Wheel/Tire Fitment + TPMS question

6621 Views 16 Replies 7 Participants Last post by Blackout07, May 15, 2011

Harrison

Discussion Starter · Apr 27, 2011

I just had the Readylift leveling kit installed on my 2010 Sierra, so now it is ready for the wheels/tires. The only information that I can find is on the Readylift site. It says that I can fit 33s now. So, I was thinking some 20X9 Ballistic Off Road Jester wheels with 295/55-20 Nitto Trail Grapplers.

The Nitto site says that the inflated overall diameter is 32.91 for the 295/55's, however the guy where I'm planning the purchase says that I should go with a 285/55-20. But they don't make Trail Grapplers that size.

I can't find a guide that would answer my question. Since I'm buying online, I need to know before I order or I'm going to have to pay to ship them back across the country. Can they fit?

Also, the same place will be mounting and balancing and they say for 200 bucks they can put stems on that work with my TPMS. He said I'll I'd have to do is throw the wheels on there and everything will work. Does this sound right?

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mfleetwood

· #2 · Apr 28, 2011 (Edited)

Do you currently have 20" wheels? If so, when you purchase your wheels, for simplicity reasons it may be best to stick with the current OEM backspace/offset, as that will also play a major role in tire fitament. Tire size + lift height + rim size + backspacing/offset = a headache for me, as I am not mathematically inclined enough to figure out what will rub and what won't when all of those items need to be factored in. However, there are many on this forum who can figure out this crazy equation (I think they all have a Master's Degree in Engineering), and maybe one of them will be able to provide you more prescriptive advice soon....for now, it's just me!

It appears that the 295s are about 1/2" taller and 1/2" wider than the 285s...and both come in under the 33" diameter height. If you have the 2.25" readylift kit, I think you should be fine. However, if you really want to be on the safe side, ask the tire shop if they have a tire that size running around that they could mount up for you. I had this done at a tire shop when I was shopping around for tires and they did it for free as they wanted to make sure I had the right/best size. But even if it costs you $20 it may be worth it. I would have gladly paid it as the tire size I originally wanted was not the one I ended up getting. I was able to go another size up, which really made me happy! And again, if you new wheels have the same backspace/offset as your stock wheels, then it will be easy to know whether or not your new set up will fit.

Yes, the TPMS will work with the right stems and do not need any other connection (this is how they can work when you rotate your tires); however, I have never purchased them before but $200 sounds like a lot of money for those. Maybe they can use the ones from your stock rims?? I'm not sure but it may be worth asking.

I pasted a couple of links below that may be of help to you.

http://www.1010tires.com/TireSizeCalculator.asp?action=submit
http://www.rimsntires.com/specs.jsp

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alabamaxrebel

· #3 · Apr 28, 2011

If you get a good shop to mount up your new tires, they can take the tire off of the stock rims and carfully pull the sensor out of the original wheel. That's what i did on mine. Definitely should not pay $200 for that. Also, like mfleetwood said, backspacing makes a huge difference in fitment. If you stay as close to stock backspace, you will be able to just trim the valence to clear the tire. The more you push the tire out from the wheel well, the more the tire will rub if you go to big. I'm not sure what stock offset is, but stay as close to that as possible and you should be fine with the 295's, maybe just a little valence trimming. Trimming the valence would be worth it to get the trail grapplers. They are a great tire, and very minimal noise and smooth ride. Good luck.

Harrison

Discussion Starter · #4 · Apr 30, 2011

Thanks for the help fellas. Is there a good resource for finding out what my current backspace and offset is (so I don't have to take the wheel off)? I called the local GMC parts department and they don't have that information in their catalogue. I have the SLT 18" wheels on there but was planning on switching to 20" wheel. I've seen the wheels that I have in mind on the same truck in the past, but that truck had the 6" lift on there, but I don't think they had to trim. I was hopeing to keep this thing a little lower for the time being cause I use the truck to tow.

mfleetwood

· #5 · May 2, 2011

I have not looked into this myself, but have heard that you can get that information from a high volume or more sophisticated rim retailer. I'd just call the supplier you are purchasing from and see if they have that info or try some like 4 Wheel Parts.

