Rough Country Support

dackers

dackers

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 30, 2013
Location
Mill Spring, NC
I recently bought a 2017 Chevy Colorado diesel 4x4. I clicked on live chat on the Rough Country site to talk to a support rep about a 6” lift and a specific set of wheels I have. The site quoted that they recommend an 18” wheel with 5” backspacing, I asked if my 20x10 wheels with 4” backspacing would work and what would be the max tire size I could run. The rep replied that only 5” backspacing would work and then disconnected the chat session.

I understand that I can’t run 6” backspacing, but 4” should work as long as I run a tire size that would not rub fenders. Am I right, or is there something I’m missing?
 
Drop Spindle Clearance?
 
shawn said:
Means it's more likely to get into the fender when turning, since the fore/aft movement increases.
Click to expand...

I agree with this, but with the 6” worth of lift I would be pulling tire away from fender. I would be able to run the wheels but wouldn’t want to if I have to run less than a 33” tire. I guess I should go fit a wheel on the truck and get out a tape measure.
 
The rep is probably reading from a script, and doesn't have any more knowledge than what the spec in the script says.

They usually give a backspacing spec because that's the minimum that will keep the wheel/tire from rubbing on the springs or struts or whatever is in the way on the inside. Backspacing is a fairly useless spec other than that, because it obviously doesn't take into account the wheel/tire width. So saying "you need 5 inches of backspacing" only keeps you from rubbing on the inside, because there is nothing that says where the outside (lateral) location of the wheel/tire is.

There's also nothing about the backspacing spec that tells you whether you're going to rub on the fenders/fenderwells, or have a really big scrub radius that the electric power steering doesn't like, or eat wheel bearings really fast, etc. An actual offset spec (standard offset from wheel centerline) is more useful for those reasons, but then you need to do some minor math to figure out clearance on the inside, which ends up being similar to a backspacing measurement.

So yes, you need to fit a wheel and take a tape measure to it, else find someone on ColoradoFans (or wherever) that has the same/similar setup that you want. 4 inches of backspacing is more inside clearance than 5 inches, yes.

From what I remember, the stock wheels are +33mm offset, at least for the 17 inch wheels.


As a side note, how do you like the stupid 6x120 wheel PCD? I have a 2015, and still haven't found wheels that I actually want to put on it... Not wanting something that looks like a fake beadlock really eliminates almost everything on the market.
 
Last edited:
Fabrik8 said:
As a side note, how do you like the stupid 6x120 wheel PCD? I have a 2015, and still haven't found wheels that I actually want to put on it... Not wanting something that looks like a fake beadlock really eliminates almost everything on the market.
Click to expand...

This is why I only have 4” of backspace, I’ll be running adapters to 6x5.5.
 
WARRIORWELDING said:
I don't know the truck but moving the face out increases the scrub radius of the out side of the tire. This plants it snack into most newer truck fenders at full lock......
Click to expand...

Moving the wheel face out only changes scrub radius if the wheel centerline moves out as well. So if you change to a wider wheel with the same offset, the scrub radius won't change. If you add a spacer to a wheel (which changes the offset) or change to a wheel with a different offset (regardless of width), the scrub radius changes.
 
Fabrik8 said:
Moving the wheel face out only changes scrub radius if the wheel centerline moves out as well. So if you change to a wider wheel with the same offset, the scrub radius won't change. If you add a spacer to a wheel (which changes the offset) or change to a wheel with a different offset (regardless of width), the scrub radius changes.
Click to expand...

If you put on a wider wheel with the same offset, it still hits the fender.

Distinction without a difference.
 
shawn said:
Distinction without a difference.
Click to expand...

The distinction and difference I was explaining is what scrub radius actually is, and what it actually refers to. That's all I was explaining, and why I mentioned nothing about hitting the fender. The tire width has nothing to do with scrub radius, the outside of the tire has nothing to do with scrub radius, moving the wheel face out has nothing to do with scrub radius unless you change the wheel offset.
 
Last edited:
Fabrik8 said:
The distinction and difference I was explaining is what scrub radius actually is, and what it actually refers to. That's all I was explaining, and why I mentioned nothing about hitting the fender. The tire width has nothing to do with scrub radius, the outside of the tire has nothing to do with scrub radius, moving the wheel face out has nothing to do with scrub radius unless you change the wheel offset.
Click to expand...

Did it make you feel better?
 
I keep my jargon to myself...I deleted my slight inaccuracy.
 
YotaOnRocks said:
Found this site very useful when buying new wheels for my truck.
2017 Chevrolet Colorado Suspension Lift 6"
Click to expand...

Thanks, looks like there are a couple of the same truck running the exact lift I want with 20x10 4.5 offset and 32” tires with no issue! I’ll still get out there and measure before I order, but I have a little more confidence already.
 
It seems that in this day and age, no matter what it is, if you're thinking about doing it...chances are, someone has already done it and taken pictures :D
 
About Rough Country tech support. I recently put a 2.5 in suspension lift on an S10. Looking at the Rough Country website, there were quite a few questions people had posted about this lift. The rear simply uses longer spring shackles. Someone asked if they had an option to use add-a-leafs for the rear. The answer posted by tech support was "please call to discuss your options". I had the same idea, so I called. Explained I would rather use add-a-leafs. We do not sell those for that application was the answer. I asked if they had any other options. No, just the lift shackles. Why not put that in the tech's answer?

Anyway, got the lift but used another brand of add-a-leaf.
 
Back
Top