Chevy & GMC Vans

Shizer,

Hey guys, I might have a problem. I have 4 new wheels and tires in my garage that look huge. They are 255/70/16's on a 16 x 8" wheel with an offset that is supposed to fit the van. The decision was based on the size of tires on T-Lows van. My lift isn't complete because OLV sent me the wrong T-keys, but put one wheel on the rear and it fit, but looks huge. I'm also disappointed in the tire I chose, trying to be practical I purchased an AT that looked like it would handle road conditions (noise, fuel, alignment whatever)better than a more aggressive tread pattern. Plus I got a pretty good deal on all 926.00 for all, mount/bal, tires, wheels, install kit and shipping. That's cheaper than BFG AT's I originally wanted.

Anyhow, are these suckers gonna fit? Is the reason they look so much wider because of the 8" wheel and T-lows tires are on a stock 7" wheel? Should be excited, but have a huge ? stamped on my forehead!!

Thanks

Should have taken a picture.

rastafari03 wrote:Should have taken a picture.

Uh, yeah!

Well my handy tire size calculator says that's a 30.1" tire, so yeah, it's "up there" in terms of fit, but not the biggest people have squeezed in.

This is why I'm waiting until my lift is ON before I get tires. Yeah, it'll look a bit dorky for a week or two, but less "back and forth" about fitment in the mean time.

They do look big, alright. Especially when you set it on the rear bumper to see about building a spare tire carrier. My spare barely fits underneath in the OME spot.

Mine are actually 30.75" tall. You are just anxious, I know I'd be climbing the walls if I had to wait like that on parts for my lift kit. I went to Mexico after I orderred my lift kit and I still was thinking about it all the time while I was down there.

so much wider?!?!
when you put 1 tire on to see, did you put it on the rear passenger side, and then see if the slider door still opens?

T.Low wrote:They do look big, alright. Especially when you set it on the rear bumper to see about building a spare tire carrier. My spare barely fits underneath in the OME spot.

Mine are actually 30.75" tall. You are just anxious, I know I'd be climbing the walls if I had to wait like that on parts for my lift kit. I went to Mexico after I orderred my lift kit and I still was thinking about it all the time while I was down there.

Tom, that's a good reminder, as I've been meaning to ask: What size spare do you have stuffed into the spare location now? I remember you posted it at somepoint, but can't find it now.

I'll be ordering tires soon, trying to figure out if I should get 5x whatever tire I select and do the 5-tire rotation thing, or if I'll need to get a slightly smaller spare...

(Have 5 of the chevy 5-spoke alloys like you're running, so the 5-tire rotation is easy)

I have used a five tire rotation for the last 64,500 miles on a 50,000 mile rated tire.

Very Easy and Worth It.

Jim

PS New Tires (5) Arriving on Monday. Good Luck.

Iva Biggen stuffed under there. It pretty much max's out the available space.

Aint no little donut gonna come to the rescue out in the backcountry miles away from my tire store warranty.

My AT's I have 5. My MT's I have 4. All mounted on the same 5 spokers. If I do longer more remote trips like Owyhee, I'll bring a 2nd spare on the roof rack. I haven't had to yet, but I won't mind mixing in an MT should I need a 2nd spare in the back country. The overall height of the MT's and AT's are the same.

When I was a 16 yr old kid with my FJ40 I came across a truck stuck in the mud out in the boonies. He had proceeded to shred a rear tire whike trying to get unstuck. Now the truck sat in the mud with the spare tucked away in the OME spot; under the truck mired in mud.

So even though I would prefer to not raise my COG, I think it's elementary to have my spare most accessible and have it the same size and quality (or better) than the other tires. And that is why I'll not mount the high lift jack underneath the truck on the frame.

FYI:

I had a difficult time making up my mind about which tire to go with. I narrowed it down to three: BFG AT, Kelly Pathfinder AT, Geolander AT. All aobut $900 or so.

I know the guys at Discount Tire fairly well, and got to know them even better thru this shopping process of mine. They called me one day and said they got the kelly's on return by a customer. The lady had bought them for her SUV and her husband got pissed that she bought tires without him and made her take them back.

