Newbie here: Question on tires & wheels

[PacNWAg98]

Hi guys -
I will officially be an H3 owner in 30 days! I'm completely new to offroading, and any auto-mods, so I am a total rookie/newbie here in every sense. Any help you can provide is greatly appreicated. (have also posted this on a couple of other Hummer forums - can provide the compile feedback if anyone is interested)

Have been reading this forum, along with Hummer X Forum for the last few months, and love all the great info and photos that you all provide. Some awesome rigs out there!!

After a lot of research, I am beginning to feel somewhat comfortable with what I want to do to start customizing my H3 to truly make it my own - and yes, I love the search feature on here! This will be my daily driver, so want to ensure it is a comforntable ride, but also plan to take the wife and kids off-roading on a lot of the mountain/forest roads that are here in Washington state - can't wait to get that thing dirty!!

Having said that, I am about to hit the ORDER button on a new set of 5 (can't forget the spare!) tires and wheels, so that they'll be here & ready to install the day my H3 arrives. I want to make 100% sure what I am buying makes sense and will fit on my 2009 H3 (that will pretty much be 100% stock when arrives).

Here is what I am looking at buying: 1) 35/12.5/17 Nitto Trail Grappler M/T's (http://www.discounttiredirect.com/di...&ar=1250&rd=17 &sw=false&cs=35) , AND 2) XD Spy 17x8 with 6x5.5 bolt pattern (http://www.tirepackage.com/Wheels/XD...PXD79778068318)
Note: Am planning to level it out with t-bar crank to ~24 inches.
Can anyone confirm that all of the above will work on my H3?

Based on what I've read, seems there may be some slight rubbing at full turn. However, I have not read anywhere that this will cause damage to the vehicle.

Again, thank you for any help you can provide!

DAVE (future H3 owner & forum contributor)

~ As I said, I love the search feature on the forums, and realize there are tons of wheels and tires threads already out there - trust me, I have read a ton of them! So thanks for letting me add one more to the list ~

[cdmintmi]

Hey PacNWAg98 congrats one your H3 and welcome to the forum,

Im sure youve read about a thousand threads on tires and it all just depends on what you want. I have 315/75 toyo MT's on my stock wheels (basically a 35x12.5) and its also been leveled. You will find the ride to be quite stiffer on the surface streets, if you dont the wife probably will. I dont mind it but Ive always had a truck and MT's so Im probably just used to it. You will also notice a very noticable drop in fuel economy as well. I was getting around 18 or 19 mpg and now Im getting around 15 or 16 even less when Im in the mountains and climbing hills all the time. Youre speedodometer will also be off a little and the computer CAN NOT be programmed for 35's. GM dropped the ball on that one. Probably be around 5 mph slower than actual speed. But these things arent race cars so it hasnt been a problem for me.

I did the leveling and tires at 35k miles and now have 125K with no problems due to these mods. You will find the tires will rub on the sway bar at full lock, you may be able to avoid this since youre buying new wheels by getting a different back spacing on your new wheels, but it doesnt really bother me and I havent had a problem with it. The turning radius on these things is pretty impressive to begin with.

I dont have much experience with Nitto's but I have heard they are pretty loud on the highway, not that all MT's arent but Ive heard they were louder than others. (Just a side note..the toyos can be pricey but I did get just over 70K miles out of my toyos, I just replaced them for the first time this winter. I think its becuase they are 10ply and load range E on a 4500lbs truck. I mean concrete trucks run Loade range E tires. They just last forever, not sure what others are getting out of them or other tires though.)

The tire and wheel package youve picked should all work out. But yes they rub, yes youre going to loose some fuel economy, yes youre going to hear your tires more on the highway, yes the spare will fit (with not much clearance with the bumper, but it fits), yes the ride will be stiffer, and yes the speedo will be off a little....But also..yes your truck will be even more capable, it will look much better, and you will probably like it (I do anyways )

Main thing is what are you going to do with your tuck, and what do you want. If youre going to drive it everyday and go light wheeling once a month, you might want to go with slightly smaller tires like 33's to save some gas. But if youre going to really put it through its paces avery now and then, Id keep the 35's. I mean come on....35's really look nice on these trucks!!!

