So you got a NNBS truck and you’re looking for a fresh set of wheels. Your options really depend on what you wanna do with it. Most of the time these trucks go up; leveling or lift kits are the norm, however, there’s also a percentage of owners who like to lower ‘em. Whether you wanna lift it, lower it, or leave it stock, we included a bit of everything in this wheel & tire fitment guide.

Here are the models and years covered:

• 2nd/3rd generation Silverado/Sierra 1500 2007-2018 (NNBS)

Quick links

• Basic fitment info
• What can you do at stock height?
• Leveled and lifted NNBS trucks
• Lowered NNBS trucks

Basic fitment info

Regardless of what direction you go with your truck, here’s some basic info that will stay consistent:

• Lug pattern: 6x139.7
• Lug thread: M14 x 1.5
• Center bore: 78.1mm
• Lug torque: 140 ft lbs

One thing to note, 17-inch wheels are as small as you can go on this generation.

Hubcentric rings are often needed to prevent vibrations. Most wheels you’ll find have a hub bore much larger than 78.1mm, so budget for hubcentric rings - plastic or metal rings that correctly center your aftermarket wheels. If you come from the older OBS Chevy generations, this will be new as the retro models are lug-centric.

Trimming for clearance

Most of the fitment examples we will show require some kind of cutting of the inner fenders. If you’re gonna lift your truck 6+ inches, this may not apply. Lowered trucks have unique problems, we’ll address them in that section.

You can gain a bit of clearance without cutting, just by using a hammer. Chevy is notorious for extra stout wheel wells, so you’ll need a big ass hammer.

A proper NorCal mod involves cutting, grinding, and pounding. The goal is to gain room for the shoulder of the tire without making it obvious you took an angle grinder to it. It’s a 3 step cutting process after the truck has been put on stands or a lift, wheels removed, and fender liners tucked back.

1. Cut a pizza shape out of the inner fenders.

   

2. Take 1-2 inches off the sharp edge of the pinch welds

   

3. Grind the sharp edges smooth, paint, then pound the bottom area of the pinch welds smooth with the inner fenders. Finish off with more paint or under-liner to prevent rust.

   

The bottom most screw of the fender liners is replaced with a self-tapping screw. Done correctly, everything should look like factory once the liners are reinstalled.

The front bumper can also be trimmed for additional clearance. This is a much easier process as it just involves cutting an angle or radiusing the bottom of the bumper.

We’ll go into more detail on the mods that are needed per application. Again, if you jack your truck up high enough, trimming may not be needed. This is also true if you wanna go for an OEM+ look on factory suspension. This is the first category we’ll take a look at.

What can you do at stock height?

If you use your truck for hauling and don’t want to sink a ton of money into fancy suspension, you could always leave the suspension stock.

What's the largest tire you can fit on stock suspension? Some claim 33”+. This is likely internet hearsay as 33’s can be difficult even with leveling or lift. Reality is, something around 32.5” will be as large as it gets on factory suspension. For reference, the Z71 comes with 265/65R18, or about 31.5”.

Fitment Facts
	Front	Rear
Wheels	N/A Stock 18’s	N/A Stock 18’s
Tires	Falken Wildpeak A/T3W 275/65R18	Falken Wildpeak A/T3W 275/65R18
Notes	Stock 18’s, Stock suspension, stamped steel control arms. No fender mods. No rubbing.

It’s not much larger than stock, only about ½”, but 275/65R18 is about as far as you can go on stock suspension without needing trimming. This 2018 Z71 has unmodded fenders and stock suspension.

A 285/65R18 will fit but will take some trimming. Even then, it might rub if you’re doing aggressive offroading.

Unfortunately, these are the limitations of stock suspension. If you wanna run something more aggressive, continue to the leveling and lift section.

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Fitment Facts
	Front	Rear
Wheels	Volk Racing TE37 Progressive 18x9 +0	Volk Racing TE37 Progressive 18x9 +0
Tires	Goodyear Wrangler 265/65R18 (stock)	Goodyear Wrangler 265/65R18 (stock)
Notes	Stock suspension, no rubbing.

Maybe you just want a different look. This 2017 Silverado is on Volk Racing TE37’s with factory Goodyear Wrangler 265/65R18 tires. Even with more aggressively spec’d wheels, there’s zero rubbing. The wheels sit ½” wider and have a zero offset. This brings them close to flush, which is a good look for stock-height trucks.

What’s interesting here is that the owner chose TE37 Progressive wheels, which are a high PCD equivalent to the normal TE’s. Volk also makes the TE37XT, an off-road-specific version. These wheels look good on a truck that sees trail use, as we see here, but also on sport trucks as Colorado owners have shown.

See all Volk Racing wheels in our shop

Leveled and lifted NNBS trucks

New possibilities open up with a leveling kit. These come in all sizes, but 2” brings the truck almost perfectly level. Rough Country is a popular choice, but there are a lot of brands to choose from, for example, Readlift, MotoFab, BDS Suspension, and many more.

Leveling allows you to run lower offset wheels and larger tires. Depending on the exact configuration, you might be able to run a 33” or larger tire - keep reading to see examples.

Shop leveling kits

If you wanna take it a step further you could lift your truck. This is the comfortable way to get 33-34” tires to fit. Depending on the lift, it’s also possible to get 35’s on your half-ton truck, which fill out the fender arches well.

Shop lift kits

Fitment Facts
	Front	Rear
Wheels	Fuel D746 Lockdown 20x9 +1	Fuel D746 Lockdown 20x9 +1
Tires	Nitto Recon Grappler A/T 295/60R20	Nitto Recon Grappler A/T 295/60R20
Notes	2” Rough Country leveling kit.

