37's with a 4-6" TC lift Is this a bad idea?

[GMCYA]

The more I look at the stupid narrow/tall wheel wells:mad2: on my truck the more I want to take a sawzall to 'em! I like the look of a filled wheel well. The more I look at my 35's the smaller they seem to get. I am seriously considering stuffing a set of cooper stt 37's in those big stupid gaps. I am in dire need of new rubber, within the next two weeks, and my tire guy wants to make me a deal on some left over 37X12.5X17's....same price as a set of 35's. Is this doable (is that even a word?)??? Would I have to regear to 4:56? I pull a 38' TT weighing about 10.5K. My truck is not a DD, it just sits there waiting to go hunting or camping on the weekends. I do not want to crank the T-bars, did the pogo thing before the lift, never again. I need some real world experience on this....any comments...good, bad, or sarcastic will be greatly appreciated.

 

[Pepperidge]

how about some bushwhacker pocket flares?

 

[Mad Maxx]

I thought the Smallest Lift you could get away with on our Trucks to Clear 37's was a 9-11"?

...and o yea, you're gonna have to Re-gear, prob. Higher than 4.56's, those are good for 35's to make the Truck "Feel" like the Stock Tires are On.

 

[GMCYA]

I have seen a few trucks with the lift set to 5" and clearing 37's with a little rubbing on the far inside. My 35's have a lot of room with my axles sitting flat. Wheel offset is the key to fitting bigger tires on a GM. What really pisses me off is that my buddy is running 35X12.5/17's on his 06 F250 with just a leveling kit in the front with plenty of room and his truck looks bigger than mine does as it sits now. The problem with our trucks is that to clear bigger tires, you have to either lift the body above the tires(hate that look), or cut the fenders to fit the tires inside. The front fenders aren't that hard to change out and they offer them in fiberglass now. I was also informed by my tire guy that pulling my TT with 37's on 17" wheels is gonna suck due to the increased amount of sidewall. He thinks it will be too unstable and is pushing me to go to 20" wheels so I can run a E rated 37. I don't like the bling,bling look to start with. This is going to easily cost me $8K in addition to the small fortune I have already sunk in this thing. Where's my lotto ticket?
The fact that I tow a camper should be reason enough to stay away from just throwing the 37's on it as is. If it were just a concrete queen I would have done it already. Still trying to find some one running 37's on 17's for some real world experience....especially occasionally towing with them. I have to get new tires before my next camping trip and they sure as hell will NOT be procomps! These tires have no sidewall, my truck sways in curves and is horrible with a cross wind. Worse set of tires I have put on my truck yet and I go through a set a year. As for towing with MT's, the coopers felt the most stable.

 

[Nor-Cal Nick]

I would not recommend that large of a tire. You will see a high amount of wear on the front end if you did make it "fit".

 

[GMCYA]

Yep, this was a bad idea. As much as I would like the look of a filled in wheel well, it would be cheaper to buy a ford (did I really just say that?). While tire shopping I met up with a guy that has the exact setup as I was looking to try to pull off. I wish I had taken a pic, his truck was red, trimmed black with line-x, with black/machined XD wheels. It looked completely bad ass. The admiration for his ride was short lived as he started telling me about the power that he lost, the extremely shitty fuel mileage, and the borderline inability to tow anything. He had the same shitty procomp ex mt's that I have just in a 37 instead of 35. Turns out that we were both looking for E rated tires because those damn d rated procomps have a sidewall comparable to jello. The house savings supersedes the toy fund so I am now looking for a set of E rated 35 mt's and gonna call it good....for another year at least. There aren't many choices in 35X17's. I told Jeff about this site and hopefully he will sign up and post some pics of his ride. Off to find some tires...thanks guys.

 

[Max Attitude]

Look into the Mickey Thompson MTZs like I have. I love them...probably getting another set this spring/summer. They make a 35 12.5 17. http://mickeythompsontires.com/truck.php?item=BajaMTZRadial

 

[GMCYA]

MTZ's do not come in my size with an E load rating. So far I have found firestone destinations, toyo mt's, kumho kl71's. Of all of the different tires I have burned off of my truck I would have to say that I liked the cooper stt's the best when I had 33's but again no E ratings for my app. I am leaning towards the kumho's this set, but they are currently backordered with no available date.

There is one more I found, hankook rt..3 something I saw that pep boys had on sale, 35" E rated, buy 3 get one free(rebate) but I know of no one that has ever had that tire.

 

[Pepperidge]

There is one more I found, hankook rt..3 something I saw that pep boys had on sale, 35" E rated, buy 3 get one free(rebate) but I know of no one that has ever had that tire.

Steve and I both run the Hankook Dynapro ATM RF10's but they are AT's not MT's...overall a good tire though...

 

[Pepperidge]

here you go...Hankook DynaPro MT
========================================================

LT315/70R17 34.6" 3195# capacity @50psi (not even a "D" rating if you go by psi)
========================================================


Hankook 35X12.50R17LT 34.8" 3,525# capacity @65psi this is considered an E tire

here is a search for all 35 E's at discount tire (there are 5)

this is what I came up with

Hankook 37X12.50R17LT 36.8" 4,080# capacity @65psi This is considered an E rated tire

^^^that's a pretty big weight capacity for a 37" tire...^^^

here is a search for all 37 E's at discount tire (only 2)

 

[GMCYA]

I may ride out to the store tomorrow to take a GOOD look at them because honestly, that is how I got stuck with the procomps, buy 3 get 1 free sale, the price was very appealing. I should have known better than to let them put a D rated tire on my truck with as much as I tow. What pisses me off is that these so called pro tire shops should know better than to mount a D range tire on a diesel especially with that much sidewall. Makes me want to disregard any advice they have to offer. I'll check those out tomorrow along with a few phone calls tonight. I know at least 2 trucks, 1/2 tons, that have had the kumho's for a little over a year now. I liked the tread pattern but again, at the time I was ready for tires, they were backordered. Tires are getting really expensive in this size and load range, I may have to take the programmer off of level 7 and learn to drive "normal" :rolleyes5:. It has been set there since my trans was built. I only drop to the tow tune to pull the camper. I can't believe how well the engine is holding up running that level all the time. I have 90K miles on it now.

 

[Pepperidge]

I only drop to the tow tune to pull the camper. I can't believe how well the engine is holding up running that level all the time. I have 90K miles on it now.

I rarely turn mine down from level 5 of the moonshine(500+RWHP)for towing now...

 

[GMCYA]

Yea, but I bet you don't drive like I do. I have to look but I bet my tires don't have over 12-15K miles and you can see the air in the back ones. The fronts still have 40% but are cupping bad! Can't hear the radio @ 70. I never rotated them because I knew they wouldn't be on there long. I should have so I could have sold them for a little return. I go through a set a year, this is the first time I went past November before replacing them. Honestly, the procomps held up really well for what I put them through and they pull great in the mud, they just aren't for a 3/4 ton truck. I couldn't wear the cooper at st's out, they still looked good when I took them off to put on the 35's.