Well hope this wasnt too long and hope you have a great time in youre 3....Heres some pics of my H3. You might have seen these in other post but Ill post them here to make them easier to find. I know if you search tires on the forum you get about 3 weeks of reading....

This is my truck


Mine parked next to a stock H3


And just to assure you...They will fit in the fender wells.

[PacNWAg98]

CD, thanks for all of the great info! Much appreciated. When looking at tires, I narrowed it down to 3 choices, based on all of the reading, searching, etc..., they were:
1) Nitto Trail Grappler M/Ts
2) Toyo MT's (likely what you are running)
3) Mickey Thompson Baja MTZs (also very popular on here)

At the end of the day I decided the Nittos were the direction I'd try to go based on price, the reviews I read, and surpisingly, my wife liked how they looked the best. (Amaing how we make these decisions based on what chicks like! )

Power does concern me some since I am here in Washington in the foothills of the Cascade mountains. Although I tend to be a naturally slow driver, we frequently treck into the mountains, and I would hate to struggle to get uphill. This is probably the most concerning thing for me currently.

BTW: Love the look of your rig. Actually read a post from you earlier today where you talked about the PIAA light covers on your bumper lights - I plan on trying to make the same mod - looks great!

Another question: I think mine will have the nerf bars on the side like yours, and I've been looking at rock sliders - any thoughts on keeping the steps vs. replacing with sliders? Thanks again for all the info!

DAVE

[cdmintmi]

Id say all the three tires are about the same. I doubt you would see much difference in the in ride quality, off road capability, or handeling. And they will all make a little noise. The toyos might be a little more pucnture resistant being 10ply and load range E, but Im sure all three are quality tires.

Youre truck shouldnt have a problem getting up a hill. Ive driven mine north to south from Key West FL to Allentown Pennsylvania and east to west from Cape Hatteras NC to Houston Texas and I havent hit anything it couldnt handle. There was a hill I traveled frequently in the foothills of NC just at the continental divide that was pretty steep. Truckers usually went about 25 to 30 mph to get up. It was hard at first not to mash the pedal and run 5000rpm all the way but I learned pretty quick to just keep my rpms around 3500 at the most and it was plenty to get me up at around 55 mph with about double the mpg. Just remember its a I5 (with 240 horses in yours, 220 in mine) not a corvette or V8. Just take it easy and enjoy the view. Thats what the mountains are for anyway. You can go real fast on the way down if you want


The fog light idea was stolen from someone else on here fourfourto I believe is the member name. It was very quick, very simple, and looks pretty slick. Everyone thinks they are 150 dollar driving lights, I just thought it looked good with my real 520 ATP's on the brush gaurd.


Now as for the nerf bars....this had been a sticky subject around my house but I just let it go to keep the peace. Whats the saying "happy wife=happy life" Well I hate them and have wanted to rip them off since the first day I had the truck. And I shouldve done before we got married but, now its "our money" she says . They look ok but Im 6'2" and all they do is smear mud all on the back of my leg when I get in and out becuase I can step to the ground with no problem. BUT the wife uses them especially getting in. I wanted to get sliders but if I bought them they would be stepless and the wife said nope. A few "discussions" later, the nerf bars are still there. They wont protect anything, they make it look a little lower than it is, and if youre tall they just plain suck, IMO. If it were me Id take them off before she got used to having them and put them on flebay or craigslist.


Thanks for compliment on my rig post some pics of yours when you get it. Its nice to see before and after pics. There really is quite a bit you can do to these things especially if you got the dough. Not quite as much as heaps, but theres a pretty good selection for the amount of trucks actually made. I thinks hard to keep prices down though becuase the market just isnt really there to support a mass production. If I had an extra 4 or 5 grand sitting around Id like ARB front and rear bumpers, a winch, ARB lockers, Gobi stealth roof rack, and the sliders. This site has some pretty cool stuff!!!

[PacNWAg98]

Thanks again CD! Ha! I hear ya on the wife thing. I started in this morning over breakfast on how much I've got to get rid of those nerf bars - based on "all the negative comments on here". Always best to prime the pump!!

Appreciate all the advice. Will definitely post pics of mine once it comes in.

DAVE