[Johnnydunph]

Hey Guys,

looking to put 33" tires on my 2019 Colorado ZR2 Diesel and have read many ways that people have gone about doing this. Go with the 1" Spacer lift and minor well trimming, going straight to the upgraded coil overs, AEV Flares with no spacer lift etc.. who's done what, and what would you recommend? I see mixed opinions on all, and the main concerns of CV angles, doing the diff drop vs leaving that alone do to bushing mount angles too.
Cheers,

 

[bigoilbob]

Hey Guys,

looking to put 33" tires on my 2019 Colorado ZR2 Diesel and have read many ways that people have gone about doing this. Go with the 1" Spacer lift and minor well trimming, going straight to the upgraded coil overs, AEV Flares with no spacer lift etc.. who's done what, and what would you recommend? I see mixed opinions on all, and the main concerns of CV angles, doing the diff drop vs leaving that alone do to bushing mount angles too.
Cheers, View attachment 9179

Must be nice to have an expendable pickup to use as a disposable toy. KYSO....

 

[Johnnydunph]

Must be nice to have an expendable pickup to use as a disposable toy. KYSO....

nope just looking to enhance its capabilities for the places I take it exploring and camping. It would be considered an expendable toy if I just threw bigger tires on it without researching and asking for experiences in a forum like this. Great contribution there bigoilbob.

 

[bigoilbob]

nope just looking to enhance its capabilities for the places I take it exploring and camping. It would be considered an expendable toy if I just threw bigger tires on it without researching and asking for experiences in a forum like this. Great contribution there bigoilbob.

nope just looking to enhance its capabilities for the places I take it exploring and camping. It would be considered an expendable toy if I just threw bigger tires on it without researching and asking for experiences in a forum like this. Great contribution there bigoilbob.

33" tires? Do you actually not know better? A significant fraction of worries on this forum are from transmission hand wringing. So, let's increase required torques by over ~40%. Not all that thoughtful, Johnnydumph.....

 

[mwswarrior]

Wow. Ask a simple question and get a bunch of unproductive flack! It's one thing to add objective input. It's another to weigh in with useless personal jabs.

I've got 33s with a 1 inch level up front, No rubbing thus far. Only issue I've seen is a slight drop in MPG (1 MPG in highway driving). I'm about to install the 33 inch clearance kit from AEV for a little additional clearance off road.

 

[custom90gt]

Yeah not sure what this is all about in regards to the above posts.

I've been happy with my 33s and 1 inch leveling kit for the past 35k miles. Now if only the diesel were more reliable...

 

[Garrobo]

I don’t know what off roading experience you have but going to 33s on that truck won’t help much. If you are going for the look then by all means do it. Feeling good driving your truck is what it’s all about.

 

[hryan1124]

Nice mine is more show. Making it into a drivable RC truck! Has 35s currently!

Hey Guys,

looking to put 33" tires on my 2019 Colorado ZR2 Diesel and have read many ways that people have gone about doing this. Go with the 1" Spacer lift and minor well trimming, going straight to the upgraded coil overs, AEV Flares with no spacer lift etc.. who's done what, and what would you recommend? I see mixed opinions on all, and the main concerns of CV angles, doing the diff drop vs leaving that alone do to bushing mount angles too.
Cheers, View attachment 9179

 

[Skrow]

Hey Guys,

looking to put 33" tires on my 2019 Colorado ZR2 Diesel and have read many ways that people have gone about doing this. Go with the 1" Spacer lift and minor well trimming, going straight to the upgraded coil overs, AEV Flares with no spacer lift etc.. who's done what, and what would you recommend? I see mixed opinions on all, and the main concerns of CV angles, doing the diff drop vs leaving that alone do to bushing mount angles too.
Cheers, View attachment 9179

WoW so crazy comments from others for sure. My experience, if your going to add bigger tires, go with a quality lift. I am thinking an Icon lift for my truck. I have 95,000 miles on my 16 Duramax and love it

I have a 2005 Jeep Wrangler LJ with 33" tires and did a quality OME lift. No issues. So worth spending the extra cash on quality products.

 

[Johnnydunph]

Wow. Ask a simple question and get a bunch of unproductive flack! It's one thing to add objective input. It's another to weigh in with useless personal jabs.

