Hey guys, looking for some help. Got a 2021, bought it 1 1/2 years ago. We had the dealer put a rough country level in and we added the stock 20" wheels and went with 35x12.50x20 nitto grapplers for tires. All good until 26,000 miles and the upper a arm ball joint snapped and the tire folded in. Had the dealer put in rough country upper a arms and now the tires rub BAD!! Just had the dealership put on a set of nitto 296/60/20 and those rub the inner fender now also! The factory a arms with the 35x12.50 didn't rub at all now they do with a 34" tire and 11.50 wide. Thoughts??
HELP
- Thread starter Cflo
- Start date
Check out all the threads about suspension on here .....and you will read about this for hours.
GMC 1500 AT4 Wheels and Tires
GMC 1500 AT4 Wheels and Tires
- Thread Starter
- #3
My real question is why did the 35"x12.50 work with the factory a arms but the rough country ones made the tire hit the inner fender rub bad! Now I'm at 34" tire and 11.50 wide and it still rubs
Got any pics of previous and current setup on your truck, OP? Angle corrected aftermarket arms can stick out further causing more tire poke (effectively like having a negative offset wheel on the front), also aftermarket arms are often thicker/beefier. Ball joints are usually stronger/better. Plus the corrected angle for the level kit over stock arms can cause the end of the arm to sit higher, thus hitting your tire if on a stock wheel or positive offset wheel.
Surprised you could get by with 35" tires on just a front level before the arm replacement. Had to be tight. I have the RC 1.5" front level and RC correct angle arms on my 2023 AT4X. I have 34 x 11.5 Nitto RG tires on Fuel Conta wheels with a -13 offset (wheels are 18" , not 20" to be clear). Even with 34" tires, and the RC front level, I still have a very slight rub on the back of the factory mudflap. My -13 offset wheels is really what does me in though. I like some wheel poke so went with a negative offset wheel. In retrospect I wish I had gone with a 20" wheel with +1 offset and 295/60R20 Nitto RG (there are examples of posters trucks with this setup on here). But I didn't and not gonna dump more $ in to the truck to make any changes.
You can probably put a 1/4" or even 1/2" spacer on the wheel hub to clear your tire from your new arms. Just a thought.
Surprised you could get by with 35" tires on just a front level before the arm replacement. Had to be tight. I have the RC 1.5" front level and RC correct angle arms on my 2023 AT4X. I have 34 x 11.5 Nitto RG tires on Fuel Conta wheels with a -13 offset (wheels are 18" , not 20" to be clear). Even with 34" tires, and the RC front level, I still have a very slight rub on the back of the factory mudflap. My -13 offset wheels is really what does me in though. I like some wheel poke so went with a negative offset wheel. In retrospect I wish I had gone with a 20" wheel with +1 offset and 295/60R20 Nitto RG (there are examples of posters trucks with this setup on here). But I didn't and not gonna dump more $ in to the truck to make any changes.
You can probably put a 1/4" or even 1/2" spacer on the wheel hub to clear your tire from your new arms. Just a thought.
- Thread Starter
- #5
I actually don't have any pics and the truck is still at the dealership waiting for me to make a decision on what to do. But thank you for the input, we did add 1/4" spacer so it wouldn't rub the a arm but now it's rubbing the inner fender. Guess we will just go with a 33" tire and be done with it. It looked so good though with the level, factory a arms and 35x12.50x20 nitro's... could put the factory a arms back on it but it will 100% break again and I got lucky the wife was only doing 45 when it happened and not 80 down the highway.
No worries on the pics! 33" tires are a good size for the truck.
I would not put the factory A arms back on either.... there is a reason I spend the $ for angle corrected arms when I do front levels on my trucks. Because keeping the stock arms at too steep an angle is asking for problems.
35" tires are just tough to fit on these GMC boxy fender wells. I know it is a GMC distinction they go for with the boxy fender wells, but it really limits the tire sizes one can use even with a front level.
Yes, very lucky she wasn't going down the interstate. And that she is safe! Had to be a scary moment!
I have a Readylift kit and Bilsteins ready to go......... but the more I read the less I want to change anything!
Install angle corrected A arms and you shouldn't have anything to worry about.
On my 2023 AT4X, the only current option that I know of is the Rough Country front level kit and the Rough Country 3.5" angle adjusted A arms, which I had both installed almost a month ago. The front suspension is definitely a bit rougher/more springy than it was stock, but not a huge difference. The DSSV shocks on the AT4X are really great, I hated to mess with that plush stock ride, but don't like the look of the factory rake plus I always add bigger/wider wheels and tires to my trucks, so a front level is necessary to do that.
All of my trucks over the last 20 years have had a front level installed. Once I had a 6.5" BDS suspension lift put on a 2014 Sierra Z71. Looked nice but even though the kit had "lifetiime" enhanced strength ball joints, I went through 3 sets of ball joints in 70K miles. Living in Montana, and my house located out in the mountains, I do drive daily rougher than normal roads. Not crazy bad, but rough enough to put a lot of extra hits and stress to the front suspension. After the 3rd ball joint replacement BDS said they wouldn't replace them any longer, even though they were lifetime guarantee ball joints. So I sold the truck to not have to deal with it again!
- Thread Starter
- #10
I have been leveling ford and GM trucks for 20 years with no issues, could not believe it when it happened on this truck. Oh well, get some 33" on it and move on. Thanks for comments!
