Largest tire size on 3.5 rough country lift?

[rhulgan]

I'm looking too lift my 2016 4x4 3.5 inches. Will a 33x12.5r18 fit without rub? May trim liner back but no metal as the truck is brand new. If not what is the largest alternative size?

[dauthier]

I have Toyo MT 33x12.5R20 on my 2016 Sierra SLE All terrain, zero rub with factory rims.

[dauthier]

 

Sent from my SM-N920W8 using Tapatalk

[amxguy1970]

If only there was another thread about the largest tire sizes or a search returned the results one was looking for, hmm...

 

Yes, it will fit. There are people running a 275/65/20 which is a 34 on a 2.5 inch level and they say no rubbing. All depends on the offset as well. Search around, tons of info on common questions are out there.

 

Tyler

[GMC207]

I have Toyo MT 33x12.5R20 on my 2016 Sierra SLE All terrain, zero rub with factory rims.

Is this the 3.5" rough country lift? Can you tell me the height from the ground to the plastic trim around the wheel well on back and front? Curious if its worth upgrading from my current leveling kit to this.

 

Truck looks great.

[Jeremy Blakeney]

Dauthier, did you have stamped steel control arms? If so what did you do? I have your truck in white

[cmcdaniel93]

There is people running 35x12.50 with stock wheels on leveling kits with slight rub at full lock. Minor trim on the liner. Several posted videos of it on Facebook.

Im running 315/70/17 with 3.5 rc lift on offset wheels. The offset is what caused me to do trimming. If I kept my stock wheels I wouldnt have had to trim any.

[Zac213]

Just bought a 2014 Silverado and looking to install the RC 3.5” lift. I would like to run 315x70r17 tires. I will be getting new wheels. Wheels will be 17x9...what back spacing will I need to make things work well? I don’t mind doing a little trimming 

thanks in advance!

[Chadd Scott]

On 4/20/2019 at 7:46 PM, cmcdaniel93 said:

There is people running 35x12.50 with stock wheels on leveling kits with slight rub at full lock. Minor trim on the liner. Several posted videos of it on Facebook.

Im running 315/70/17 with 3.5 rc lift on offset wheels. The offset is what caused me to do trimming. If I kept my stock wheels I wouldnt have had to trim any.

I’m looking at putting a 3.5” RC lift with 315/70/17 possibility with 2” wheel spacers all around, would I rub without spacers?

[prox_denali]

Back when I used to work in a shop, we did the RC 3.5" kits all the time. Warning: This is a long post but hopefully it will help answer some questions if you decide to read it in it's entirety. A few things I would like to bring up are:

 

1. Some of our beloved 1500's don't sit at the same height from factory. Some of them stood higher while others came up short. The difference can be very minor but it is present. On factory wheels (i.e the stock 17's) I know we were able to squeeze in a 35x12.50 or their metric counterparts with some trimming to the plastic and inner fender liner. Others iirc did not need to be trimmed at all (may not want to hold me to that.) Differences could lie from what size motor is in the truck (4.3, 5.3, 6.2), *whether it's 2wd/4wd, and what package the truck is (i.e Z71/Z92 as opposed to like a regular 4x4 or 2wd - and indeed GM did make Z71's in 2wd! - Rancho struts vs. AC Delco struts, w/ or w/out magneride etc.) Most of the time it's close enough that it generally won't make that much of a difference but sometimes it actually did. 

 

- One source I always recommended to customers was https://www.customwheeloffset.com/. For those who don't know, it's a giant gallery that users post lifted trucks to, that label their truck's size lift, tire size, wheel size, if wheel spacers were used and if it required trimming or not. 

 

2. Tire companies get as close as possible to the said tire sizes that you are buying, but they're not all perfect to size. A 35x12.50 could be like a 34.8 or a 35.1, etc. The variable mainly comes down to the type of tire, tread depth, etc. Different tire companies use different molds to achieve a very close height/width with their branded designs also. Again, generally not something you necessarily need to worry about but it could make a difference if you're trying to stuff the biggest tire on this lift. Another thing I always told customers to do was to always go with a name-brand tire because it is less likely for you to receive a tire that is defective/out of round - bad tires can spur from a bad mold. I'm partial to Nitto/Toyo but I know there are other spectacular companies out there that make a quality tire for a good price. 