I've got 33s with a 1 inch level up front, No rubbing thus far. Only issue I've seen is a slight drop in MPG (1 MPG in highway driving). I'm about to install the 33 inch clearance kit from AEV for a little additional clearance off road.

hahah yeah quite the interesting feedback for sure!

Thanks for the insight on yours! I'm thinking the 1" level upfront is ultimately what I want to go with for now too, and the AEV flares they just released for the Colorado.. I want those

 

[Johnnydunph]

Yeah not sure what this is all about in regards to the above posts.

I've been happy with my 33s and 1 inch leveling kit for the past 35k miles. Now if only the diesel were more reliable...

Makes two of us aha. Great, that's good to hear. Dare I ask what issues you've had with the diesel so far..?

 

[Johnnydunph]

WoW so crazy comments from others for sure. My experience, if your going to add bigger tires, go with a quality lift. I am thinking an Icon lift for my truck. I have 95,000 miles on my 16 Duramax and love it

I have a 2005 Jeep Wrangler LJ with 33" tires and did a quality OME lift. No issues. So worth spending the extra cash on quality products.

Yes I agree, that's why I wanted to throw one post out before I make the decision. I want to make sure I go with the best choice from the start. I'll check out the Icon lift, thanks!

 

[custom90gt]

Makes two of us aha. Great, that's good to hear. Dare I ask what issues you've had with the diesel so far..?

Eh my biggest issue right now is the DPF that regens every 50-80 miles causing my MPGs to tank and my GM dealership plays the "no code no issue" game. I've also had lots of random stabilitrack messages, a bad block heater, random temperature CELs. I just wish my truck would throw a code for the emissions so I can get that fixed before my warranty runs out. Other than that I love the truck, lol.

 

[mwswarrior]

BTW, AEV had flares and they have a clearance kit that doesn't involve new flares. Here's the link: Colorado 33" Tire Clearance Kit - American Expedition Vehicles - AEV

 

[JDB]

Yeah, you gotta filter out a lot of flack from the diesel heads on this forum. They insist that this truck is only for long distance towing, and that the lifestyle use you enjoy will somehow ruin the truck. Only time will tell for us lifestyle folks, but meanwhile let’s enjoy what we have! An inch or two of sus lift front and rear is a nice insurance policy when softroading on unimproved forest roads or backcountry high clearance trips in the Utah desert.

So anyway, just go to the gasser Colorado forum to get all the perspective you need on lifts and tires. It’s already been exhaustively documented. The only difference with the diesel is weight (thus affecting spring rate and valving). But installed geometry should be identical: How to lift your Colorado or Canyon and what tires fit

My advice is to have your vehicle weighed at all four corners, and then contact a shop like Accutune which will include a free shock valving service with the cost of a nice set of Fox, Icon, or similar units. I did a 1.75” Fox suspension lift on the front, and a 1” block plus Fox shocks on the rear. Unfortunately the Fox 2.5” remote reservoirs rode like rigid bricks off the shelf (for my lifestyle use, not hauling lead pellets). Accutune re-valved my Fox units real nice. Now that I have a camper topper on the rear (pushing the leafs down into their jiggly riding zone), I’m having a pair of custom leafs made by Alcan Spring in Grand Junction, CO. They’ll ride smoother under load, and also give another inch of sus lift back there to elevate the under-mounted spare tire and at least marginally improve departure angle (and then it’ll be time to sawzall the lower portion of the big exhaust tip). YMMV.

 

[JDB]

PFA. GFC topper, 32” tires. I’d love to have an inch or two more tire, but I’m not ready to cut off the front bumper and get all pre-runner on it yet...

 

[Tazman22]

Nice mine is more show. Making it into a drivable RC truck! Has 35s currently!

View attachment 9188

That looks Sweet.

 

[bigoilbob]

Yeah, you gotta filter out a lot of flack from the diesel heads on this forum. They insist that this truck is only for long distance towing, and that the lifestyle use you enjoy will somehow ruin the truck. Only time will tell for us lifestyle folks, but meanwhile let’s enjoy what we have! An inch or two of sus lift front and rear is a nice insurance policy when softroading on unimproved forest roads or backcountry high clearance trips in the Utah desert.

