The stock tires on the Silverado are not as big as 33-inch tires. A lot of the time people feel the need to replace the stock tires with bigger ones to help increase grit and power.
There are a lot of benefits of using a 33-in tire with the Silverado that I’ll discuss later on here. But, one very important thing is that you cannot get full performance from a Silverado if you don’t install the tires correctly.
When installing the tires, you do have to lift the Silverado. Now the main question you might be asking yourself is, how much lift do I need for 33-inch tires Silverado?
And the question is valid! It is quite impossible to install tires on a Silverado without the right lift.
The Silverado needs a minimum of 3-inch lift upgrade on the suspension for proper installation of 33-inch wheels. Sometimes, to make the installation process successful you might even need to add body mounts and trim the fender liners.
There are a lot of things that you need to know about before installing a 33-inch tire onto the Silverado. So keep on reading if you want to know more about this topic.
How Much Lift Do I Need For 33 Inch Tires Silverado?
When installing 33-inch tires on the Silverado, you will need a minimum of 2 to 3-inch suspension kit. You might also need a front-end leveling kit with the tires.
If you don’t get these modifications, there might be a possibility of the tire scratching against the surface of the car during a full turn in reverse or during a full lock.
These modifications are crucial for smooth riding and successful installation. If you add the 3-inch suspension kit lift, you shouldn’t have any problem with 33-inch wheels.
Can You Use 33-Inch Tires With Silverado?
The simple answer to this question is, yes! Upgrading the wheel size to 33 inches is very common amongst Chevy Silverado and Sierra users.
The reason why there’s a grade is so popular is that it does not cause any harm to the performance of the vehicle. And is a very affordable way to give the vehicle a nice upgraded look. There are other huge benefits of using a 33-inch tire on a Chevy Silverado that I’m going to explain later on in this article.
If you want to know about other wheel sizes, you can check out my article on, whether the 285/60r20 size wheel fits Silverado or not.
Benefits Of Using 33 Inch Tires On Silverado
One of the main reasons why people love upgrading their stock 31 or 32-inch Silverado wheels to a 33-inch one Is that it is a great affordable way to give the vehicle an upgraded look.
Not to mention, upgrading the wheels will also give the vehicle amazing off-road and on-road performance. The upgrade is more popular amongst people who enjoy off-road traveling.
Installing bigger 33-inch tires on the Silverado ensures a grippier drive. That means when you ride the vehicle on slippery and muddy tracks, you will have a lot of control and stability.
It is possible, that on some models of the Silverado, the wheels might be a bit oversized for the vehicle. But even then, the wheels will just be out of the stock fender by only a few inches. This won’t cause any drastic changes to the performance or the look of the vehicle.
The 33-inch tire has the capability of giving you more balance since it has more surface area. Since there is a larger surface area that comes in contact with the tire you get better stability.
Also, these larger tires have a better capacity of absorbing terrain imperfections. You can use these tires on muddy, snowy, and even wet roads quite easily.
How To Change A Tire On Silverado
Changing the wheels on a Chevy Silverado to bigger ones surely has a lot of benefits. But, you won’t be able to enjoy these benefits without getting a proper installation.
Luckily, installing or changing tires on a chevy Silverado is a fairly easy procedure. Here are all the steps that you need to follow for this installation process to go well.
1. The Background
Before you start changing the tires on your Chevy Silverado you have to make sure that you are doing it in the right place. The background of the installation process has to be perfect.
A few safety procedures that I will suggest you follow are parking the car in a nice flat and leveled place and darning the light flares on. Make sure you pull up the e-brake as well.
If you are working on a manual vehicle, set the car in gear and engage the brakes.
2. Lift The Car
Next, you will have to lift the vehicle to fit in the wheels. When doing a full installation of four wheels, you can either work on one wheel at a time or on all four wheels at the same time.
I will suggest that if you are changing the tires at home, you work on one wheel at a time.
For this, the lug nuts of the vehicle have to be loosened a bit beforehand. Then, place the vehicle on jacking points and tighten the chassis using jack stands. Lift the vehicle slowly.
3. Remove The Stock Tire
Before you install the new tires you have to remove the stock tires. Use a good quality lug nut wrench such as the Performance Tool W1 Silver 20″ SAE/Metric 4-Way Cross Lug Wrench.
The stock tire should come out easily after the nuts have been loosened. Set the tire aside and store it in the garage in case you need it in the future.
Install The New 33 Inch Tires
Now, get the tire and place it in line with the lug nut holes. Using a KORR Tools KTW002 3/8-Inch Drive Click Torque Wrench to secure the lug nuts in place tightly.
All you have to do now is remove the wheel chocks, and lower the Silverado to the ground. Make sure that the tire has been screwed in tightly and you’re good to go!
If the process seems a bit confusing to you, you can watch this video online to help you with the installation.
Frequently Asked Questions
The perfect kind of offset to use with a Chevy Silverado is the -6 offset. This unit will work great with 33-inch tires as well.
The offset will help with the slight poking that some models of the Silverado might face with the upgraded and larger 33-inch wheel.
Yes, you can install a 33-inch wheel on the level Chevy Silverado 1500 without any negative changes to performance. This larger wheel will help you get a better grip on the road.
The biggest size of tire that you can use with a Chevy Silverado is 33.5 inches. Yes, you can use even larger tires but they will require some serious modifications to the vehicle. Not to mention, the procedure is also going to be very expensive!
To know more about bigger tires and their compatibility with Silverado Check out my writing on the lift size needed for 35-inch tires Silverado.
The 2019 Chevy Silverado model has a 17 to 22-inch diameter wheel. This is the stock wheel that you get with the model, of course, you can replace it with bigger wheels if needed.
Final Words
Whenever I meet Chevy Silverado users, they all have one common question, “How much lift do I need for 33-inch tires Silverado?” And I always tell them, 2.5 to 3 inches is good enough!
Most of the recent Chevy Silverado models have a 31 or 32-inch wheel. Upgrading to a 33-inch wheel therefore will not have any negative impact on the performance of the vehicle. The largest size of the wheel that you can use with the Chevy Silverado now is 33.5 inches.
You won’t need any expensive modifications on the Chevy Silverado with a 33-inch wheel. So relax and get the larger and better wheel!
