6/7 drop tire size?

Disclaimer: Links on this page pointing to Amazon, eBay and other sites may include affiliate code. If you click them and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission.

Cotas86

Member
Joined
Jun 26, 2017
Posts
49
Reaction score
4
Location
Phoenix
First Name
Anthony
Truck Year
1986
Truck Model
C10
Engine Size
305
Do you plan on having 15 inch wheels like the steel rally oems? If you plan on using 15inch factory wheels, you may have clearance issues with the lower control arms. If you go with a larger diameter wheel, like a 20 inch for example, it gives you more options and they will clear the control arms...you will just need to consider a lower profile tire with a larger diameter wheel of course. I am running a 20x8 front and a 20x10 rear. I also dont have oem front inner fenders ( I made my own ). With the amount of drop you will have...you might be able to fit a 60 series 15 inch tire up front, with minor fender well scuffing on big rolling bumps. The back isn't as much of an issue. If you have bottoming out issues out front with a 65 series tire, install taller polyurethane bump stops in place of the oem rubber units. There are polyurethane bump stops that can be cut down to height depending on what you need. Autozone sells them for around $15 a pair. I have used several over the years to keep from bottoming out metal to metal. I currently have a set in my rear bridge that are there to prevent my rear tires from rubbing the inner fenders when all of the air is dumped from the rear bags.


The polyurethane bump stop in the pic has been cut down from its original height approx 1/2". If you use these up front, you will have to drill a hole to mount it or completely remove the oem metal bracket that the rubber bumpstops are attached to a have a new bracket welded in place. It seems like a bit of work, but when I had a static drop of 5 front and 7 rear, with these stops in place, it saved my tires from rubbing.

You must be registered for see images attach
Thx alot for all the info. Planning on twenty inch wjeels but i think for now a good chunk of my budget is gonna go to shortening frame and bed. Ive read with the 3" lowering spindles um going to have to do some grinding on lower control arm to use 15" wheel. When the time does come for 20" wheels figuerd ill go ahead and get all new upper and lower control arms.
 

smoothandlow84

I'd rather be draggin' frame
Joined
Jan 4, 2015
Posts
2,121
Reaction score
784
Location
Arizona
First Name
Steve
Truck Year
1984 Frame...87 motor and 700r trans
Truck Model
1500 r10 pavement scraper
Engine Size
350 TBI
Be carefull cutting anything off of the lower control arm. Cutting the edges closest to the lower ball joint weakens the control arm unless gussets or plates are welded in place. You certainly don't want to collapse the lower control arm while driving.
 

smoothandlow84

I'd rather be draggin' frame
Joined
Jan 4, 2015
Posts
2,121
Reaction score
784
Location
Arizona
First Name
Steve
Truck Year
1984 Frame...87 motor and 700r trans
Truck Model
1500 r10 pavement scraper
Engine Size
350 TBI
Are you planning on shortening the longbed, or replacing it with a short?

I have a good parts source for body parts including beds...and hes close to your neck of the woods off of Dobbins and Central.

I originally was planning on modifying my longbed, to make it a short, but it was too involved for my timeline. It's not as easy as it looks either and requires a LOT of bodywork to get it straight once sbortened.
 

Cotas86

Member
Joined
Jun 26, 2017
Posts
49
Reaction score
4
Location
Phoenix
First Name
Anthony
Truck Year
1986
Truck Model
C10
Engine Size
305
Are you planning on shortening the longbed, or replacing it with a short?

I have a good parts source for body parts including beds...and hes close to your neck of the woods off of Dobbins and Central.

I originally was planning on modifying my longbed, to make it a short, but it was too involved for my timeline. It's not as easy as it looks either and requires a LOT of bodywork to get it straight once sbortened.
I go back and forth about cutting it up myself. Id like to just give it a shot and of i screw it up or becomes too much for my skill set then i would start to shop around for one. Any parts sources would be great especially locally and even better so close to me
 

Cotas86

Member
Joined
Jun 26, 2017
Posts
49
Reaction score
4
Location
Phoenix
First Name
Anthony
Truck Year
1986
Truck Model
C10
Engine Size
305
Be carefull cutting anything off of the lower control arm. Cutting the edges closest to the lower ball joint weakens the control arm unless gussets or plates are welded in place. You certainly don't want to collapse the lower control arm while driving.
I wondered about the integrity of the arm after grinding and thought about waiting on dropping the front till i get rims i want or at least find some cheap "for now" 17s
 

Honky Kong jr

Super Sarcastic Man
Joined
Jun 14, 2016
Posts
14,968
Reaction score
9,789
Location
Denver,PA
First Name
J-me
Truck Year
87
Truck Model
V10
Engine Size
Lil BB 407
Be carefull cutting anything off of the lower control arm. Cutting the edges closest to the lower ball joint weakens the control arm unless gussets or plates are welded in place. You certainly don't want to collapse the lower control arm while driving.
Sounds like a good time.....kinda like playing hot potato with a hand grenade....
 

