Wheel diam. question

[gjk5]

Still haven't taken delivery on my two '72's (seller can't find the title on one) but I have been calling around about the wheel/tire situation, the truck comes with some 33" tires but no wheels.(curr. has 31" tires on 15" wheels Does anyone have an opinion on running 16" wheels on '72 K5? Would I be better off just selling the 33x12.5x16 tires and getting some 33x10.5x15 to fit the wheels I have? Looks like cheapie steel wheels are gonna run me about $50/ea.

Will any of this make any difference in clearance? Or is clearance with 33's the same regardless of wheel size?

Or should I just skip all of this and go to something bigger than 33" still on the 15" wheels?

I guess the long and short of it is that I have never had 16's except on my Tahoe, which is not exactly an off road beast.


Any input appreciated.

 

[k20]

clearance will be the same between 15's and 16's its the tire diameter itself. A 33" tire is 33" period. A bigger wheel just gives you a shorter sidewall. On a future D60 swap, if you go 15's, steel wheels is it, you cant run aluminum 15's on a D60. 15's seem to have more available tire options and are cheaper than 16's. However, the bigger wheel less sidewall flex if it is to be driven on the road, which means slightly better handling.

 

[chulisohombre]

if you stay with the 15 inch rims you can get a better selection of tires in my opinion.when i was going to go to 16's there was not much of a selection,and the ones that were offered were not in my price range.are the rims stock 15x7 inch rims.or are they 15x8's.you can run 33x12.5 on a 15x8 inch rim.i did for 4 years before i put 3/4 ton rears in my truck and had no problems running them like that.

 

[gjk5]

thanks, I'll probably just sell those 16's and wait and buy some to fit the 15's. Come to think of it, I wonder if the 33's will fit on my Tahoe with it's 16's, anyone know?
I am guessing not without a lift, and the wife won't go for that.

Does anyone know what my max tire size is on my '72 K5 with 2.5" lift?

Thanks

 

[84gmcjimmy]

Probaly 33-36" at max for tire size with 2.5 lift. But someone has 39 or 39.5 with just 2.5 inches of lift. Dont no if this helped, but good luck /forums/images/graemlins/waytogo.gif

 

[firefighter184]

Keep the 16s. You'll need them to fit the 3/4 or 1-ton running gear /forums/images/graemlins/peace.gif

 

[84_Chevy_K10]

[ QUOTE ]
Keep the 16s. You'll need them to fit the 3/4 or 1-ton running gear /forums/images/graemlins/peace.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

You won't need them, but it sure is nice not to have to spend 8 hours grinding until your wheels fit.

 

[k20]

you can run 15" steelies on a d60 w/ some caliper grinding.