Tires and a dropped rear

fmjcafe · July 26, 2003

Ok, here`s the deal. I have some 17" Escalade rims coming and I`m shopping for tires. A tire dealer told me that with the 265/70`s that are standard on the `Sclade rims a 2" rear drop will have them rubbing. I have my doubts as there seems to be an awful lot of wheel well showing on my `03 Rado. What do y`all think?

Victory Red · July 27, 2003

Your tire guy is nuts. Don't have him do any work for you if he doesn't know that. I dropped my Sierra 2" and have plenty of room for bigger meats. I still have the stock tires & rims right now, but have new ones coming.

He probably meant you will have a rub in the front with bigger tires/rims. The rear is no problem. Bigger wheels/tires are going to rub in the front whether you drop it or not. Keep the same overall tire diameter as your stock setup and you won't have any rub up front.

Do the drop. You'll like the look of your truck better when it sits level.

fmjcafe · July 27, 2003

Do you think I`ll have problems with 265/70`s on the front? I just did some checking and the Bridgestone`s I`m looking to mount are only 1.7" greater in diamater then the 255/70 Generals that the truck came with. Thats only .85" less clearence then what I have now.

Victory Red · July 28, 2003

Turn your wheels all the way to one side and look and see what kind of space you have to play with. Then turn the wheels the other way and check again. You might have more space on one side than the other, so best to check both directions. Bounce the front end up and down while the wheels are turned to check for possible clearance problems when the suspension is working. Best I can do. I'm no tire expert, but I would think those wheels/tires would be okay on your truck. Lowering the rear end shouldn't change anything up front as far as tire clearance.