Need your help with tire/wheel questions.

Hello all. I am new to the forum and just wanted to say that I have really enjoyed reading posts and looking at pictures of your trucks! I have recently inherited a 2006 TRD Off Road 4x2, super white with only 55,000 miles. It was my Dad's truck.
It has Michelin 265 70/R16 tires. I would love to put some black wheels on it because the white really seems to go well with black. Here's my question, and please don't laugh if this sounds silly cause I am not much of a do it yourself kind of person. lol If I go to a 265 65/R17 tire, and get some black 17' wheels, will that have much of a negative impact at all on the ride, mpg? Or, would I be better off to keep the tires that are on it and get some black 16" wheels? These tires have about 20,000 miles on them. Just wondered if any of you could help me out. I sure appreciate it!

Dave

 

Welcome to TW. The tire and wheel you choose will have a greater effect on ride and mpg than the size change. The two sizes are actually the same diameter just with different wheel sizes, so a mild difference in sidewall is all.

The trucks come stock with P load tires which are very light. Tire loads go P<C<D<E. The further from P the lower quality the ride and the heavier the tire which means lower MPGs. If you are street only staying with P tires is a good idea for optimum fuel economy. If you off road C is a good idea for better durability. Anything higher is overkill.

Same thing goes for wheels, OEM wheels are very light. I'm not sure which ones you have but consider weight, if you have the TRD OR wheels they weigh 23lbs. Getting something like black steelies will be very heavy by comparison. A good light black OEM option is the 17" TRD SEMA wheel at 25lbs. Pricing is on page 10, about $160 if IRC.
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/new-17-trd-wheel-shown-at-sema.247029/

 

Absolutely. Its a little known fact that black wheels will ruin your mileage and make the truck feel like a slug. Light colors are much better for performance. An easy way to remember is black holes are the heaviest things in the universe. Day glow colors on the other hand are far worse than black. Mileage and performance will be even worse than black plus there is the possibility of getting erectile dysfunction stemming from being a douchebag bro nugget dude. Hope that helps. Happy trails and congrats on the new to you truck!

 

Seriously though...those two tire diameters are almost identical. Little more wheel here, little more tire there. Unless you go with super heavy wheels and ten ply sidewall tires you really shouldn't notice much difference at all.