Should I downsize from 33x12.50 to 265/70 or 32x11.50?

I recently put a 2.5" lift on my 2001 tacoma 4x4 via bilstein 5100s all around and a 1.5" aal in the rear. I swapped my stock 16" toyota wheels and 265/70r16 yokohama geolander ats tires for 15x8 pro comp series 52 rock crawler black steel wheels and 33x12.50x15 BFGoodrich KO2s.

I have ran into a few things I dislike about the setup (although i had already expected them to a lesser degree)
1. Rubbing after the pinch-weld modification
2. Considerable power loss (I have a 4-cyl)
3. Handling

So, I'm thinking about putting my stock wheels and tires back on or buying some 32x11.50x15 bfg ko2s and selling my new ones. How much power and handling would i get back? Would it look super goofy? And I'm guessing it wont be extremely hard to sell my wheels and tires since they are basic and have only been used for a few weeks on the road.

 

Put them back on and see. I think trucks can look dumb with lifts and small tires but maybe you'll like it.

I regeared mine twice and I love it now. Still a 2.7L 4 cylinder with 37's. Still can burn them too, although it is harder lol.

 

I dont really have the money for regearing and Im thinking i would rather trade the amazing look for better ride all around. And if worst comes to worst i might end up just dropping the front 5100s to stock and take out the aal.

 

Depends on where you live... If its near me than suuurreee take those sexy 33's off and sell them to me lol. Really though it would be hard to get your money back if you try to put them on CL. I'd say run them and just go back to 265/70 once you wear out the tread.

 

I see that you are on the nc/va line and i happen to live in a little town called Madison Virginia lol.

 

Nice, I live in Moyock, NC. Right next to Virginia Beach. We're still a little ways apart but not too bad. Hey if your cutting a good deal on that set up we might have to meet up some day.

 

Yea I'll definitely let u know because my family has a town house in va beach/norfolk.

 

Sounds good to me, I don't have anything for them to go on now but the way I go through trucks I'm sure I'll put them to good use somewhere.

 

Anyone else have some opinions on the tire change? Or experience with the difference in performance?

 

I went with 32's for mine, the handling is definitely going to be different because of the higher CoG and weight of the wheels/tires

 

Daily bump

 

If you are going to spring for another set of tires, I would switch to a narrower tire (33-10.50 or 32-10.50). That may solve the rubbing issue and reduce rolling resistance as well.

A P-rated tire (rather than LT) would improve ride and handling.

 

I have a 2" lift (closer to 3" in the rear) and stock size 265/70r16's and it looks fine. I do want to up grade slightly to 32's in the near future, but stock size tires on a 2" lift doesn't look bad IMO.

 

But im considering the 265/70s because they came with my truck when i bought it and i already have them and a set of stock 16" rims as well

 

Can u send me a pic?

 

This is right after I got my new UCA's put on. 5100s at .85 in the front with OME 881 coils (so about 2" total), 3 leaf AAL in the rear. Stock size E-rated KO2s (265/70r16)

 

If anything it looks a little funnier in the rear because it sits a little higher than the front, if you're sitting at 2" front and rear then I'm sure it'll look perfectly fine.

 

I'm sitting at about 2.5" front and back. But your truck looks nice. I like that style.

 

Anyone els running smaller tires on a lift with a first gen?

 

what axle ratio ? code is on the door jam label
ideally 4.10 - 4.56 axle ratio for the 4 banger.

A taller gear ratio (numerically lower then 4.10 )
ie: 3.90
would be not so good for tires being taller then stock.

You can't install a metric tire onto a 15" wheel.
so... unless yer changing to 16" wheels forget that notion.

Options...
The nearest equivlent to a 265/70/16 ( nominal 30.61" X 10.43" X 16" )
for a 15" wheel = 31" X 10.5" X 15" ( nominal 30.98" X 10.51" X 15" )

Slightly taller...
265/75/16 ( nominal 31.65" X 10.43" X 16" )
for a 15" wheel = 32" X 10.5" X 15" ( nominal 32.03" X 10.51" X 15" )

You could go with a slightly wider tire... ie: 11.50"
But any wider... and it could cause interference inside the wheel well when turning.

But these two ^ tire choices would likely be your best fitment.

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265 X 75 X 16 BFG AT's... ( approx 2.5" susp. lift )