I just purchased an 04 2500hd, and I can not stand the small pizza cutter stock tires. I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions for a rim and tire configuration that would fit at stock height. I was thinking about 31x10.5 R17's, but then got confused when I was going to purchase the wheels because they had "5 inch back spacing", and I have no idea what that means, nor do I want to have my tires rub while turning.

Any help would be greatly appreciated..

Ok, so I have been reading for hours now, looks like 5 inches of back spacing is what I need. Anyone know if these tire will fit with no cutting or TB adjustments?

From what I have read, not from experience, 285's on stock width rims are the biggest tires you can run without cranking your t-bars.

those 10.5X31 aren't much bigger than stock.
The 285 are 33" high.

On stock rims w/ 285 a couple of cable ties is all that is needed to run them.

Fro good price on 17" wheels get a set of H2 wheels.

Where did you see some 31x10.5-17 tires? I was not aware they existed. A 265/70R17 would be close to the size you are looking for.

I am running 275x70R17 on H2 wheels. On my gmc I had to trim a little, Crank the bars a little and ty back one side of my mudflaps. Still need to trim just a bit on right side but not bad. One thing with going with the bigger wheels most are wider also and seem to make a little more difference over stock 16's. I have also heard that the chevy's have a little more clearance.