Chevy Silverado 1500 – Silverado Gas Mileage – Repair History – Silverado Accessories – Buying A Chevy – About Us
Installing 2011 Chevy Silverado Lift Kits and Front End Leveling Kits, information relevant to the 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011 Silverado 1500.
For those of us Chevy fans looking at buying a new Silverado 1500 Crew Cab pickup in the near future, chances are we will be looking for a daily driver and an occasional off-road recreational vehicle. If this is true, any alterations we do to the truck should hopefully maintain that incredible ride that the Chevy Silverado 1500 is so famous for.
But personalizing our rides has as long a heritage as the Silverado itself and one of those personal alterations seems to always come in the form of larger tires and inevitability a lift kit. So, if it sounds like I’m describing you than the need for a moderate lift which still offers that excellent ride quality is incredibly important to you too.
The ride quality that we’re after is just what the new Silverado 1500 already delivers so maintaining this is going to be a top priority with us. But not unlike most stock trucks today, in order to add the larger tires, some sort of lift is in the near future.
First off, just how big of tires are we talking about? The Silverado comes with 245/70R/17 tires already in most configurations or 265/75R/17 in the Z71 package but this is just not large enough for most of us. Something on the order of 285’s or even 295’s just seems to fill the wheel wells much better.
Starting with the 285’s we’re looking at around a 33 inch tire that comes close to fitting with little modifications. But change the wheels and all the sudden we need a little extra room. Off-set is the culprit here and the need for a little extra room in the front has just become a reality.
In this case all that’s needed would be a leveling kit that lifts the front of the truck up level with the rear. In most cases about 2 inches is all that’s required here, much more and the back will appear to be slightly lower than the front.
This was the way we chose to go so we purchased the ReadyLift 2.25 inch leveling kit and had Dave’s Automotive in Cheney install it along with the new 285/75R/17 Cooper Discoverer AT3 tires on chrome plated V-Tec 326 Off-Road wheels. Speaking of rims, we also changed the width and offset from the stock 17" x 7.5" to a 17" x 8.5" wheel.
Not totally, the truck sat totally level until we reinstalled the canopy that was being painted to match in the paint shop at Dave’s Automotive. Once the canopy was installed, the truck appeared to sit lower in the rear even though the measurement said this was not so. But we were running out of time as we were scheduled to leave for Alaska in less than 24 hours.
Suggestions started and orders were placed. A set of Air Lift Suspension Bags for the Chevy were on their way to Alaska where we would be installing them once we arrived.
And what irresponsible young man would be content stopping at a lift and some larger tires. Not us, and I’m not even what you would call a young man anymore. So on we go with the good is good but more is better. It was at this time that we also had the ring and pinion changes and added an Airaid cold air intake and Borla exhaust.
Installing 2011 Chevy Silverado Lift Kits and Front End Leveling Kits, also applys to the 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011 Silverado 1500.
Road Trip 2011: See
The USA in your Chevrolet.
Bob Jameson
46045 Spruce Place
Kenai, Alaska 99611