Shocks & full size spare

[plantone]

so i recently went through the chevy "150k rebuild" and took care of all the wear parts on my crew, plus a few unexpected things - like a crank case seal leak, and both front t-case axle seals. I also had the oil pan gasket done while the front end was out since it was only an extra $50 to make sure it wasnt going to give me trouble - but all in all she's basically buttoned up, leak free and ready for a whole bunch more miles

after adding a trailer hitch, and a set of add-a-leaf's to the rear to fix the ass end sag so she's all level now, i would like to consider a few upgrades.


1) full size spare - i've got the factory donut under there. I'm rolling on 235-75-15's, will that fit underneath without any mods? if so - whats a good donor wheel to search for. My bro has an old gen-1 (89) s10 blazer on steel wheels thats going to be scrapped... can i steal one of those? or is the bolt pattern and setback different than an 03 crew?


2) GOOD shocks - when i had the shocks serviced when i bought the truck, i asked the mechanic to sell me something decent. i'm at about 35k on them, and the rears will need attention before winter, based on what the guys who did the rear leafs advised me - which tells me the fronts probably arent in much better shape. i guess that shops definition of "decent" is different than mine worst part is he KNOWS I'm a high mileage driver.

I want to get more than a year out of my next set of shocks if possible, so i'm willing to invest a bit more $$ to get there if i can. searching shows a lot of folks running bilstein, but the mechanic has advised me to go with Monroe OESpectrum - he thinks they're a superior ride for the $. when i start google searching.. the OESpectrums are about half the price of the bilsteins.

i'm not looking for off-road usage, i want a nice smooth highway/around town ride, and durability (longevity). however i do have to deal with michigan potholes and the crappy patching they do to "fix" them.

as always, advise is appreciated!

[_STUCKY]

I'm a bilstein fan. The part numbers that fit these trucks are on here. I took mine off when I did the axle swap and plan to reuse them on my jeep. If memory is correct they have a lifetime warranty, so they should outlast the truck. The older wheels should fit just fine as well, but try one and find out. I never tried but guys on the sfa section of s10forum told me that a 33 will fit the stock location. I never got around to getting a spare though.

[plantone]

i'll have to grab the spare out of his old dime next time i'm up north. hell it might even be still good - its never seen concrete IIRC - and since it was mounted inside the vehicle, it might not even be dry rotted. honestly, if the wheel works, putting a new peice of rubber on it will be minor.

[LoneWolf04]

If you want I've got a stock full size spare under my crew I need to get rid of. My stock tire size was also 235/75-15. I upgraded to 17" wheels off an equinox and running wheel adapters and it's in my way of running the new spare. I'm just south of Flint if you're interested.

[plantone]

I'll keep it in mind if the ones we've got up north don't work. From when I can tell by my homework on the web it looks like they should be fine but I got to check the quality of the rubber. We've got to Blazers up there that are just Farm trucks and both of them have steel wheels and my brothers is 235 75 15 already. If they don't end up working out though I'll get ahold of you

[Built2Bend]

Ya idk where your located but I'm scrapping an s10 now I'd trade you my spare for your donut.

I have bilstein shocks up front in my truck. And Monroe coil overs in the rear both seam good haven't had problems yet.