The Wheel Deal
Now I know not everyone can sew up a custom interior for a set of wheels, but I have to save money where I can. Here are all of the technical measurements off my stuff. It might help you finding the right wheels for your project. The front is an 18x7-inch rim with 4-1/4 inches of backspacing and a P235/40R18 tire. The rears are 18x9-inch rims with 4-1/4 inches of backspacing and a P255/35R18 tire. The front tires rub just a little bit, but either dropping the size to a 225/40R18 or just rolling the inner fender will cure that issue.
Tech Tip
Pack Yo' Stuff
Since I was installing new bearings, I thought I'd show you the least expensive way to pack the bearings. I put a big glob of grease in the palm of my hand and scraped the glob with the bearing. Scraping the side of the glob forces grease into the bearing cage, instead of just smearing it around. The idea is to fill the bearing, not just coat it. You'll know it's full when you see it popping out of the top side.
Some Other Stuff
So, I wasn't installing a bunch of worn-out parts on my new lowering components, I picked up new wheel bearings, seals, and brake components from a local parts store. These parts, plus the grease and the brake clean, cost $250 and were worth every penny.
Problems In The Rear
As you can see, even with the rubber bumpstops removed, the leaf and block combo bottoms the truck out. I'm going to cut off the bumpstop mount that is welded to the frame, which will give me almost 2 more inches of clearance.
Time Saver
In their infinite wisdom, the engineers at Gm installed the driver-side front leaf bolt from the inside out. This means you have to drop the gas tank in order to get it out in one piece. Instead of going through all of that, I cut the head of the bolt off with a cut-off wheel and slid in a new one from the other side.