my research the body lift was the way to go for me. With a 6" suspension lift you're gonna need 35" tires and I can guarantee that if you think 33's will bog down the truck those 35's will even more so so you will need to do more to compensate for that. I did my body lift, rims, tires, tranny cooler, electric fans, and a set of PIAA 4000's for $3k installed and out the door. I did the work at my buddies perf shop. You're lookin at $1400 just for the suspension lift.

02z · March 24, 2006

Yeah, if all you want if 33 inch tires then just get the 285/75's (33x11.50) and turn the torsion bars up a couple rounds. It'll only cost you the price of the tires and an alignment (which you should do anyway). The 305's will rub without some sort of lift because of the width, but the 285's will clear a minor TB cranking (which is basically all a 3" SL is anyway.

jduah83 · March 28, 2006

Would 315/70/17, be to large for a 3" body lift?

Bruce03Silverado · March 29, 2006

Here's some pics of my truck with the body lift and 305/70/16's and Mickey Thompson Classic II's (16x8)

I think the 305's work perfect with the body lift

2004GMC1500CC · March 29, 2006

Here's some pics of my truck with the body lift and 305/70/16's and Mickey Thompson Classic II's (16x8)

I think the 305's work perfect with the body lift

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Looks like your spare is the same size as all of your other tires. Do have a tow hitch under there with it? On my 04 it doesn't look like you can put a larger tire in there than stock.

Bruce03Silverado · March 29, 2006

Here's some pics of my truck with the body lift and 305/70/16's and Mickey Thompson Classic II's (16x8)

I think the 305's work perfect with the body lift

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Looks like your spare is the same size as all of your other tires. Do have a tow hitch under there with it? On my 04 it doesn't look like you can put a larger tire in there than stock.

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My spare is actually one of my old 285/75/16's that I had on the stock rims so they aren't quite as big as the 305's and no I don't have a hitch. You are correct in that it won't fit if there is a hitch on there. If/when I do put a hitch on it I will get a 265 BFG as the spare but since I don't have one and since the 285 would fit I decided to go with that.