Tires

I have a 98 sierra 1500 4x4 with steel belted radial tires. Are these tires good for winter driving in the lower mainland of BC.

Also, what are the biggest tires that I can fit on my truck without a lift kit?

As long as they have the correct ratings for your truck..yes,your local tire shop will tell you.
As for the winter i believe you get very little snow on the lowlands so you should get away with just all season 4x4 tires.
As for the size,i would only go 1 size bigger without a lift due to clearance issues,it would also be a good idea to change the diff ratios to compensate for bigger tires.

I have a 98 Sierra 4X4 as well however it's the HD 3/4 ton. The stock tires are 245's but has been up'ed to 265's with no problem. So how high you can go on a 1/2 ton I couldn't tell you. What I can tell you is I am really found of the Toyo AT Open Country or the Toyo AT Wild Country which I have put on all my trucks for years. I go one extra step and have them siped(I think I spelled it right). They say by doing so that it's almost as good as running studs and there legal year round and you don,t have that metal on pavemnt sound.They're actully pretty quite. They also say it helps the tire last longer as it keeps them cooler. I had these on my 95 Chevy Silverado 4X4 last year during what little snow we did get and they worked awsom. So I personanly am sold on the siping of tires.

I have a 1992 Sierra 1500 and I run 285/16 s with no problems.I dont think it will go any bigger without lift