31's on a 2001 Trailblazer
 

Before I even start I just want to apologize ahead of time if this has been brought up and I somehow missed it. I have a 2001 Chevy Trailblazer, 4 door, 4wd. I would like to mount a set of 31x10.5 Goodyear Wranglers that I stumbled onto for free. I had 30s on my last Blazer, with no problems, even while wheeling. I have read the "What will fit?" thread, the only reason I question it is because as far as I can see it is not generation specific. Also I just bought this second Blazer and am wondering if there are any differences since mine is the Trailblazer Blazer. I guess what I'm asking is: will the 31s rub the way I think they will, how bad? What kind of damage to the tires and wheel wells/fenders will this rubbing cause? No heavy wheeling in my future. I realize how often people ask these questions, and I know how annoying it is to see yet another new member doing it but any feedback is greatly appreciated.

They will rub your fenders when you turn and hit a bump. you can always shave your fenders, search on here how to do that. but depending on how warn down those tires are you may not rub much

In a nutshell, here's what you're looking at with 31's on a 2nd gen S series non-ZR2 with AT or MT tires. All this is on the forum, and each truck seems to have a bit of variance, but in general this applies.

With 31's on stock 4x4 wheels you'll rub the frame at the back of the wheel, possibly the sway bar at the front, and the back area of th efront fender. Like CherryBlazer said, you can trim the fender's to help with the rubbing there. You can't trim the frame without running into a world of other problems. The only way to get away from the tires rubbing the frame is with suspension lift or lower backspaced rims to move the tire farther away from the frame. The problem with lower backspaced rims is that they will increase the problem of rubbing on the back of the front fender when turning, and possibly the top of the fender when flexed or wheeling. Turning up your T-bars for around 1.5" of lift will help, but may accelerate wear on the CV axles and ball joints. A body lift would also help with rubbing the fenders, but not with rubbing the frame. All decisions you'll have to make to fit 31"s.

Thanks to both of you for your feedback. Perhaps you can help me once more. I'll be putting a suspension lift on my blazer, hopefully around April. Can anybody tell me what modifications I will need to do, outside of installing the actual kit. Such as brake parts and lines, the driveshaft, things of that sort. I'm still undecided on the amount of lift, between a 2.5" rough country suspension with a small body lift or going big with a larger 5" suspension lift with around a 3" body lift. I realize, that's a big difference but again I greatly appreciate any insight from someone more knowledgeable than myself.

DONT do a 3 inch body lift. It looks horrible and its a pain to do. As far as lift goes, thats pretty much up to you and what your budget is. You will only really need what comes in the kit. With the 2.5" lift you do have to cut the differential but ive heard its easy. There is a big long thread on here about the Rough Country lift so you can get all the info you need there.

But if it were me i would do a 2" suspension lift (not 2.5) and a 2" body lift. If you do it right, that 4" of lift will cost less that the 2.5" lift from Rough Country

I'll second that a 2" BL will probably be better than adapting a 3" lift. As far as I know there was not a 3" lift made for the 2nd gen Blazers so you'd be piecing it together from other kits or parts. Personally I like the clearance my 2" BL gives for the tires but I'm not really a fan of how much of the frame it shows now. If I had more time and cleaned the frame up and painted it maybe it wouldn't bother me as much. It's up to you whether you want to do the 2.5" RC lift, but personally I'm quite happy with my setup. My Blazer has approximately 1.5" T-bar lift ($0) 2" add-a-leaf in the rear ($75) and a 2" PA body-lift that I got lucky and scored for free on Kijiji. With that and some minor fender trimming I'm able to run 32" tires.