15" Wheel & Tire Options . . .

Hopefully someone can help me with this. I noticed that no matter how much I air down my tires for the brutal washboard and rocky sections off-highway (Death Valley/Nevada), I can't get it to ride as smoothly as my old 1st gen. 4Runner. The 4Runner had 15" rims and 31" tires, so by my calculation, my 2001 Tacoma 4X4 TRD with 16" rims and 265/70 tires has 2" less sidewall height.

So I'm thinking that this is the problem: with so much less sidewall to absorb the dang rocks and washboard, I'm getting a rougher ride, even aired down to 17PSI. I couldn't even get it to smooth out until I hit around 50MPH, which was really starting to wreck my nerves. Does this sound right?

This week I'm upgrading to Toytec's "Ultimate Tacoma Lift" with OME leaf pack. This should allow me to run 32" tires. If I combine these bigger tires with smaller 15" rims, I should be adding 3 delicious inches of sidewall over what I have now.

Has anyone tried this strategy? I'm heading to Baja later this month and I miss my old 4Runner's easier ride over the rough stuff.

I would be grateful if anyone who has more experience with optional wheel and tire sizes could educate me on this . . .

 

You can actually run 33's with the Toytec ULK I believe.

 

Yes, I've heard the 33" will fit, but 32" will work for me. I'm also wondering if there's a decent inexpensive 15" rim available for my truck.