33" spare under the bed.... I think ill prove ya wrong.

fallvitals · Post by **fallvitals** » Wed Oct 07, 2009 4:52 pm

My uncle never did have any used 33x9.5x15 or 33x10.50x15 tires come in. Its been 2 months, bow season is coming the 17th, I need a spare bad. A local used tire place actually had a 33x9.5x15 tire! Its a "Country Square Radial R/T" pretty aggressive tread on it. But it is older, made in 2001. Cost me $31.80, my uncle will mount it for free.

Now, I have posted in a few threads about a 33" fitting under the bed in the spare spot. Most say it wont fit, period. Reed said it probably would after relocating the brake line.

I got under the truck today and lifted the tire itself into place. and had plenty of room all around. Brake line was no issue, had about 2" of play all around. My exhaust is also ran outside the leaf springs.

I think, atleast for me, the 33" spare will fit under the bed with no mods. I wont know for a fact till I get it mounted to a rim and put into place, but I dont see whats gonna change!

Post by **HenryJ** » Wed Oct 07, 2009 5:16 pm

Yeah, yeah, lets see a picture or two

Where did you move your exhaust? That will need a picture too. I'm guessing you don't have a receiver hitch either, right?

fallvitals · Post by **fallvitals** » Wed Oct 07, 2009 5:31 pm

Yes Yes Mr. Nay Sayer (boy, I hope I don't eat crow now, lol).

The, im pretty certain, optional chevy, valley?, hitch. And the stock exhaust. Apperantly chevy routed the pipes differently in later models. I want to put a 3" cat back flowmaster on it at some point.....

But here some pictures

(yes yes, I still haven't cut the boise bolts shorter yet, lol)

*I took those in the dark, i couldnt see what i was aiming at, or if it was in focus*

F9K9 · Post by **F9K9** » Wed Oct 07, 2009 6:21 pm

That hitch may work out okay. The one I have is not curved like that. Get a wheel/tire combo on the raising/lowering cable and see if, it works after the BL. Mine worked but, it was binding and I didn't think it would survive many cycles at that angle. Keep the mechanism lubed and you may need to drill a new access hose into the bumper to insert the tool that raises and lowers the spare.

Post by **HenryJ** » Wed Oct 07, 2009 7:42 pm

That exhaust is routed different. That will help for sure. I'm not sure when they did that. That is routed almost like the ZR2 option.

Let's see it up there. Make sure it will tighten up against a flat surface. You don't want to on the tread where it will loosen up and come out from under there.

roadrunner · Post by **roadrunner** » Thu Oct 08, 2009 2:21 pm

Interesting. My exhaust on my 01 is routed just like the pics posted above. All still original other than a cat-ectomy up front.

Post by **HenryJ** » Thu Oct 08, 2009 2:29 pm

"Musta" been an early change then? I bought mine in January of 2001.
I guess there were subtle changes. Maybe mine was re-routed and I have forgotten? That could be too.
Still waiting for those pictures....STEVE.

fallvitals · Post by **fallvitals** » Thu Oct 08, 2009 2:50 pm

Got it mounted today. It fit, with plenty of room. Only issue is it can rock back and forth some, cause it is a lot "longer" then the stock spare and misses that bar coming off the winch going toward the diff. Which,,, if I could fit something in there to keep it from rocking (its not gonna hurt anything, it might make some noise, and annoy me becuase I know itll rock front to back some).

The pictures!

Space between tire and hitch

Looking up from the diff.

Post by **HenryJ** » Thu Oct 08, 2009 3:07 pm

The rocking back and forth will let it fall down. It has to be tight or the mechanism will let it lower as road vibration works on it. See if you can bolt a crossmember in or add to that front bar. You REALLY need to firm things up.

Looks like you were able to do it though. A worn out tire will fit. If you had that extra inch of diameter with new tread do you think it would fit?

Are you going to hit the shocks when you lift a wheel? How about the cover when you stuff a wheel?

fallvitals · Post by **fallvitals** » Thu Oct 08, 2009 4:53 pm

Yeah a cross member is a great idea. Ill have to look at it soon. Think something up.

Would a new tire fit? I dont see why not. It actually had a fair ammount of tread left on it. It looks like it was ran with high PSI and the center wore out faster then the rest though. Left and Right, has plenty of room. Front to back is tighter, but I think it wouldnt be an issue with a new tire with full tread?

The only issue I could see with a new tire, if any issue, would be a hard angle from offroading, and the break ling MAYBE getting close to it..... but with the diff being centered, and the tire being as high as it is in relation to the brake line, I dont foresee an issue... but could be wrong.

As for the shocks... not sure... i didnt pay that any attention. If it wasnt raining I would go look. Ill snap a picture soon whe nI check it out. But I dont recall it looking tight.

Either way, if I were to get into any offroading I would take the tire off first. It would be crappy to get stuck, and have a flat! No way to get it off if stuck bad!

Post by **HenryJ** » Thu Oct 08, 2009 4:57 pm

Aw, you can jack it up to get the tire off. Flats are not as common as they once were. I'd leave it and worry about it in a crisis if it will stay there ok.

roadrunner · Post by **roadrunner** » Thu Oct 08, 2009 6:36 pm

HenryJ wrote:"Musta" been an early change then? I bought mine in January of 2001.

Made me curious. Door tag check says build date was 02/01 on my truck.

Post by **HenryJ** » Thu Oct 08, 2009 7:09 pm

Mine is a few months older. 12/00

roadrunner · Post by **roadrunner** » Fri Oct 09, 2009 4:37 pm

HenryJ wrote:Mine is a few months older. 12/00

Uh oh sounds like time to trade off that "old" truck.

Specially if you've got it modded up the way you want it.

That way you can get another mod-project.

Post by **HenryJ** » Fri Oct 09, 2009 4:47 pm

roadrunner wrote:Uh oh sounds like time to trade off that "old" truck.

That thought did flash through my mind as I was being towed home with a dead fuel pump.
If it was not for the modding gone crazy on the BLT Offroad trailer, I might be looking for a new project

roadrunner · Post by **roadrunner** » Fri Oct 09, 2009 5:06 pm

HenryJ wrote:
roadrunner wrote:Uh oh sounds like time to trade off that "old" truck.
That thought did flash through my mind as I was being towed home with a dead fuel pump.
If it was not for the modding gone crazy on the BLT Offroad trailer, I might be looking for a new project

If that's the worst that ever happens to your truck I think you're lucky even if embarrassed being "towed".

We don't want you to get rid of your truck. You might not be as enthusiastic about the web site if that happened.

Besides you need to keep it to see how long it'll last. I'd say at least 300+k miles or so.

Post by **HenryJ** » Fri Oct 09, 2009 5:29 pm

I'm still pretty happy with the fit. I still like it really well. I'm sure it will be around for a long time to come.