Edgar: The adventures and ramblings of a high mileage 1992 Chevy K1500 RCSB

[TwinDuro]

I'm interested in this for my truck (ECSB). I have an 8 lug, but if NBS wheels will fit and are wider, I can fit a bigger tire than what I can on my stock OBS 6.5" wheels. Would like to go up to a 33" without having to lift if I can. Nice truck, keep it up.

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Thank you for the kind words @Flazer! While I have not yet owned an 8-lug OBS (GMT-400) what I do know is that it’s pretty common for folks to swap 8 lug NBS “PYO” code aluminum 16x6.5 wheels with 285/75R16 tires (32.8” tall and 11.3” wide) onto their 2500 and 3500s. It’s not recommended by the tire manufacturers (most specify a 7.5” rim minimum for a 285 tire), but a lot of people have done it over the years. We all choose our own level of risk. My setup is a 285/75R16 on a 7” wide rim. Again, not recommend by tire manufacturers, but it works for me. My rear springs were very sagged out and my torsion bars were slightly cranked up (nowhere near the limit) when I got these tires and the only place I had rub was a small part of the front bumper, mainly due to mild crash damage, which I trimmed in a few minutes. My front air dam was completely removed, but if you want to retain it, some trimming may be required.

If a person wanted to stay within specs, a 255/85R16 (33.1” in diameter, 10.3” wide) is within recommended spec and is a good option. You’ll most likely have to do the same valence, maybe slight bumper trimming, but maybe not. No lift should be required. Here’s a photo for reference courtesy of PortedFrankenstein on the GMT400 forum.

 

[TwinDuro]

No real news on that build front as I’ve been working out of state for an extended period, but here’s a photo I snapped before I left. Old vs New. Fun seeing how similar the styling cues are with a 25 year plus age difference.

 

[tennesseewj]

#RIPsquarewheelwells

Both of those look immensely better than the latest body style!

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[eugene]

Why did you haul the dirt in a trailer instead of the bed of the truck?
And growing your own food saves more than the $3.25 cost of a vegetable, it saves you the $3000 out of pocket deductible cost of a hospital stay due to getting e-coli from a factory farmed vegetable.

 

[TwinDuro]

Why did you haul the dirt in a trailer instead of the bed of the truck?
And growing your own food saves more than the $3.25 cost of a vegetable, it saves you the $3000 out of pocket deductible cost of a hospital stay due to getting e-coli from a factory farmed vegetable.

Hi Eugene,

The trailer works well for me due to ease of loading and unloading (14” deck height on the trailer vs nearly 40” on the truck bed) as well as the increased payload of the trailer which is rated to 3,000lb vs. the trucks 1,500 or so. Being able to get 2 yards of dirt at a time instead of just 1 makes a huge difference as well (45 minute round trip) and also the wear and tear on the bed is reduced drastically by not having to scrape it with shovels. Long story long, when given the opportunity, I’ll always use a trailer to haul rough stuff like soil or rock. It makes everything easier ??

Of course, you realize I was joking about gardening right? This thread is weaved with dry, deadpan humor like that... ?‍♂️

Cheers!

 

[eugene]

I figured you were probably just joking, but my daughter got to spend a week in the hospital due to ecoli from factory farmed lettuce recently so we're gown do the gardening route more seriously now.

 

[TwinDuro]

I figured you were probably just joking, but my daughter got to spend a week in the hospital due to ecoli from factory farmed lettuce recently so we're gown do the gardening route more seriously now.

I’m sorry to hear that Eugene, did your daughter make a full recovery? Ecoli is nasty stuff!

 

[eugene]

Mostly, we have a hard time getting her to eat anymore, she is just never hungry.

 

[TwinDuro]

So, lets go down a theoretical random train of thought that doesn't necessarily relate to the build-up and repair of Edgar... Some friends and I were spit balling on 35" tires in general (the conversation started with a good friend and fellow truck buddy that has a heavily modified, long-travel 2015 Nissan Frontier Pro-4X that he was considering putting a set of 35" tires on for context)

The point we kept touching on for various rigs of all sizes, both foreign and domestic, was the issue of width (especially combined with aftermarket wheels) and how we wished more tire manufacturers made narrower, "pizza-cutter" style 35" tires instead of the typical 12.50-13.50" width of most "35" inch (most are 34.5"-34.8" in diameter) tires. Something like "the 255/85R16" of 35 inch tires per se.

That of course caused me to get to googlin' and I found this: The Kenda Klever RT (Rough Terrain, aka an AT and MT hybrid) in 35x10.50R17 (which translates in metric speak to roughly a 280/80R17, 34.7" in diameter and 10.50-11" wide) which is a D-rated, 8-ply tire with a 3-ply armored sidewall that's also snowflake rated. They weigh 67lbs each (An E-rated 285/75R16 BFG K02 weighs 59lbs by comparison):



That of course then sent me down the rabbit hole of thinking "huh, I wonder what it would take to run these on OEM style wheels on a certain 1992 K1500 RCSB with an early 6.34:1 first gear NV4500, 4.10:1 gears and a 1" body lift... would they fit and work well or would they be an unnecessary PIA?" The problem with 315 or 12.50-35s on OEM wheels on body-lifted (any height) GMT400 half tons, from what I understand, is that at full steering lock, they rub the frame (among other places), which isn't ideal. Most people just live with it, but I personally don't like tires rubbing on the frame if it can be avoided.

