What is the Biggest Tire You Can Fit on a Stock Silverado?

Chevrolet Silverado is perhaps one of the most popular trucks made by General Motors under the Chevrolet brand. Not only are these trucks reliable, but also they have a very fierce and “badass” look that impresses most of its buyers.

We understand how important buying any vehicle is, and after thorough research on various Chevrolet Silverado models, I can confidently say it’s worth an investment. With the proper care and maintenance, these trucks can last over two decades, having covered thousands of miles for you.

What is the Biggest Tire You Can Fit on a Stock Silverado?

Stock Silverados come with a 3.16-inch tire but, with some modifications, you can fit a tire up to 33 inches on a Silverado 1500. However, tire size affects the vehicle’s overall efficiency, durability, comfort, and a few other factors that you should consider before increasing the size of your Silverado’s tires.

Many truck owners will agree with me when I say that the type and size of tires on your truck are one of the most important aspects.

Tires are perhaps any vehicle’s most important safety feature. When driving your vehicle anywhere, you want to make sure your tires are well inflated and are in their best condition. 

Purchasing the vehicle is already intimidating enough but, fitting the best tires for your Chevrolet shouldn’t be. I am here to help you through this and give you all the information you need to know about Chevrolet Silverado tires moving on stock suspensions.

However, before outlining all the different sizes of tires that you could use for your Chevrolet Silverado, I must walk you through some tips to consider before purchasing any tire.

Tire Shopping Guide

Know Your Surrounding 

Just like shoes, tires are made by different manufactures. But, before purchasing a tire from any brand, you need to understand the place you’ll be driving around. If you live along with United States’ snowy parts, such as Rochester, you want a tire with firm tractions.

If, however, you live in hot places like Florida, you want your tires to be made of tougher and rigid rubber.

Timing Is Everything

It’s important to examine all your five tires now and then. Yes, you should inspect the spare tire too! You should make sure your treads are in great shape.

For this, most people do the “penny experiment.” Penny experiment is when you insert a penny inside your tire treads to see if they’re deep enough. If the treads are in good condition, the head of the coin won’t be fully visible.

Size Matters

For this trip, make sure the size you choose for your tire complements its speed and can put up with your vehicle’s weight. As you might guess, bigger tires are more expensive compared to smaller ones.

Think Of Comfort

You’re basing on your past driving experience with your vehicle fitted with a different brand; it’s time to know if you want the same feel or something else. For better results, you should seek a technician’s opinion.

Check Reviews

For something so important like a tire, you want to know other people’s experiences using a certain tire brand before purchasing. People who have purchased similar tires in the past will be your best benchmark.

If a certain brand or size has people complaining or resulting in returns, that should be a red flag. But, if lots of people are giving great reviews on a certain brand of tires, it should make your list of considerations.

Since we’re now informed on the factors to consider before purchasing tires for any vehicle, it’s the right moment to talk about Chevy Silverado’s tires. By the end of this article, I’ll better inform you to decide whether to go big and fierce or moderate and reliable.

There is a lot to talk about on the sizes of the Chevy Silverado’s tires. A tire upgrade on the Chevy Silverado could increase its height, better its traction. And increase its performance both on and off-road.

Since there are four different generations of the Chevrolet Silverado 1500, the sizes that can accommodate either of the generations vary. The biggest tires you can fix on a Chevrolet Silverado 1500 running on stock are:

Silverado 33.5-inch Tires

This size of the Silverado tires is more suitable for the third and fourth generations of the Chevy Silverado1500 trucks. The factory settings for these tires are 31.6 inches and bear a form 265/65/R18 and size 33 inches with the form of 275/60/R20.

Although it’s not recommended, you can add an extra inch for the tire since it’s not completely limited.

I know if you prefer large tires, you must be asking yourself what to do so that the 33-inch ones can fit perfectly on your Silverado. This how you can make it work:

You can opt to use a leveling kit to increase clearance from the Upper Control Arm (UCA).

You can also opt to use a 2-inch suspension, which will make the 33-inch tires fit even better while still moving on the stock.

So in simpler terms, the 33-inch tire is the biggest you can fit on a Chevrolet Silverado 1500. You can fit this without a leveling kit or suspensions, although; it’ll push the owner to get some wheel modifications on their Silverado 1500. 

The 33-inch will takes many forms of sizes based on whether the owner wants it mainly for off-road purposes or just for aesthetics.

A more negative offset on your wheels will make it easier to fit the 33-inch wheels. I’ll advise that you get the wheel modifications first before fitting any giant-sized tire on the truck for any generation of the Chevrolet Silverado.

 This way, it will reduce the extra expenses for things like a leveling kit or the need for suspensions. The only way of modifying your wheel area is by cutting or trimming around it. So how do you go about trimming or cutting your wheel? 

Cutting or Trimming Your Chevrolet Silverado 1500 Wheel

Cutting through your beloved truck’s wheel area is not something you want to take lightly. A bad cut or trim will stay with your truck forever, so you want to be careful about how you go about it.

The Chevrolet Silverado 1500 being one big truck, you can be sure that their limitations on the UCA. These limitations are what stop you from fitting anything over a 33-inch tire on that Silverado 1500. 

The limitation is because due to the limited wheel arch clearance, exceeding that 33-inch size will make your wheel area rub against the new tires. That’s a horror story right there.

So what should be cut through or adjusted on your beloved Silverado 1500 wheel area so that it can accommodate the 33-inch tires?

You should pull the mud flaps further back.

Push back your plastic fenders with a heat gun so that the tires don’t rub on them while reversing.

Other questions that many Chevrolet Silverado 1500 owners ask about fitting the 33-inch tires are also answered here. 

Are Skinny Tires Efficient?

The answer is yes. If you don’t fancy the idea of trimming or cutting through the plastic liners or even the mud flaps, you can always get a thinner tire upgrade. These thinner tires come in the sizes of 32, 7 inches and a form of 255/85 r16 or even 255/80 r17 and will not rub.

Do 33-inch Tires Work With Suspension Kits?

Even though these suspension kits are costly, they work well with the Silverado 1500 without any major wheel modifications. Having any suspension taller than three inches will accommodate a 33-inch and beyond effortlessly.

Do Larger Tires Use More Fuel?

Many people want to know whether fitting huge wheels on their Chevrolet Silverado 1500 means more fuel. The answer is yes. Fitting huge tires on a Silverado will increase the weight, which isn’t supported by the suspensions.

It’s very important before you go for that bigger tire for your truck to understand the increased fuel consumption it will cause. It’s very pricy.

Conclusion 

The 33-inch tire will only fit in your truck after a series of modifications and the introduction of leveling and suspension kits. The suspension is the best choice to help accommodate the 33-inch tire on your truck.

The only way you could fit the 33-inch wheel without modifications is by acquiring already negatively offset wheels.