With 2” of leveling this 2016 Z71 is able to run tires just under 34”. With only leveling, this will require some modification to the inner fenders. The wheels have lower offset than stock, but nothing crazy. Low offset or excessively wide wheels are more likely to cause rubbing issues.

A tire somewhere in the ballpark of 33-33.5” will fit without much drama.

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Fitment Facts
	Front	Rear
Wheels	Mammoth Vex 17x9 -6	Mammoth Vex 17x9 -6
Tires	Falken Wildpeak A/T4W 285/70R17	Falken Wildpeak A/T4W 285/70R17
Notes	3.5 inch Rough Country lift.

This 2013 1500 has Mammoth Vex wheels with negative offset. It still looks slightly tucked because it’s fitted with fender flares. The issue with these flares is that they make another point for the tires to rub.

Like we said, 17” is the smallest wheel you can fit on the 2nd/3rd gen. If you want to maximize tire sidewall, 17’s are the way. 285/70 tire pliable for offroading or cities with crater-deep potholes.

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Fitment Facts
	Front	Rear
Wheels	Fuel 1pc D531 Hostage 20x10 -18	Fuel 1pc D531 Hostage 20x10 -18
Tires	BF Goodrich A/T K02 325/60R20	BF Goodrich A/T K02 325/60R20
Notes	6" Pro Comp Suspension Lift, Heavy Duty Pro Comp Performance Shocks. Slight rubbing

6” inches of lift is when you can start to consider a 35” tire. These 325/60R20 are actually a bit over. The wheels a pretty wide, a few sizes more than any of the others. When combined with negative offset Fuel Wheels, 6 inches of lift is required. This truck looks like it needed the front bumper trimmed and probably a NorCal mod as well, low offset wheels with thick tires will do that.

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Fitment Facts
	Front	Rear
Wheels	Vision Off-Road 412 Rocker 22x12 -51	Vision Off-Road 412 Rocker 22x12 -51
Tires	Toyo Open Country M/T 35x12.5R22	Toyo Open Country M/T 35x12.5R22
Notes	Fabtech 7.5” lift. No rubbing, fenders needed to be trimmed.

In our guide to every type of wheel fitment we talked about keeping wheel poke proportional to the height of the truck; wider + higher. Here is a good example. If you wanna run 22x12 wheels with a -51 offset, as seen on this Sierra 1500, better jack it up. This truck is lifted 7.5”. Even with this lift, the fenders needed to be trimmed lightly.

Even though it might require less trimming for wheel clearance, getting these lift kits installed takes a lot of cutting in and of itself. This one requires notching out the frame, control arms, etc., just to fit the lift kit.

Lowered NNBS trucks

Most of the time these trucks are lifted but there is a percentage of Silverado owners that enjoy lowered trucks. It makes sense with these half-tons, they’re LS-powered after all. If you’re looking to build a sport truck, there are two options: reverse leveling or full-on lowering kits - we have an example of each.

Bear in mind that rubbing is equally, if not more of an issue depending on the wheel & tire setup. You might not rub the front bumper or splitter, but you’ll find new problem areas such as the fender liners and suspension - typical problems for lowered cars.

Fitment Facts
	Front	Rear
Wheels	Fifteen52 Turbomac HD 20x9 -12	Fifteen52 Turbomac HD 20x9 -12
Tires	Nitto NT420V 285/50R20	Nitto NT420V 285/50R20
Notes	2” rear shackles with block removed. Homemade helper-bag kit

‘Reverse-leveling’ refers to lowering the rear to match the front. Like regular leveling, it’s cost-effective and doesn’t require extensive modification. This 2018 Silverado has 2” drop shackles in the rear with the blocks removed, this brings it perfectly level when unloaded.

Removing the rake puts the truck level. The same happens when you throw an engine in the bed, you know, an engine for your project car that never runs… The problem with lowering the rear is your truck will have a Carolina Squat when loaded (i.e. when you use your truck as a truck).

To retain functionality, the owner of this Silverado made a custom airbag setup for the rear, allowing it to be load-leveled.

These tires are about ½” smaller than factory. At this ride height, there is no rubbing or scrubbing - not a surprise considering the front is at stock height.

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Fitment Facts
	Front	Rear
Wheels	Cosmis racing XT-206R 22x10 +0	Cosmis racing XT-206R 22x10 +0
Tires	Lionhart LH-Five 285/40R22	Lionhart LH-Five 285/40R22
Notes	IHC 4-6 lowering kit, 4” drop arms, adjustable coils, axle flip, shackle flip kit, drop shackles, helper bag kit, rar adjustable emulsion shocks Occasional rub at full lock.

If you wanna slam your truck you’ll need to lower the front AND rear. This 2014 Z71 AWD is on a 4/6 drop kit from IHC - 4” front / 6” rear. See notes for a full breakdown. Besides needing to spend a few grand on parts, there’s a lot of work involved: notching the frame for driveshaft clearance, relocating brake lines, drive shaft/diff work, etc. But if you put in the effort, it can look super clean.

Like the last, the tires come out to around ½” smaller than OEM. This truck needed the fender liners deleted and still has occasional rubbing.

Wrap up

In this article we covered as many use cases as possible: lowered, lifted, on-road, off-road. The one thing we’re missing is a single-cab truck. Single-cab short-bed trucks look awesome, especially lowered. If you have one, feel free to upload it to our gallery, we’d love to see some slammed trucks(or any type of truck for that matter).