Or, unless the 20" rims are a must have, another option to consider is that you could keep you 18" rims and get a tire with a larger sidewall to give you the same overall diameter as the 20" tire and rim set up. You'd be saving on having to purchase the rims and the TPMS. I was debating whether or not to change my 17" stock rims when I installed my lift kit and decided on keeping them. In my opinion, the stock rims have a nice look to them and I was still able to get the height I wanted.

Blackout07

· #6 · May 2, 2011

Factory backspacing:
17x7.5= +31mm offset(5.5" BS)
18x8= +31mm offset(5.7" BS)
20x8.5= +31mm offset(5.9" BS)

I'm pretty sure the Jesters come in either a +12 or -12 offset. The +12 would be the way to go to minimize rubbing. Nitto lists that tire at 32.91 x 12.52, which is big. Will those tires rub? Hell yes. I would bet on cutting metal out of the rear of the fenders to run them.

Harrison

Discussion Starter · #7 · May 7, 2011

Guys, thanks for the excellent information. As for the wheels, I don't need 20" wheels, I just figured that I wanted to go wider then the stock 18's were, so I might as well go bigger both ways. Someone fed me something or other about the stock rims not being wide enough to hold the Nitto's. And truth be told, I want the wheel and tire to be sticking out more, but I don't want the cutting or rubbing. I was thinking on putting on some fender flairs with the wheels/tires and calling it quits on lifts and all that.
I have a kid due next month and I just got a payout from an accident in my Challenger (some a$$hole driving the wrong way on the highway high on PCP, that was fun). I was just thinking on getting the wheels/tires on the truck before Momma sees the check... unless the Harley gets some billet wheels.
Anyhow, the shop that just put the leveling kit on the truck seemed really overpriced. They got me for 488.50 for the readylift, install and alignment. I can only imagine how bad they are going to be with wheels and tires. I know it will be right, but is that worth hundreds or even a thousand? At this website customwheelsdirect, i can get the wheels and tires for about 2500 bucks with the new sensors, mounted and balanced.
I was thinking about a bit of a body lift to get the bigger Nittos to fit, but I have no idea on what that will cost, or how high I'll need to go. But I guess I'd have to go to the truck shop for that anyway.

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mfleetwood

· #8 · May 9, 2011

Hmmm...those Nittos appear to have about 1/2" less width than my current tires do and I am running stock 17 rims (my tires fit a rim width range of 8 1/2" to 10"). From a rim perspective, I'm thinking you should be fine keeping your stock ones but let's see what others have to say, as I can only speak from my own personal experience. Also I'm not sure how much the Nittos cost but I imagine you could save yourself about $1,500 or so if you didn't swap out rims.

Regarding rubbing (for comparison purposes): Previous to my lift kit, I also had the Readylift 2.25" leveling kit with 295/70/17s (33 x 11.5") which is just about the same as your Nittos. My tires fit (just barely) without rubbing.

The link below takes you to a great tire sizing chart that should be of some help to you as you are trying to figure this out.

http://www.1010tires.com/TireSizeCalculator.asp?action=submit

Blackout07

· #9 · May 9, 2011

mfleetwood said:
Hmmm...those Nittos appear to have about 1/2" less width than my current tires do and I am running stock 17 rims (my tires fit a rim width range of 8 1/2" to 10"). From a rim perspective, I'm thinking you should be fine keeping your stock ones but let's see what others have to say, as I can only speak from my own personal experience. Also I'm not sure how much the Nittos cost but I imagine you could save yourself about $1,500 or so if you didn't swap out rims.

Regarding rubbing (for comparison purposes): Previous to my lift kit, I also had the Readylift 2.25" leveling kit with 295/70/17s (33 x 11.5") which is just about the same as your Nittos. My tires fit (just barely) without rubbing.
http://www.1010tires.com/TireSizeCalculator.asp?action=submit[/url]

Running a wheel that's too narrow for the tire can be dangerous, as you run the risk of blowing the bead. It happened to me with my old K5 Blazer. I was running some 12.50's on 7" wide wheels when I hit a curb and the hole damn tire blew. This was a minor impact and I feel certain that I wouldn't have blown the bead had the wheels been wide enough.