So anyway, just go to the gasser Colorado forum to get all the perspective you need on lifts and tires. It’s already been exhaustively documented. The only difference with the diesel is weight (thus affecting spring rate and valving). But installed geometry should be identical: How to lift your Colorado or Canyon and what tires fit

My advice is to have your vehicle weighed at all four corners, and then contact a shop like Accutune which will include a free shock valving service with the cost of a nice set of Fox, Icon, or similar units. I did a 1.75” Fox suspension lift on the front, and a 1” block plus Fox shocks on the rear. Unfortunately the Fox 2.5” remote reservoirs rode like rigid bricks off the shelf (for my lifestyle use, not hauling lead pellets). Accutune re-valved my Fox units real nice. Now that I have a camper topper on the rear (pushing the leafs down into their jiggly riding zone), I’m having a pair of custom leafs made by Alcan Spring in Grand Junction, CO. They’ll ride smoother under load, and also give another inch of sus lift back there to elevate the under-mounted spare tire and at least marginally improve departure angle (and then it’ll be time to sawzall the lower portion of the big exhaust tip). YMMV.

I didn't touch handling in my objection. Rather, cautioned about the higher transmission torques that you are imposing. If you read this fora for long enough, then you would have realized that one of the biggest anxieties is about our 6 speed trannies. But if you are in it for the show rather than the go, KYSO....

 

[JDB]

...cautioned about the higher transmission torques that you are imposing. If you read this fora for long enough, then you would have realized that one of the biggest anxieties is about our 6 speed trannies. But if you are in it for the show rather than the go, KYSO....

Forgive my ignorance, but I don’t get it. I’m not an automotive engineer, but I’m a mechanical engineer and tend to be able to grasp basic automotive concepts. The problem with this forum is all the goddamned innuendo and condescending attitude - which is why I cannot stand being a regular enough reader to parse out all the helpful content.

My 2016 2.8D Z71 is rated for roughly 1500 lb payload and IIRC something like 7000 lb towing capacity. Let’s assume I flush and replace the tranny fluid as suggested in other threads (I’m at 45000 mi - no shudder - but no point in risking waiting longer). I’ve got a 1-3/4” sus lift in front to fit 32” tires (a +7% increase in tire radius). The OP mentioned 33” tires, so a 10% increase over stock radius. I can’t speak for the OP’s payload, but his lifestyle sounds a bit like mine. I’ve got a lean wife, two small kids, a 400# camping topper, and a few hundred pounds of camping stove, fuel, water, and iced cooler. Doesn’t seem like an excess of weight, compared to the vehicle rating, and the mild lift is just enough that I don’t scrape my chin on every goddamned step-up on a BLM or national park service road.

So please explain how I’m going to blow up my tranny. I’m happy to learn from you... I just suck at reading between your lines. Or even better, make a sticky forum post objectively explaining the concern so that the rest of us don’t have to browse through scores of threads of innuendo and GM engineer shaming just to find a needle of truth in a trash talking haystack.

I’m not a forum butterfly, but have caught on (from the ‘overland’ crowd) that “lifestyle” often refers to camping / mountain bike hauling, as opposed to trailering horses or hauling lead shot. Maybe your lifestyle def differs?
Oh, and I cannot speak for that dude above with the show truck. Some people enjoy that. Doesn’t happen to be my cup of tea. But his 35” tires are 17% larger than stock radius. Seemed like you said something about 40% overload on our transmissions, but maybe I misread that from another post.

 

[Vinolush]

Eh my biggest issue right now is the DPF that regens every 50-80 miles causing my MPGs to tank and my GM dealership plays the "no code no issue" game. I've also had lots of random stabilitrack messages, a bad block heater, random temperature CELs. I just wish my truck would throw a code for the emissions so I can get that fixed before my warranty runs out. Other than that I love the truck, lol.

Don't know if you've explored this yet but your symptoms are very similar to others that have had wiring chaffing

There is many complaints regarding this. Do a search on Coloradofans.com

2.8L Harness Chafing

PIP5416A was released Aug 23 2016 to address some possible 2.8L harness install/routing issued. I decided to check mine as I prefer prevention over problems on the road and subsequent wiring repairs. I found one issue that needed addressing: A harness runs up the right side of the bell housing...

www.coloradofans.com