Point is, I got them for $433 (half price). I orderred a 5th, and figured I could get a 2nd set of MT's on Craigslist with the remaining money in my tire budget. I got Goodyear MT's off Expo for $400 in great shape, a 2nd set of 5 spokes off CL for $100 (then a set of 3 5spokes for $25 incase I ever want to do a trailer or ?). It's easy enough to rotate the mounted tires depending on what I want to use the van for, and splitting mileage between two sets of tires, it will be a long time before i need to buy another set.

It can't hurt to cruise the tire shops and ask them if they have any takeoffs (when guys buy new trucks with 16 inch wheels and want to bling them out with dubs). A lot of Chevs come with Bridgestone Duellers and Deano really likes those tires. They might let you have them for $400-500.

T.Low wrote:Iva Biggen stuffed under there. It pretty much max's out the available space.

Aint no little donut gonna come to the rescue out in the backcountry miles away from my tire store warranty.

My AT's I have 5. My MT's I have 4. All mounted on the same 5 spokers. If I do longer more remote trips like Owyhee, I'll bring a 2nd spare on the roof rack. I haven't had to yet, but I won't mind mixing in an MT should I need a 2nd spare in the back country. The overall height of the MT's and AT's are the same.

You don't have your tire sizes in your sig anymore, so I'm not sure what you're running.

T.Low wrote: So even though I would prefer to not raise my COG, I think it's elementary to have my spare most accessible and have it the same size and quality (or better) than the other tires. And that is why I'll not mount the high lift jack underneath the truck on the frame.

Understood and agreed. I'm semi-forced to stick with the original spot for now, but a swing-out is on the must-do list for a lot of the same reasons. We don't have mud so much as deep silty sand washes and it only takes two heartbeats to get dug in pretty deep...

MT's are 245/75 and the ATs are 255/70. On the tire charts, they are 30.5 or 30.75, but in real life they are a little smaller.

Geezz, you guys are good!

Yeah, I know. I got online a hundred times playing with that tire calculator. I don't think it's the height, they look super wide. Their actually flush with the top, outer part of the fender flare which seems right, the vans just taper way back into the rocker area and tires stick way out. It's a looks thing, damn curious, but just don't know what Frankenstein is going to look like. I saw my first modified Astro and it was done well and looked great, but was lowered. Never seen a lifted van up close.

I've been in white pickups my whole life and the color of my van isn't my favorite. When it came to picking out wheels I decided on black. Black racks, windows and might paint the lower line of the body black. ?? The tires are to tame looking as well (Pirelli AT Scorpions) and look funny mounted, too round at the outer tread unlike the BFG AT's. Who knows, I do have 30 days to return unmounted wheels have to be real careful installing them. We'll see, probably just take some getting used to.

Testing it on the passengers side would have been smart, the drive is sloped, short and narrow, didn't even dawn on me. It's going to be close.

Thanks for all the helpful info and encouragement and have a great weekend.
Heres some pics of my old camp rig and cruiser.

T.Low wrote:MT's are 245/75 and the ATs are 255/70. On the tire charts, they are 30.5 or 30.75, but in real life they are a little smaller.

Wow, I didn't realize you'd gone quite that big. From another thread, you're on pucks and stock keys with a little cranking that you estimated put you at ~3" of lift, and you did some trimming, but not a massive amount, IIRC...

OK, this is encouraging. Lift kit should be here very soon. Like you, I'm planning to stay conservative on the front end, so I'm concerned just how much tire I can fit before I run into big problems at the wheel arch/door area.

I'll have all the info or at least lift, front and rear, tire, wheel size that I used and finally alignment and drive ability by mid next week. Will be installed this weekend with new torsion keys and maybe a turn or two on bolts.(?) I won't be able to have it aligned til Monday-Tuesday.

My friends and neighbors are getting a bit curious, their sleeping in pickup beds and 4 Runners, I can see their eyebrows raising.

Keep you posted.