Need help with possible christmas lift/level gift

So there's books on this stuff around here, but here's my understanding and .02. I'm no expert but have read a lot of what's around, so basically giving you my take.

I'm confused about your explanation, who's truck, what truck (the LT you list or some other one?)..

80% of the low look of the non ZR2 Gen2's is related to a good bit of rake (about 1.5 inches lower front to rear), then more so even the air dam that looks like a ground effect under the bumper, the type of tires, and to an extent how they went w/ 17 inch wheels and only a stock 30.1 or 30.6 tire (a matter of not enough rubber showing, more rubber = better look for those that like off roadish stuff).

So really if you want them to look off road capable, stage one, which is kinda night and day, is lift the front a little, remove air dam, put some ~31 inch AT tires on there, preferably with black wheels as they distract your eyes and make the tires look bigger.

Unless you go radical lift wise, where you gotta go to bigger wheels to fit aftermarket a-arms, the tolerances get very close very quick as you try to put bigger tires on there without having to trim away material in the wheel wells. GM just didn't leave us much room to mess around. Unlike some other trucks on the road, you can't just say "oh no problem I'll space them out with my lift" - the issue is the inside of the wheel well has more room than the outboard rim of it.

Lifts that just involve shocks put the a-arms at a greater angle, they pull the wheels in - so they are trying to induce a rub on the inside. The wheels are hub centric on these trucks, so you can't just add a little spacer to make up the difference and hub centric spacers need space for the lugs so start at 1-inch, when maybe 1/2 inch might be ideal.

Last 2 paragraph's basically say - to make it so you can run say a standard 32+ inch tire without rubbing, is tricky.

255/70/17's are known to be OK on stock wheels. 265/17/17's and 255/75/17's generally OK but some reports of rubbing mixed in. The lift part doesn't necessarily solve the problem because tolerances are tight to stay inside of that wheel well, one guy has just the right formula and no issue, another guy non stock wheels and rubs etc.. etc.. Do your homework.

Take a measure of the distance from the center of the hub to the fender, vertically up, each wheel, do it a few times (this changes some, fuel level, how you parked exactly). That gives you a ballpark of the rake. You really want the rear to still be 1/2 inch taller, so that if you put something in the bed or are towing you aren't really dragging ass.

On a newer truck, a formula of the GM level kit (1 inch in the front), remove air dam, black wheels, some form of AT tires, is kinda night and day. I did this on a '22 WT w/ a set of 255/70/17 Falken Wildpeaks and it is an absolutely massive difference in appearance with benefits to capability too, without messing w/ the truck much at all. Off warranty I'd have gone w/ Bilstein adjustable coilovers, maybe similar by Eibach, maybe shot for raising front 1.5 and rear .5 to keep some carrying capacity. As vehicles get older and you are worried about ride height to this degree, it's a good idea to put new parts in there anyway - springs sag over time.

I agree with Leaky. I think the most practical course of action is:

GM Performance Parts level kit (two part spacer which balances the downsides of a preload spacer and coil spacer by splitting them up. Also maintains warranty if dealer installs...) and 265/70R17 AT tires with the black sidewall out.


Here's some (old) pictures of my truck after I did just that. I put 265/70R17 BFG KO2s on because they were on sale at the time. Recommend you look at Falken Wildpeaks, Kenda Klevers, and Toyo Open Country AT3 as well.


I know the angle isn't the same (sorry) but I think it shows a bit of what we're talking about.

leaky said:

So there's books on this stuff around here, but here's my understanding and .02. I'm no expert but have read a lot of what's around, so basically giving you my take.

I'm confused about your explanation, who's truck, what truck (the LT you list or some other one?)..

80% of the low look of the non ZR2 Gen2's is related to a good bit of rake (about 1.5 inches lower front to rear), then more so even the air dam that looks like a ground effect under the bumper, the type of tires, and to an extent how they went w/ 17 inch wheels and only a stock 30.1 or 30.6 tire (a matter of not enough rubber showing, more rubber = better look for those that like off roadish stuff).

So really if you want them to look off road capable, stage one, which is kinda night and day, is lift the front a little, remove air dam, put some ~31 inch AT tires on there, preferably with black wheels as they distract your eyes and make the tires look bigger.

Unless you go radical lift wise, where you gotta go to bigger wheels to fit aftermarket a-arms, the tolerances get very close very quick as you try to put bigger tires on there without having to trim away material in the wheel wells. GM just didn't leave us much room to mess around. Unlike some other trucks on the road, you can't just say "oh no problem I'll space them out with my lift" - the issue is the inside of the wheel well has more room than the outboard rim of it.

Lifts that just involve shocks put the a-arms at a greater angle, they pull the wheels in - so they are trying to induce a rub on the inside. The wheels are hub centric on these trucks, so you can't just add a little spacer to make up the difference and hub centric spacers need space for the lugs so start at 1-inch, when maybe 1/2 inch might be ideal.

Click to expand...

so much BS on this post

lifts/levels, period, put the a-arms at a greater angle then OEM, whether spacers for levels or shocks as a level like I posted, they both do the same thing with the suspension/a-arms. Only lift/level that does not is a body lift.

Black wheels only look good with certain colors of trucks, look at ARCowboy's above, that would not look good with black wheels, I will think of a color that might in little while

our wheels are a 33 off-set, which means the wheels are pulled in from the hub about 1.35 inches, majority of aftermarekt wheels are 0-offset, so that puts the wheel tire combo out about the 1.35 inches from stock. So when you turn the wheel the edge of the tire may hit the front and rear of the front fender. If you then go to a larger then OEM tire with that wheel you will have to do some trimming, easy to do if your significant other is handy with tools.

GM was using the RC spacer as a level prior to them designing their own, so tthey had to make it different but does the exact same thing, spacer top and bottom instead of a larger spacer, that equals the same thickness, on top.