The wheels and tires on a truck can make or break the appearance as well as performance. To help get our 2019 Chevrolet Silverado set up correctly, we reached out to Kanati and Raceline Wheels to get just the right combo for daily driving and hitting the desert.
After discussing our options we went with Kanati’s all-new Armor Hog ATX in a 35×12.5R17 (PN LTG1735125E) and Raceline’s 949B 7X wheels (PN 949B-78560-00) in a 17×8.5 and a 0 mm offset. The combination would give us the look and performance we were going after.
BETWEEN THE TREAD
There are many tires in the off-road market, and they all have specific terms for parts of the tire. It can get very confusing, but at the end of the day, most people look at the overall tread pattern without knowing much else.
A great-looking tread pattern may be visually appealing, but to have a tire that can do both should be a top every vehicle owner’s list. The Kanati Armor Hog ATX is a hybrid tire with characteristics of both an all-terrain and a mud-terrain.
“The Kanati Armor Hog is the industry’s first 12-ply rated light truck tire constructed with a robust all-steel body ply,” Kory Ellis of Kanati explained. “This provides greater stability and durability than standard fabric ply construction, and the Armor Hog has an increased load capacity designed for heavy-duty towing and payloads.”
The 12-ply design allows the tire to withstand more abuse on the trail or on the road, but having a all-steel casing takes it to a whole new level.
“The stronger all-steel casing delivers superior impact and puncture resistance for greater dependability in the toughest terrains and road conditions,” Ellis continued. “They are designed with an aggressive all-terrain tread that gives drivers the confidence and traction they need for some serious off-road adventures, while its variable pitch technology helps maximize noise reduction for a comfortable ride.”
Knowing that we would good for traction we turned to the wheels where we could give the truck a little more of our style.
ALL SPOKES
Selecting the proper wheel for your vehicle is one way to show off your sense of style. For our 2019 Silverado, we wanted to have a blacked-out look and the 949B 7X fit the bill.
“The 949B 7X has an aggressive off-road inspired seven-spoke design with a debossed Raceline logo on a spoke,” Rhett Sander of Raceline explained. “The simulated beadlock lip has stainless steel bolts to go along with the blackout bolt-on cap with contrasting embossed Raceline logo.”
The 949B 7X was designed with more than just five and six-lug fitments. The push-through cap allows for fitment on eight-lug applications, while also having hub centric fitments available for select vehicles.
The wheel is constructed out of heavy-duty A356 aluminum and is available in both a Satin Black or Gunmetal finish,” Sander continued. “Its construction passes or exceeds all DOT standard load ratings and includes a lifetime structural warranty (limitations may apply).”
Our decision to go with a 0 mm offset, the distance from its hub mounting surface to the centerline of the wheel, to keep our wheel and tire in the factory location. Wheels with a negative offset push everything outside the fender, but that can create a host of issues, not to mention all the dirt and debris that would get thrown up the side of our truck.
To top it off, Raceline is also the official wheel of SCORE International Off-Road Racing Series. It all sounded great, but we headed to the dirt to find out what this combination could do.
RIDING IT OUT
We were able to put the tires to the test right away as we had to make a road trip. The trip would consist of going from Arizona to California to Las Vegas, where we would be covering Vegas to Reno and then back to Arizona.
Overall, we put roughly 2,000 miles on the tires in a week, and the tires exceeded our expectations. The tires on the truck gave us a quiet ride and made us feel like we were back on stock wheels and tires.
The tires handled everything from the asphalt to the dirt roads on the way to photo locations and some side trips. We never felt like we did not have traction or the feeling of getting stuck in soft sand.
Having our 949B 7X wheels on the truck gave it an aggressive yet stylish appearance and looked as good as we thought it would be. The classy seven-spoke design and simulated beadlock lip gave the wheel a different appearance, but still keeping with an off-road theme.
The mix of the seven-spoke design and simulated beadlock ring gave the appearance of a street truck wheel, but with the mix off-road. It was a perfect combination to go with the black satin finish.
Overall, we could not be happier with the combination on a truck that will see plenty of time in the dirt and on the road. The combination did not sacrifice one feature to gain in the other. This was the perfect example of “you clean up nicely.”
To find a tire for your vehicle be sure to check out the Kanati website, or Raceline’s website if you are looking for some new wheels.