 

 *3. If you opt for an aftermarket wheel in a 17 or an 18, most are only a 17x9 or an 18x9 (sometimes 17x10 or 18x10 depending on the style/brand of wheel.) Offset (the more negative - the more the wheel will stick out past the side of the fender/deeper lip on the wheel) is generally 0 (zero being flush with the fender) to -12mm (just past the edge of the fender) on these 'smaller' sized aftermarket wheels. Most of what we ran on smaller aftermarket wheels were -12mm. If you decide to go with a bigger wheel, this opens up a whole different world of wheels. 20x10 /22x10/24x10 etc. (around -12mm thru around -24mm offset). 20x12/22x12/24x12 etc. (around -44mm offset). 20x14/22x14/24x14 etc. (around -76mm offset). 22x16/24x16/26x16 etc. (around -100mm offset). The offset of a wheel can vary from wheel company to wheel company (why I say around a lot haha.) I.e a 20x12 could have a -44mm offset from one company while another wheel company could be like -42mm. On larger wheel/tire combos, we would generally stick to a 20x10 or 22x10 with a -24mm offset. (Some companies may label 22x9.5 or 22x11 but reflect a similar offset to what is said above.)

 ----------- Why is offset important? Well, the more negative the offset of the wheel is, the more the wheel is pushed out past the fender. So the wider the width of the wheel (more negative offset) the more likely you will rub with a bigger tire. *The same effect occurs when installing a wheel spacer.* To counteract this, you can simply go for a smaller diameter tire or skinnier tire, or go for a taller lift to keep from having to trim as much/not having to trim at all. The lower the offset of the wheel (i.e closer to 0 the wheel is) it can be likely that it will rub the front sway bars (dependent on the diameter/width tire you decide to run.) This is where a wheel spacer comes into play. I would recommend visiting the website link I posted above if you're not sure if the wheel/tire setup you're looking for will fit or not. 

*2019 and up 1500 owners, I would suggest contacting the wheel company you're choosing to buy or consult Custom Offsets to get the exact wheel you need/want. There are some changes (including larger brakes/brake calipers and hubs iirc) compared to the older trucks. 

 

*4. I don't want to sound like I'm bashing Rough Country for their products because I'm certainly not, I've sold plenty of their kits over the years (generally per the customer's request but I'll leave that for below.) Their team spends countless hours into creating the wide variety of products they manufacture. Hell, if you type in 'lift kits' on Google, they're the first website to pop up. I'm just giving my review on the thousands of these 3.5" kits that we've installed from them along with the various sizes they produce for our trucks and others 'import' or domestic.

- First thing, they do a good job getting to the height desired, and makes the truck look good, it's still utilizable (take it to parking garages or in your garage, in and out of drive thru's, can tow without a massive drop hitch, can run a decent sized tire/wheel and can be driven every day without sacrificing a huge amount in gas mileage. Secondly, they are budget friendly and a great alternative to other, higher priced kits out there. Thirdly, they ship quickly and have friendly staff that generally respond to calls and emails fairly quickly. I was partial to calling them or using their online chat (actual staff representatives) if I had any questions about anything. Another thing I'd also like to say about them is that their instructions are easy to follow: pictures, 1.2.3.4 etc. and if you run into an issue you can use the online chat and you'd receive real time answers. 

