LT285/70R17 tire install
It’s stock now but will get OME or Bilsteins 6112. I believe the C means loading rate but I could be wrong.
If you're going to increase the tire size do the lift first. Otherwise you'll have problems driving it until the lift is done. And for the 285/70R17, look at Falken's website for the recommended rim size (17x8.5", 0" offset). I went with the ICON Rebound rims. SCS makes a good rim too.
I installed the ICON Stage 7 tubular suspension lift. It took me fully 8 days straight to finish it, working all day long. I did a couple of extra things during the install, like making wheel well liners for the rear, but mostly it was the lift install. The 5 back axle trailing arms and track bar took a lot of time. Even without that it might have taken 5 to 6 days to complete. I think any brand of shocks and upper control arm would have been just as difficult.
I installed the new tires first and then started the lift a couple of days later. I got to drive it with the new tires on, without the lift, and had a lot of trouble turning. I could just as easily have installed the tires afterwards.
Make sure you get a good wheel balance. The shop I bought the tires at did not have adequate equipment to balance the tires. The tech was good, but he could not get them to balance. I had to go down the street to find a shop that had the Hunter Road Force alignment tool. They mount the tire, spin it fast and find the out-of-round or heavy points on the rims and tires. They mark the spots on both and then deflate the tire. Then they rotate the deflated tire around the rim to optimize the balance points between the tire and rim. Then they inflate it and spin it again to finalize the balance by adding the required balance weights. It can only be done this way with the Hunter Road Force machine.
There may be another brand of wheel balancer that does this but this one is easy to see how it works. Look at Hunter's website for a more detailed explanation and to see what the machine looks like so you can find a shop that has them.
After the lift and tires are done get the alignment tuned by a good shop. I went to a local guy who only does alignment and tires.
