Levelin' ...

The Cooper Discoverer ATP

     Howdy, y'all ... I finally got some new meats for my 2011 Chevy Silverado 4x4.  I’m not an avid wheeler, and quite frankly rarely use four-wheel drive … except on rural boat ramps or tamer trails through them woods.  I do, however … slap-it into 4-high & 4-low every month or so to keep the actuator from freezin’ up.  The stock tires that came on my Chevy were Goodyear touring tires, so I tended to stay shy of mud or rocks.  I do love the factory ride, and did not want to go the suspension lift route with this truck.  I ain't a rich man; we've now got two kids in college and our budget is very limited, but it was time for some new tires.  Now, the last truck I had was a CK2500 4x4 Suburban with a 454 stuffed under the hood … and it could pass anything but a friggin' gas station!  Sad to say, Chevy’s IFS (independent front suspension) did not agree with the size of tires I ran, or the weight of my Ranch Hand front-end replacement or the Warn XD9000i winch.  Even after replacin’ multiple front-end suspension parts, a ride in the “Red Sled” was more like a friggin’ train wreck!

 

TC sittin' behind the wheel of the "Red Sled" for some
wheelin' through the Sam Houston National Forest ...

     I had recently visited an old acquaintance at our local four-wheel drive store ... Bob Woodcock, owner of The Shop Off-Road Performance Center in League City, Texas.  After doin’ some catchin’ up, I explained to Bob my needs, and as usual … he & his crew knew exactly what to do.  They ordered me a Zone Offroad 2” levelin’ lift, which would retain the factory-ride and enable me to upgrade to some slightly larger AT’s.  Due to my experiences with the “Red Sled” … I did not want to run severely oversized tires that would jack with the factory ride or stress the factory suspension.  I also wanted to keep my stock Chevy premium alloy wheels.  I was currently runnin’ 265-70-R17’s … and with Zone’s 2” levelin’ lift, I could now install some new 285-70-R17 Cooper Discoverer ATP’s.  I made dang-sure prior to makin’ this choice that the new meats wouldn’t rub the insides of my front fender wells, especially while makin’ sharp turns; the Red Sled had that problem as well.

 

     Because my truck is a daily-driver, I did not want to install too-aggressive of a tire … as in runnin’ MT’s.  I don’t much like road noise, nor do I wanna p¡ss rubber (and money) down the road.  Due to all of my sloughstalkin’, huntin’ & fishin’ … I make far too many road-trips to hafta endure an uncomfortable ride.  I guess I’m gettin’ old and I don’t hear too well with a buncha road noise (over my blarin’ 70’s rock & country) and really enjoy the smoother ride I get from my newer Chevy.  Out of all the AT’s that I had looked at, the Cooper Discoverer ATP had the deepest tread-depth but were quiet, and had 55,000-mile limited tread warranties.  Plus, my out-the-door price at my local Discount Tire was really hard to pass-up.  I got 5 tires mounted & balanced includin’ road-hazard warranties for just over a grand (that pricin’ was due in-part to $80.00 in mail-in rebates from Discount, and a $70.00 mail-in rebate from Cooper).

I tried to show the difference in the height after addin' the 2" levlein' lift and the larger AT tires ...

 

     Here are the comparison pics, before & after; I stacked a couple of dry-boxes in the same spot for both pics to show the difference in height.  As y’all can see, I basically gained 3¾” to 4” of lift from the levelin’ combined with the new taller meats.  After gettin’ an alignment and the headlights adjusted … TC & I headed to Galveston to hit the range with my co-worker Sahil.  The ride was awesome; still smooth and still quiet!  I'll need to watch my speed runnin' the taller tires, 'cause at 65 mph. I'm now actually goin' 2¼ mph. faster than what my speedometer shows.  I can't afford any tickets, nor do I wanna push my luck gettin' another warnin' like the one I got the last time I was Speedin'.  The true test will be haulin’ our boat full of gear as well as a full payload to do some sloughstalkin'.  Y’all know what that means … sounds like it’s time for another road-trip to Uncertain ...

     Until then … I have one more bit of news to give y’all.  It seems that Bob and his crew from The Shop Off-Road are filmin’ the second season of their reality show, High Tech Rednecks for MAV/TV.  I’d never even heard of this show, but from what I’ve seen, it’s a hoot!  The show centers around Bob’s other venture, Critter Gitters ... the makers of serious huntin’ equipment right here in League City, Texas as well.  I’ve known Bob for a few years now, and he can fabricate just about anything but a huntin’ yarn; most of his outdoor tales are fairly accurate … and he’s a fairly accurate traditional recurve bow hunter as well.  Y’all be sure & check ‘em out!  Until next time … keep yer eyes peeled while runnin’ ‘round out there in them woods!