 

- With that being said, the biggest issue with the 3.5" kits from Rough Country that we saw A LOT of *in particular the kits with the included 'forged upper control arms' were premature failure of the ball joint. When Rough Country first released this kit with the tubular style upper control arm, the ball joint was always the first point of failure and they never warrantied these if they extended past 1 year. They did, however, send us just the ball joints (worth maybe $50-$60) on those that did fail within a year but left the customer to pay for the labor of pressing the old ones out and the new ones in which was not cost effective. The customers who were unfortunate enough to receive this news were not very happy to say the least and were left fronting the bill for buying new upper control arms. Granted everyone drives different, but some of these trucks were strictly street driven and just did not hold up. The 2500HD/3500HD kits had the same problem as well. They then released the newer forged style upper control arm s in their kits, discontinuing their old style, and the problems continued up until I departed the shop in mid 2019. As of now, I'm unsure if they have changed their control arm design or what ball joints they use (doesn't appear so on their website) or not but I assume this was due to not including a taller steering knuckle to account for the upper/lower control arm angles the lift creates thus the release of the 3.5" knuckle kit was produced. - without upper control arms. We switched to this kit in particular and saw far less problems out of them. Moral of the story, if I were in the market for a 3.5" kit, I'd opt for the knuckle kit over the control arm kit but that's just me.

 

- Other notes taken from installing these kits along with other kits from Rough Country:

----- From an aesthetic and durability standpoint - some of the welds (on crossmembers (taller kits)/strut spacers/rear leaf blocks) could be a little better. Also some of the powdercoating on some items would arrive with small chips exposing raw steel. Could be the cause of what is said below.

----- Receiving their kits in boxes that have been ripped/holes and literally falling apart. Could be from the transport/delivery company. The steering knuckle boxes were always in the worst condition. This, too may have changed since my departure from my former workplace. 

----- We've received some kits with missing parts/hardware, could be from poor packaging or poor handling during transport. We received the kits and immediately stored them on shelves per vehicle and wouldn't know until we grabbed the kit to install on a truck. If we had something missing, each of their boxes do label the name of the person who packaged the kit together and when it was packaged so if there is something missing from yours, you can contact them. (Not sure if they still do this or not.)

----- They use plastic as opposed to an aluminum or steel for their CV axle spacers for their taller kits. This keeps costs down.

----- Steering knuckles are cast (like most kits on the market.) This also keeps costs down. 

----- Like most companies would do, they offer a lifetime warranty on 'hard suspension components.' So say if a steering knuckle breaks in half, they cover the cost of the part. Didn't happen often, but iirc they do not cover the labor cost (don't hold me to that.)

----- I would personally suggest the knuckle kit and not the upper control arm kit. It rides good, especially paired with the lifted struts. If you're looking into the Vertex Coilover option, I do not have any input as we never sold any of their kits with them At the time when they came out we had no 'R&D' on them and nobody was willing to be the 'guinea pig.' We pushed them sometimes for people to try them out, but most decided to go with either the struts or strut spacers to save their money, or if they wanted to spend it to go with Fox, or even Kings. I'm sure that the Vertex coilovers do the job just fine though.

 

For those reading about these 3.5" kits to buy and get info on them - before purchasing any kit, be sure to purchase the kit for the suspension you have - silver lower control arms means you have aluminum, if they're black with a weld around the sides of them means they are stamped steel and cast is black with no weld.) Iirc, if you see a wire/sensor coming from the top of the strut, then you have magneride (if you do you may need to look elsewhere for a kit that is specific to trucks equipped with magneride.

 

Now, if you already own the 3.5" kit with upper control arms, they've lasted and have had good luck with them then it's good to see that there are people out there who got their monies worth. If you own a 3.5" kit and have experienced this problem before, or afraid that this might happen to you (I don't want this extremely long and drawn out post to scare you, again just going off of my experiences) then there are a few things that can be done. Some are more cost-effective than others but take it to what it's worth to you. 

 

1. Buy or warranty (if applicable) the ball joints and press them in/out yourself/ have a shop do them for an expense. 

 

2. Buy another set of upper control arms from Rough Country. 

 

3. Buy a completely different brand control arm. I have Cognito. Not only are they the same brand as my lift but they're great because you can simply unbolt the old ball joints from the control arms /knuckles and bolt the new ones in. Kryptonite also uses this design. No having to use a press. These arms are also fully welded and are much stronger than the cast counterparts. You may also opt for a brand control arm who uses a uniball (drastic increase in range of motion - like if you were looking to go down a mid travel/long travel route.)

