Minimum mods needed to fit 285/70-17

I've pretty much settled on 265/70-17s for when I replace the stock tires, but I wanted to toss this to the forum anyway.

From what I've searched and read so far, one needs to trim the fender liner, possibly remove the front mudflaps, have the proper offset wheels or spacers to avoid rubbing the UCA, chop the cab mounts, and lift the truck in order to have 32.5" tires fit with no issues.

My upgrade list includes the following that would apply to this:

1. Planning on doing an aftermarket bumper, so fender liner trimming is coming anyway.
2. Mudflaps can be easily replaced with something thinner like urethane rally flaps locally.
3. Planning on new wheels anyway with enough offset to not rub the stock UCA.
4. Cab mounts can be done locally by either friends or metal fab shop.

I have no intentions of "lifting" the truck. The most that would be on my mind would be 5100s all around with possibly a new Deaver or Alcan leaf pack. If I did lift it, I would want it to be small enough to have no chance of drive-line vibrations, if that's possible. Is lifting mandatory for 32.5"s to not wreck the stock fenders when articulating the suspension?

I drive about 6k miles per year on my personal vehicles, maximum. That translates to about $100-130 extra per year in fuel costs due to the approximate loss in mileage moving from 30.6" stock tires to 32.5". When I do plan on off-roading, it will be done on dirt county roads or exploring two-tracks. No rock crawling plans here. The only other thing that concerns me is the loss in acceleration due to the increase in tire diameter. I like to drive and accelerate enthusiastically, and a supercharger is definitely in the long term plans for the vehicle. The truck has an automatic transmission so it already cruises at lower rpms than a manual equipped truck.

I guess basically my question is, are 285/70-17s right for me and my applications, and can the tires be fit with the planned suspension upgrades I have in mind?

 

Wow, I can't even get a "search n00b" post, even if I already did search.

 

Probably don't need to chop the cab mounts.

 

for 285 with no lift you WILL want to chop the cab mounts. Im running a 2.5" lift with 285's and during normal driving I dont get any rubbing but as soon as I hit the trails and take sharper turns I rub.

above you have two tire sizes. are you wanting 285's or 265's?

 

I'll admit that 285s look pretty nice, and am not afraid to modify the truck a bit to get them to fit. I am worried about the acceleration/braking performance loss from moving to that size. And since I don't want to lift the truck more than 1.5-2", I'm simply curious if the 285s might be overkill for what I want to do (trail running, no rock crawling).

 

90% of my drving is on paved roads. I cant really spin the the tires on pavement anymore but thats no big deal, my truck still accels plenty quick and Ive had to break pretty hard a few times and performed flawlessly