Cotas86

Member
Joined
Jun 26, 2017
Posts
49
Reaction score
4
Location
Phoenix
First Name
Anthony
Truck Year
1986
Truck Model
C10
Engine Size
305
Starting to feel like this project is getting kinda spread out all over the place Hahahah...... i had a plan of attack but im so impatient and theres so many things i wanna do
 

Honky Kong jr

Super Sarcastic Man
Joined
Jun 14, 2016
Posts
14,968
Reaction score
9,789
Location
Denver,PA
First Name
J-me
Truck Year
87
Truck Model
V10
Engine Size
Lil BB 407
Starting to feel like this project is getting kinda spread out all over the place Hahahah...... i had a plan of attack but im so impatient and theres so many things i wanna do
Such is with any project the mind runs astray.
 

cooperhw

Full Access Member
Joined
May 31, 2017
Posts
390
Reaction score
225
Location
Mesa AZ
First Name
Wayne
Truck Year
1978, 1981, 1983
Truck Model
C-10, K-20, C-20
Engine Size
5.7L
Do you plan on having 15 inch wheels like the steel rally oems? If you plan on using 15inch factory wheels, you may have clearance issues with the lower control arms. If you go with a larger diameter wheel, like a 20 inch for example, it gives you more options and they will clear the control arms...you will just need to consider a lower profile tire with a larger diameter wheel of course. I am running a 20x8 front and a 20x10 rear. I also dont have oem front inner fenders ( I made my own ). With the amount of drop you will have...you might be able to fit a 60 series 15 inch tire up front, with minor fender well scuffing on big rolling bumps. The back isn't as much of an issue. If you have bottoming out issues out front with a 65 series tire, install taller polyurethane bump stops in place of the oem rubber units. There are polyurethane bump stops that can be cut down to height depending on what you need. Autozone sells them for around $15 a pair. I have used several over the years to keep from bottoming out metal to metal. I currently have a set in my rear bridge that are there to prevent my rear tires from rubbing the inner fenders when all of the air is dumped from the rear bags.


The polyurethane bump stop in the pic has been cut down from its original height approx 1/2". If you use these up front, you will have to drill a hole to mount it or completely remove the oem metal bracket that the rubber bumpstops are attached to a have a new bracket welded in place. It seems like a bit of work, but when I had a static drop of 5 front and 7 rear, with these stops in place, it saved my tires from rubbing.

You must be registered for see images attach
I def. plan to run at least an 18" wheel (probably 20") up front
 

cooperhw

Full Access Member
Joined
May 31, 2017
Posts
390
Reaction score
225
Location
Mesa AZ
First Name
Wayne
Truck Year
1978, 1981, 1983
Truck Model
C-10, K-20, C-20
Engine Size
5.7L
Do you plan on having 15 inch wheels like the steel rally oems? If you plan on using 15inch factory wheels, you may have clearance issues with the lower control arms. If you go with a larger diameter wheel, like a 20 inch for example, it gives you more options and they will clear the control arms...you will just need to consider a lower profile tire with a larger diameter wheel of course. I am running a 20x8 front and a 20x10 rear. I also dont have oem front inner fenders ( I made my own ). With the amount of drop you will have...you might be able to fit a 60 series 15 inch tire up front, with minor fender well scuffing on big rolling bumps. The back isn't as much of an issue. If you have bottoming out issues out front with a 65 series tire, install taller polyurethane bump stops in place of the oem rubber units. There are polyurethane bump stops that can be cut down to height depending on what you need. Autozone sells them for around $15 a pair. I have used several over the years to keep from bottoming out metal to metal. I currently have a set in my rear bridge that are there to prevent my rear tires from rubbing the inner fenders when all of the air is dumped from the rear bags.


The polyurethane bump stop in the pic has been cut down from its original height approx 1/2". If you use these up front, you will have to drill a hole to mount it or completely remove the oem metal bracket that the rubber bumpstops are attached to a have a new bracket welded in place. It seems like a bit of work, but when I had a static drop of 5 front and 7 rear, with these stops in place, it saved my tires from rubbing.

