A brief introduction to kick things off. I'm located in NE Ohio and am new to both the forum and to Yukon ownership, having purchased an extremely well kept 2014 Yukon XL SLT 1500 4x4 just over a month ago which is bone stock besides a recently installed Sony stereo to replace the stock (non-nav) unit.
Now to the topic at hand.
What: I'm looking to install a moderate lift of some sort, some skids plates and some reasonable wheels/tires.
Why: This vehicle will be used for family vacations (including lengthy ones such as Ohio to Colorado/other western states) where some moderate off road work will be in the mix.
Other Details: I'm NOT looking to install a substantial lift (i.e. 5" or greater lifts are not something that I'm after...heck maybe this is more of a front-end leveling approach...I'm open to suggestion!). I do not want to significantly impact the factory ride/handling characteristics. I want to be able to easily swap-out/swap-in my factory wheel/tire setup (it has the factory 20's) for use around town when we are not on vacation and have no need for the enhanced off-road capabilities for an extended time period. I'd like to be able to convert this back to a stock suspension at some point in the future if desired. We are not looking to fundamentally modify the look of the exterior of the vehicle (i.e. no brush guards, roof racks/tents, light bars, etc.)
Type of Off Road Driving Anticipated: Think mountain pass "roads" (more trails at times but they call these things roads out west) and such rather than Jeep-type extreme rock crawling or mudding...this is a Yukon XL after all. If I was after that sort of thing I would have bought a Jeep or Bronco. Don't get me wrong, I'm not looking to limit myself to crushed gravel roads, there will regularly be times when creeping over rocks will be necessary, but we're talking about rocks rather than boulders.
Potentially Relevant Stock Equipment Items Present on This Vehicle: G80 - Differential, Locking Rear Fully Automatic; GU6 - Rear Axle, 3.42 Ratio; K5L - Heavy duty trailering pkg: *Engine oil cooling system *Transmission cooling system * Transfer case 2-speed; YD6 - Rear spring - Base equipment; ZW7 - Premium smooth ride suspension; YD5 - Front spring - Base equipment.
Input & Guidance Sought:
1.) Lift: I will be happy to thoroughly read any existing resources that you might point me to. I've been reading through these already but I'm overwhelmed by the quantity and despite my best efforts I'm finding myself with more questions than answers.
2.) Skid Plates: I've been reading threads about "factory take off" skid plates that were used for other model variants (think Z71 Suburbans and such). I'm not looking to go out and spend big $'s on aftermarket skid plates so these factory skid plates seem like attractive options. Can someone please offer some insight as to what factory skid plates are direct bolt-ons for, or can be easily modified to fit, other Tahoe/Yukon/Suburban variants that did not ship from the factory with them?
3.) Tires: Are there any good resources that you can point me to for researching which tire sizes are appropriate to use and how that might change with different levels of lifts? As a side note, I'm not looking to max out tire size here, rather I'm after something that will hold its own for the most part off road without sacrificing huge amounts of usability and comfort on-road (possibly BFG All-Terrain T/A's or similar). I would like to minimize tire protrusion beyond the factory fenders to the extent reasonably possible.
4.) Wheel Diameter: I'm thinking smaller diameter wheels (i.e. 17's or 18's), as compared to my factory 20's) and ideally a take-off set of OEM's both due to cost and build quality advantages over aftermarket. From what I have read it seems that the minimum diameter needed to clear the factory calipers is a 17" correct?
5.) OEM Wheel Options: What non-GM wheel options could be considered from other OEM's? It seems like both Dodge and Toyota also use the 6x139 offset pattern? The Toyota TRD wheels are attractive and appear fairly plentiful. It seems that Toyota uses the same bolt pattern but a different type of lug nut design requiring the use of Excalibur or EZAccessory (these seem to be sold under both brands with the same model #) 14mm x 1.5 Chrome Lug Nuts Mag Seat Right Hand Thread #98-0002-09. If anyone has experience with using Toyota wheels I'd be eager to hear from them.
Thanks to all who respond in advance to all for your input and I look forward to hearing your thoughts.
I've got the same rig, set up the same way, for the same things, just a little older.
1. 2" Rough Country spacer under the front strut or the Superlift spacer that goes on top of the strut that delivers a more mild 1.5" lift up front. I bought both and put neither on so far. I am thinking about 265-70-18 which are 1" taller than stock, 32.61 inches un-mounted. My suspension was completely rebuilt 2 years ago and have about 9 inches of ground clearance with the lower valance still in place with no lift and stock size tires.
If you need more ground clearance remove the front valance when going off-road.
2. Front differential skid plate is 20944322 and the transfer case skid plate is 20922755. The holes are there but no threads, use self-tapping screws but not too tight. The screw is 11518341 and you need 4 per plate.
3. Our factory wheels run a 31mm offset. Some are 24 to 28 but the most popular are 31. This keeps the tire tucked inside the fenders. The size mentioned in point one is the max size you can run with the stock suspension. A level would be necessary with the 275-70-18s which would be just over 33 inches tall. You'll feel the difference in your effective gear ratio with that one. I put 50K miles on KO2s and have run the Michelin Defenders over many of the same trails without getting stuck, so far! The Defenders are quieter and restored the 2 mpgs lost at highway speeds with the KO2s. I ran the Load Range C variety, the Es are overkill for daily use.
Ours is going to Monument Valley and Imogene Pass soon. I might run another set of KO2s or KM3s if we want to run the dunes at Sand Hollow or Cinder Hills.
4. I prefer 17 inch wheels for the ride and sidewall height, we have 18s on the two pickups. The 18s would allow you to run a taller tire without going wider as mentioned in the last point.
5. Our trucks were designed to run hub centric wheels. That means that the wheel mounts to the hub (78.1 mm) and is secured by the lug nuts. I would not want to use a wheel with a larger bore diameter, even with a plastic spacer. I also do not like the new style wheels with no lip for snap on weights as it makes it easier for the wheels to get damaged from curb rash. Most aftermarket wheels are too wide IMO. GM runs them like this for our generation, 17x7.5, 18x8, 20x8.5 and 22x9. The generation after ours (K2s) have a nice 18 inch wheel that is 8.5 inches wide which would work, it has a 25mm offset.
I like the those KO2 34x10.5x17s which are a Load Range D tire and about $500 each! Ouch! Have found only 1 guy who used them on a 900 and they were on a pickup with custom modifications so no apples to apples or even oranges comparison. Didn't want to drop $2K on tires that might rub.
Your truck already has the GM OE equivalent of the Moog 81069 spring. This is the HD spring paired with ZW7 or Z71 shocks.