Op, if you consider Mike's comparison, you are wanting to run tires that are 1" wider and will be mounted on wheels that are 2" wider and with less backspacing. You should either consider smaller tires or more lift. If a body lift is an option, I would go with a 3".

mfleetwood

· #10 · May 10, 2011 (Edited)

Blackout07 said:
Running a wheel that's too narrow for the tire can be dangerous, as you run the risk of blowing the bead. It happened to me with my old K5 Blazer. I was running some 12.50's on 7" wide wheels when I hit a curb and the hole damn tire blew. This was a minor impact and I feel certain that I wouldn't have blown the bead had the wheels been wide enough.

Hey Blackout....You have me a little concerned that I may pop a bead, so I went out an measured my rims to make sure and they are 8" wide (actually, it looked more like 8.5" but I think the tape measure had a little bend in it). I know you mention above that the 17s are 7.5", so maybe I had more bend in the tape than I thought?? Anyway, my tire is width is 12.4". I do a ton of off-roading and was wondering if you think I am okay with my current set up? So far, I haven't had any problems but don't want any either.

sstoner911

· #11 · May 10, 2011

I would tell that shop to take thier 200 bucks and stick it where the sun doesn't shine....the tpmsare simply help on with a screw and can be put on the new rims and tires easily...if you need different valve stems it shouldn't be more than 5 to ten bucks.

Blackout07

· #12 · May 10, 2011

mfleetwood said:
Hey Blackout....You have me a little concerned that I may pop a bead, so I went out an measured my rims to make sure and they are 8" wide (actually, it looked more like 8.5" but I think the tape measure had a little bend in it). I know you mention above that the 17s are 7.5", so maybe I had more bend in the tape than I thought?? Anyway, my tire is width is 12.4". I do a ton of off-roading and was wondering if you think I am okay with my current set up? So far, I haven't had any problems but don't want any either.

Well, the stock 17's are definatley 7.5" wide. I do know that all tire manufacturers require a wheel no less than 4" narrower than the the tires (ex. 12.50 tires mounted on at least a 8.5" wide wheel). I have also read on other forums about guys blowing beads on the interstate and stuff and some people really preach the safety factor. I don't really know enough about it, but I would imagine that your probably okay. I'm sure that it is a possibility but I'm not sure how probable it is.

mfleetwood

· #13 · May 11, 2011

Thanks...I'll go out and measure my actual tread width. I have been going by the online measurements using tire size but there may be some actually differences between tire manufacturers. In any case, I'm definitely going to look into further.

I like the rule of thumb method you mention of 4" less, which is easy to remember and it makes sense. Thanks for the extra advice; I certainly learned something new!!

aloxdaddy99

· #14 · May 13, 2011

I second the 4" rule. When I ordered a set of Centerline Hellcats for my Wrangler I wanted a 33" tall tire. I called 4 wheel parts and told them the size tire I wanted and the type of rim. They informed me of the 4" rule. I like the look of the rim setting in the tire a little this way the rim is protected a little from curbs or other objects.

Blackout07

· #15 · May 14, 2011

mfleetwood said:
Thanks...I'll go out and measure my actual tread width. I have been going by the online measurements using tire size but there may be some actually differences between tire manufacturers. In any case, I'm definitely going to look into further.

I like the rule of thumb method you mention of 4" less, which is easy to remember and it makes sense. Thanks for the extra advice; I certainly learned something new!!

Most certainly glad I could help. If it weren't for forums like these, I would be lost.

SSTOM

· #16 · May 15, 2011

I have a nnbs cc with a 2.5 TGC leveling kit with 20x9 Ballistic Jesters (chrome) with the +12 offset and Im running a Cooper Zeon LTZ 275/60/20 (33") and I don't have any rubbing issues anywhere. If I can figure out how to post a pic I will. Tom

Blackout07

· #17 · May 15, 2011

Nitto Trails = 32.91 x 12.52

Cooper Zeons = 33.03 x 11.06

The issue here is a big difference in width. They will rub.

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