Tires

I was in your shoes a few weeks ago when I started looking for tires, I asked the guys over on TacomaForum.com for advise and checked out every tire they told me about and a lot more.
One guy recommended Cooper AT/3's an all of my research pointed to this being a really great tire. I really like the tread design, especially the open groves around the entire to shuff off water on the highway. It gets high marks/grades across the board, especially for wet conditions witch was why I was tire hunting in the first place.
My truck had/has Goodyear Wranglers on it and they are terrible in the rain! That's why I am replacing them with the Cooper AT/3's before they kill me. Oh, the GY's have over 3/4 of the tread left, so it isn't low tread wear.

Check out the posts at TacomaForum.com under 1st generation for yourselves.

My truck is a 2001 Tacoma 4x4 Limited Edition that I just bought a few weeks ago all stock, no lift.

The Cooper AT/3's were bought at Discount Warehouse Direct 265/70/16 for $633.00 delivered.

 

From what I have heard it's pretty normal gas mileage. I have a gas mileage thread and everybody old me it's pretty normal. It has 157000 miles on it. But I do get about 24 highway

 

Maybe...but my last one had 198k when it left, and I have 274k on mine now. Perhaps your foot is heavier than mine - I'm usually shifting before 2500rpm.

 

I have had very good results out of this AT tire. I am currently running them now. For someone that is MPG conscious this would be a good choice. Id say its probaly one of the best AT tires on the market as far a handling all conditions very well.

 

Looks like my stock rims might be too small. They're the steel 15s, only 6"s wide

 

I'm pretty sure stock wheels are 15x7 however steelies could be different. if you're running anything above 10.5" wide tires you'll want to get at least 8" wide wheels. you can run tall n skinny tires tho

 

Looks as though they could be either, here is all the wheels offered for 99. Match your wheel to the pics. http://www.originalwheels.com/toyota-wheels/tacoma1999rims.php

 

They're the first triangle ones. 15x6. Says on my rim. If I can I'll run 31 or 33x10.50

 

So do you think I would be fine running the duratracs 31x10.5x15 on my 15x6" wheels. It says to mount these on 7-9" rims. Would it be possible to mount them to my rims and would there be any harm if I did?

 

I liked my cooper ST tires. They had huge tread blocks for an all terrain. They are comparable to the BFG At's but the tread blocks are bigger. They do well on dirt and rocks. I went through thick/ deep mud once with them and they did fine, made it through without any issues. Pavement they are good as well, maybe a little louder than street tires but it's expected.

 

Probably not a good idea. I'm not an expert with tires, but your rims don't even seem to meet the minimum width to qualify for those tires. Just get a smaller tire. Maybe 30x9.5x15?

 

I really wanted as wide a possible. I read that some people do it and you have to run a lower psi to not bubble the middle of the tire and wear it uneven. But other then tire wear it won't cause a problem. A buddy of my ran 35x12.5 on a 8" rim. They called for at least to 9". So mine would basically be the same. 1" lower and his MTs wore great on his truck. Just had to rotate often

 

But then you think it will be OK because your buddy runs low PSI and rotates them often.

Some people might think you're contradicting yourself. It might seem like you're talking yourself into a poor decision because you think you'll like it. You said you're worried about MPGs, but you're going to lift it and get bigger and wider tires? You're aware that wider tires = more resistance, and much higher costs, right?
You talk about how people quickly dismiss the Prerunner as incapable offroad, but you're here because your Prerunner needs any and all help it can get. So what's up?

Probably not a good idea to circumvent issues just to force something to fit.

 

Let me share something a bit in the way of existentialism. * the less you have of something, the more significant it is * If you have 100 dollars, giving 1 dollar away is not significant. If you have only 2 dollars, giving 1 dollar away is much more significant.

Your buddy was only an inch short in the perspective of 8/9. You're an inch short in the perspective of 6/7. This is not the same. You being an inch short is much more significant.

 

How does that reference work for a tire? Yes a 8/9is bigger but it's still an inch short just like an 6/7 would be. An I'm just trying to get the biggest tires I can. I don't think the 31s are gonna change mpg all that drastically because first gens were sold with a similar size. I think I get such bad mpg cuz I have small tires on a low geared 4.10 rearend. And I'm just getting my prerunner a little better then it is because sometimes I get stuck where I go because it is an open diff. But a 4x4 is not needed

 

Just get a cheap set of stock 15x7 wheels from Craigslist.

 

I'm looking for them. Most people are selling a tire combo. I found a set of 5 with 31x10.5s michelins with half tread for 400. It's a good deal, I just don't need the tires and they're by the tires I want

 

Show me the mud!

 

My vote goes for Goodyear Duratracs! They're a fairly aggressive and very competant tire on various terrains and have pretty decent road manners.

 

Yeah I'm getting the used 31s off craigslist and am probably gonna slap some duratracs on the back!