So I wanted to post this thread to hopefully help any other members here who have lifted their truck and installed larger wheels and 20"x35x12.50 tires like I have, who want to utilize the factory spare well to avoid having a wheel in the bed of truck, not break the bank for a spare, may be unsure of what wheel/ tire combination will fit in the spare well and will actually work on the road in the unfortunate situation that you actually need it.
A HUGE credit is also due to the the members who responded to my original post with suggestions, products, and other info that was a great help to me getting the right combination.
Links for all products and media will be posted .
I mounted a 35"x11.50x17 Toyo Open Country AT3 on a Rough Country 17"x9" -12 offset black steel wheel. I wanted to match my other 4 tires as close as possible but chose to go with the 11.50 tire to save a little money and keep the spare tucked away as much as possible.
I then used a 1/2" hub centric wheel spacer to avoid any clearance issues up front, and a hub centric ring due to the fact that that the wheel bore is 108 mm and the spacer was for a 106 mm.
In a perfect world it would be best to order a custom machined spacer with the exact dimensions you need and not have any extra parts, but in this situation it will be used for emergency use only and it works just fine after road testing.
I went with bare minimum thickness on the wheel spacer to avoid creating clearance issues and having to deal with the extra complications with studs. This spacer slides right onto the factory studs to simplify a roadside installation.
The shop that did my lift put Gorilla lug nuts on and they worked great for the final bolt up. Sorry I don't have a link for them.
Fittament/ clearance, and road test - clearance on the front caliper was about a 1/4" , and this may differ on other year trucks. I would have liked to see a little more but had zero issues with contact when road testing.
On the rear the caliper clearance was closer to 1/2" and road tested perfect as well.
My road tests were just that, no off road but simply driving at different speeds on secondary roads with no highway speed tests. This truck is road driven 99% of the time. My thoughts are that if I had to use my spare I would immediately get to a shop and get my normal tire replaced or repaired asap.
Stowing the spare - The bore of the Rough Country wheel is larger than the factory spare so the steel puck on the end of the hoisting cable will not work as it is to narrow. To correct this problem I used the adapter ring from Range and it worked perfect to bridge the difference.
Once I cranked the wheel up into the spare well it fit nicely with about a 1/2" of clearance from the heat shield and trailer hitch. Clearance from my Borla S Type exhaust was at least 2 - 3".
In the end I'm extremely pleased with how everything turned out, and that I still have full use of my bed.
Hopefully this post will be of use to any folks who find themselves with needs similar to mine.
Please note: In no way do I proclaim that this set up is the absolute one size fits all best way to go. It simply does what I need it to do.
See pics, and links for the parts I used below:
Aftermarket Wheel Adapter for Spare Hoist 106.1mm to 108mm Bore (Silve – Range Industries
This adapter allows for the stock spare tire hanger to fit snugly on the larger bore of aftermarket wheels. This means aftermarket wheels can now safely be mounted in the spare tire location under the bed. Additionally, the flange of this adapter covers the wheel surface that mates with the...
range-industries.com
Chevy GMC 6x5.5 Hub Centric 1/2" (13mm) Wheel Spacers Silverado Sierra – Wheel Adapters USA
USA Made 1/2" inch thick or 13mm 6x5.5 Chevrolet Silverado GMC Sierra Hubcentric wheel spacers are built to last. We've literally sold 100's of 1000's of spacers. Fits all Chevy Silverado 1500, GMC Sierra 1500, Tahoe, Avalanche, Yukon, Escalade 6 lug trucks. 6x139.7 designed to fit 14x1.5 studs...
wheeladaptersusa.com
WHEEL CONNECT Hub Centric Rings,108 to 78.1, Set of 4, Aluminium Alloy Hubrings, O.D:108mm I.D 78.1mm.
A
https://a.co/d/dpB8X8u
2022 Chevy Silverado 1500 LT Trail Boss Steel Wheels | Rough Country
Suspension Lift Kits, Leveling Kits, body lift, Ford, Chevy, Jeep, Dodge, Toyota, Mickey Thompson Tires
www.roughcountry.com
Toyo Tires Open Country A T III 35x11.50R17LT | 355920 | Custom Offsets