 

4. Keep the stock control arms, buy the knuckles from rough country and install the stock control arms thus turning your control arm kit to a knuckle kit. 

 

Overall and to reiterate, Rough Country is a decent brand. I am in no way affiliated with them, own any of their products or with any other company, this is all coming from the 10 years of installing Rough Country kits across multiple platforms. Sure they might have some cons and get a bad rep, but as much as Rough Country produces and at their price point, it is expected that there will be a flaw somewhere down the line with some of their products. At some point every company will mess up, even with top shelf brands. Everyone is human, mistakes are bound to happen somewhere down the line. And I mean there are a ton of different brands out there and all will yield a very similar effect - lifting your truck. It really depends on your budget, what you think looks good and what doesn't but just about every brand lift kit makes this size or a very similar size at all different price points. If you want to spare no expense on the same size lift from a different brand then by all means go for it, it's your truck and you want what's best for you and your truck! Some brands may offer kits with a full crossmember drop to keep your control arm, axle, and tie rod angles flat, others may offer brand name coilovers or struts (like Rough Country) some may offer kits for trucks equipped with magneride (unlike Rough Country who does not) and so on. If you're deadset on a RC 3.5" kit, then go right ahead, it will yield the same height and nobody can tell you what you can/can't buy or run because it's your truck! I think I've covered most of what I had to say on this topic

 

You're a trooper if you've made it this far, so again, I apologize if it looks like I'm thread-hacking with this book of a post but please give it a read. I see this thread got a lot of views but not a lot of posts to receive answers on specific setups so that is why I wrote this all out. If you see something that is wrong, then please, by all means correct me so we can help out our community, drop your .02, ask more questions, post more pics, whatever ya gotta do. Hope this helps to someone!

 

Cheers!

 

 

Edited January 7, 2021 by prox_denali

[GILREY]

Hello, 

Hope you are doing well and safe.

 

I read your post and since I'm intrested in the RC 3.5" kit and because you are an experience person with this topic, could you please provide some advise about the front CV Axel angles and premature wear? How would you clasify this kit regarding any premature wear compared with the other kits that come with  brackets, e.g 5IN GM SUSPENSION LIFT | BRACKET KIT (14-18 1500 PU 4WD)

Thanks in advance for your advise

[YukonXL04]

I just put my 3.5 RC knuckle kit on. I'm liking it so far. I am running stock 20s with 1.5" wheel spacers. I have 295/60R20 wich are 34x11.5 and they rub in reverse. Gonna do the norcal mod, could get away with less, but I want some extra clearance 

[Roberthuff83]

On 1/15/2021 at 8:05 PM, YukonXL04 said:

I just put my 3.5 RC knuckle kit on. I'm liking it so far. I am running stock 20s with 1.5" wheel spacers. I have 295/60R20 wich are 34x11.5 and they rub in reverse. Gonna do the norcal mod, could get away with less, but I want some extra clearance 

I’m thinking about doing the same on my 2011 does it rub real bad 

[ty87]

I have a 2012 gmc sierra 1500 z71 with the rough country 3.5" with the forged upper control arms and lifted struts 22x9 factory offset wheels with .25" spacer running 35x12.50 tires with 0 rubbing full turning radius 

[Luc T]

On 4/20/2019 at 6:46 PM, cmcdaniel93 said:

There is people running 35x12.50 with stock wheels on leveling kits with slight rub at full lock. Minor trim on the liner. Several posted videos of it on Facebook.

Im running 315/70/17 with 3.5 rc lift on offset wheels. The offset is what caused me to do trimming. If I kept my stock wheels I wouldnt have had to trim any.

 

What is your tire offset? I am putting 315/70r17 with a -12mm offset on my 2023 Silverado this weekend and have been wondering how much trimming will be required