SugarHillCTD wrote:
The local indy shop guys are GM truck nuts. They had to crank the torsion bars just over 1 full turn each and pulled the rear section of the front fender liners back slightly with a heavy duty zip-tie. There was no difference in handling or appearance after cranking the bars.
No rubbing at all after that.
I like having nearly 8000# capacity at each axle.
Possibly works as you have a 2012 which may have more room than my 2007 Classic. My truck came with tiny 245/75r16E tires and to get 285s in I had to put a Cognito leveling kit and crank the torsion bars up several turns plus pull the rear front fender liner back with zip ties and trim the air dam under the front bumper yet I still rub at full lock turning left on the driver side. 34" tire would be worse.
Honestly though I don't need more than 3750 but I do need a better snow tire than the Dura Grappler as the primary use of my rig is to head out when snow storms hit to get first tracks on the mountains in winter.
AT tires I've found rated for severe snow at this capacity:
GY AT Adventure with Kevlar 285/75r16E
BFG AT T/A K02 285/75r16E
Firestone Winterforce LT 285/75r16E
Firestone Destination A/T 285/75r16E
GY Duratrac 285/75r16E
Nitto "old" Terra Grappler 285/75r16E and 285/70r17E though not rated for severe snow should be better than the Dura Grappler if I can find them anywhere. New G2 not available for 16" wheels
I've heard great things about the GY Duratrac in snow but that it doesn't have the best sidewalls(only 2 ply) both for durability and stiffness. Probably not a good idea when carrying a heavy TC. BFG AT T/A always had a caveat that the 285/75r16E size wasn't rated for severe snow though the rest were, not sure about the newer K02 version. GY AT Adventure(Kevlar) looks promising as I had luck with the old GY Silent Armor Pro(Kevlar) in this size for winter use and the AT Adventure appears to have replaced the Silent Armor. Wear wasn't great but I did run them on OEM wheels which were not wide enough for this size (16x7).
Of all of these TireRack rates the snow performance of the BFG AT T/A K02, Firestone Winterforce LT and GY Duratrac the highest in that order. I've seen really good prices for the BFG AT T/A K02 and 16" wheels are extremely cheap now and there are still tons available. I can get a set of Pro Comp 7069 wheels with BFG tires mounted/balanced/shipped for $1300.