You must be registered for see images attach
I def. plan to run at least an 18" wheel (probably 20") up front, with 20" or 22" in the rear. But, I say this as a "REMOTE POSSIBILITY", I don't see any reason I could not roll with the 15" wheels it came with if I wanted to. By C-Notching the front frame, and "Raising" the crossmember, that crossmember, a-arms, & entire setup doesn't know it dropped any except the spring went away and an air bag took it's place. The entire setup is still sitting in exactly the same location as it was originally and the 15" wheels from the factory worked just fine. ??
Maybe I am missing something.
I moved my truck out of the garage to the street, bed into driveway, truck back thru garage into backyard yesterday so we could start bodywork on the bed. Twice I had to steer the truck lock to lock at ride height with no issues whatsoever.
 

radio2000

Full Access Member
Joined
Jul 28, 2017
Posts
186
Reaction score
102
Location
South Carolina
First Name
Chris
Truck Year
83 and 88
Truck Model
83 C10 and 88 R10 Burb
Engine Size
350
Do you plan on having 15 inch wheels like the steel rally oems? If you plan on using 15inch factory wheels, you may have clearance issues with the lower control arms. If you go with a larger diameter wheel, like a 20 inch for example, it gives you more options and they will clear the control arms...you will just need to consider a lower profile tire with a larger diameter wheel of course. I am running a 20x8 front and a 20x10 rear. I also dont have oem front inner fenders ( I made my own ). With the amount of drop you will have...you might be able to fit a 60 series 15 inch tire up front, with minor fender well scuffing on big rolling bumps. The back isn't as much of an issue. If you have bottoming out issues out front with a 65 series tire, install taller polyurethane bump stops in place of the oem rubber units. There are polyurethane bump stops that can be cut down to height depending on what you need. Autozone sells them for around $15 a pair. I have used several over the years to keep from bottoming out metal to metal. I currently have a set in my rear bridge that are there to prevent my rear tires from rubbing the inner fenders when all of the air is dumped from the rear bags.


The polyurethane bump stop in the pic has been cut down from its original height approx 1/2". If you use these up front, you will have to drill a hole to mount it or completely remove the oem metal bracket that the rubber bumpstops are attached to a have a new bracket welded in place. It seems like a bit of work, but when I had a static drop of 5 front and 7 rear, with these stops in place, it saved my tires from rubbing.

You must be registered for see images attach
Any pics of the static drop?
And did you run the stock inner fenders then?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

smoothandlow84

I'd rather be draggin' frame
Joined
Jan 4, 2015
Posts
2,121
Reaction score
784
Location
Arizona
First Name
Steve
Truck Year
1984 Frame...87 motor and 700r trans
Truck Model
1500 r10 pavement scraper
Engine Size
350 TBI
You must be registered for see images attach
Any pics of the static drop?
And did you run the stock inner fenders then?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


I ended up removing the inner front fenders. Under full suspension compression, the tires would scuff the inner fenders.

The pics are with the 20 inch wheels and prior to the bodywork, paint and other major mods. In the pic, is the truck with the static drop. Currently the truck is bagged front and rear.

You must be registered for see images attach
 

smoothandlow84

I'd rather be draggin' frame
Joined
Jan 4, 2015
Posts
2,121
Reaction score
784
Location
Arizona
First Name
Steve
Truck Year
1984 Frame...87 motor and 700r trans
Truck Model
1500 r10 pavement scraper
Engine Size
350 TBI
Some more recent

You must be registered for see images attach
 

Rickochet

Junior Member
Joined
Oct 2, 2019
Posts
7
Reaction score
16
Location
Marion, IN
First Name
Rick
Truck Year
77
Truck Model
C10
Engine Size
355
Do you plan on having 15 inch wheels like the steel rally oems? If you plan on using 15inch factory wheels, you may have clearance issues with the lower control arms. If you go with a larger diameter wheel, like a 20 inch for example, it gives you more options and they will clear the control arms...you will just need to consider a lower profile tire with a larger diameter wheel of course. I am running a 20x8 front and a 20x10 rear. I also dont have oem front inner fenders ( I made my own ). With the amount of drop you will have...you might be able to fit a 60 series 15 inch tire up front, with minor fender well scuffing on big rolling bumps. The back isn't as much of an issue. If you have bottoming out issues out front with a 65 series tire, install taller polyurethane bump stops in place of the oem rubber units. There are polyurethane bump stops that can be cut down to height depending on what you need. Autozone sells them for around $15 a pair. I have used several over the years to keep from bottoming out metal to metal. I currently have a set in my rear bridge that are there to prevent my rear tires from rubbing the inner fenders when all of the air is dumped from the rear bags.


The polyurethane bump stop in the pic has been cut down from its original height approx 1/2". If you use these up front, you will have to drill a hole to mount it or completely remove the oem metal bracket that the rubber bumpstops are attached to a have a new bracket welded in place. It seems like a bit of work, but when I had a static drop of 5 front and 7 rear, with these stops in place, it saved my tires from rubbing.

You must be registered for see images attach


Do you have any photos of your front inner wheel wells?
 

Latest posts

Forum statistics

Threads
41,859
Posts
903,642
Members
33,372
Latest member
83elcowes
Top