I'm also an OEM alloy or steelie wheel guy and was thinking that the factory 17x7.5" alloy wheels from a mid '2000s GMT800 Yukon would look pretty sharp with these tires, either with or without a center cap, and would be about perfect width backspacing/offset wise:



Am I going to do this? Probably not, as I'm perfectly happy with the NBS wheels and 285/75R16 BFG K02s, but if I had a spare $1000 or so lying around, I'd probably try it just for fun and to test the theory. The extra inch of ground clearance would be nice...

Again, just an idea.

 

[TwinDuro]

Thanks to a another good friend who is also a truck and off-roading enthusiast and diligent browser of Facebook marketplace, I was able to score two pieces of gear that I would have probably never been able to afford otherwise...

The first is a like-new Bestop Supertop for a later model 6.5ft bed F-150 (which turns out is close enough for government work to fit a 6.5ft bed ‘92 K1500) that the seller let go for exactly one kite-flying, non-presidential founding father if you catch my drift. I was stoked and have always wanted to try one of these, but they were always out of reach.




These photos obviously don’t give a good idea at what you're looking at so here’s a stock photo (much better!)



These also fold down like a convertible top so you can haul large items (motorcycles for me) and the side panels are removable as well. We’ll see how she works!

The other item is a Van/SUV/truck Poly Vault locking storage drawer that was going to get scrapped! At 48” wide by 42” long and 14.5” tall, that will be just the ticket for the start of a bed platform build and will save me a boatload of work! I don’t have any photos of it that are useable, but here’s pretty much what it looks like, just with a singular large drawer instead of a double and no upper flange/lip. Talk about handy! It's going to be towards the rear of the bed, with the spare 33" tire in the front right corner and top-load storage everywhere else for a completely flat bed platform (for sleeping or hauling stuff).



Also, on the 80 mile round trip to pickup the Supertop, half of which was in heavy stop-and-go traffic down I-5, I recorded my fuel mileage, filling up the tank both before and after to get an accurate reading. I also went off of GPS distance instead of the odometer (which reads about 7.5% low, 5mph in motion, due to the 33" tires) and got an incredible 16.5mpg! That's a record for me! Keep in mind the truck has 275k miles, with a bone stock 5.7 TBI V8, NV4500 and 3.73 gears with stock exhaust on 33 inch tires and isn't currently in the best state of tune... hopefully I'll be able to repeat that number someday. The last best mpg rating (mixed highway and FS roads) was 11.98mpg.

I also found a deal on the remainder of the exhaust system (a Flowmaster 17126 single 3" with a 70 series muffler) so I now have the complete exhaust system. Can't wait until I'm back in the state to start working on 'er again.

More photos to come when this stuff gets installed. I only had enough time to pick it up and chuck it into the garage unfortunately .

 

[TwinDuro]

Nothing too exciting, just mocked up the full exhaust system:


another angle


As noted earlier in the thread, what we have here is a Flowmaster 17126 exhaust system with a Jegs Off-Road Y-pipe, all of the tubing of which is 3” mandrel bent stuff with a 70 series “big block” muffler to tie it together. The 17126 is the part number for a regular cab long bed, but since I’m not using the mid pipe (no cat), I ordered this because every other part was identical and the whole kit was $50 less expensive then the same short bed 17125 kit.

The only fab work I should have to do (hopefully) is cut off the hanger from the flowmaster mid pipe and re-weld it to the Jegs off-road Y-pipe, which didn’t come with a hanger unfortunately and trim down that pipe a little potentially as it may be a big long. No biggie. The welder needs some exercise...

I’ve never had a flowmaster muffler before and cripes alfrighty it’s built like a brick shithouse! The muffler feels like it weighs 20lbs and could double as a skid plate! ? I went with the 70 series because I don’t want it too loud. I’m hoping it’s got a nice burble but no excessive noise or drone. We’ll see

Stay tuned as tommorow is the day for Bestop Supertop action! Whiz, bang, pow! Excitement!

“Take you’re top off!” They say... with a Bestop Supertop, that’s no problem! ?

 

[TwinDuro]

Installed the Bestop Super top yesterday and am pretty happy with how it came out, especially considering this particular one was made to fit a newer Nissan Titan or Ford F-150.



I actually read the instructions, which were surprisingly helpful, and realized that the front of the bed on these trucks is actually wider then the rear by about an inch and a half! This required offsetting the rails in the back so that they would maintain the 63.5” width Bestop recommened. I got everything setup and then it was canvas time:





Looking forward to camping in this this summer!

 

[Smileyshaun]

I have the kendas on my 06 Sierra did fit fine with no rubbing on a leveling kit , fairly quiet , fantasying in snow and ice and have a very thick sidewall . Very very happy with them

 

[TwinDuro]

Thank you for the input on the Kendas @Smileyshaun, I really appreciate it! It’s always good to hear from someone who’s actually running the same size/brand of tire/wheel on a similar truck. I just read through your thread and you’ve got agreat looking GMC!

 

[TwinDuro]

Had to go and pickup a few of my Dad’s vintage bikes (a 1971 Honda CB175 and a 1984 Honda CT110) and they fit snugly without having the topper in the down position.