It was time for me to replace worn out tires on my 2003 Chevrolet Silverado and I wanted to also update the look with new wheels. I wanted to stick with factory wheels, just newer. I located a company, Alan’s Wheels near Greenville, SC that handles a lot of late model take-offs on many makes and models. Their shop is only open during the week so I could not justify the expense of leaving my shop and riding up there on a six hour round trip.
I did have concerns about having the wheels shipped to me because I was afraid that they might be damaged in transit. After speaking with Alan about how they protected the rims before shipping, I felt much better about it. I ordered the wheels early in the day and they were shipped out the same day. They were at my shop by noon the next day. Keep in mind that we are in the same state and only three hours apart.
Below is a picture of how the wheels and tires arrived at my shop.
I was concerned about the damage done to the packaging on this particular wheel and tire.
The point of concern was actually on the tire sidewall area and there was no issue with the finish on the rim itself. The sidewall of the tire sticks out beyond the edge of the rim so the tire itself acts as a protector. Alan’s Wheels does a good job of supplementing this by covering the face of the wheel with plastic, cardboard and then more plastic.
My truck with the original sixteen inch wheels and nearly worn out set of tires. Those tires are the second set for the truck. The tires are 255/70/R16’s.
You can see the wheels still look pretty good.
The original rims have a center cap that is held on with plastic trim nuts. I always take them loose by hand or with a 1/4″ cordless driver.
The new 2014 factory Chevrolet Silverado LTZ wheels with Goodyear Wrangler SR-A OWL tires.
Pretty big difference in the look of the truck.
I have had a suspicion that the shocks on my truck needed to be replaced but the larger wheels and tires made that very clear. The next day I put on a new set of shocks.
I used a tire size calculator to insure that the outside diameter of the new wheel and tire fit within the specs that GM uses for tire size calibrations within the ABS system.
The torque specifications for both sets of wheels and the original vehicles were the same, 140 ft lbs.