I'll never do that again

"I put on the very largest, widest, highest tires you can put on a stock Tacoma. 265/70/R16. I spent $800 on these higher-end tires. It raised the truck maybe 2" and looked nice"

265/70/16 is a stock tire size that comes on the Tacoma, it doesn't "raise" anything....what am I missing here?

 

Jack the suspect tire just off the ground and put a 2x4 tight against the tread, spin the tire slowly and look for a gap between the tread and the 2x4. Do the same on both sides of the tire, if no gaps, most likely its out off balance . It wouldn't hurt to break loose and re-torque the lug nuts, 86 Ft/labs ought to do. Worst case,even if you have to buy a tire, it is still a pretty good deal, you can't buy the alloys for that price.

 

Hey buddy, check the manufacturer date on the sidewall. Usually a 3 or 4 digit number. "0304" or ""304" would mean Third week of 2004. If those tires are from 2013 (with them wheels allegedly from a 2014), they are probably towards the end of their life, cracks or not. Hopefully you picked them up from his home so you can "return" them.

 

You're not missing anything lol, OP got short end of this stick.

 

The seller's contact info is still readily available.

 

Starfire tires are made by Cooper and sold at Walmart. Hardly a "higher end tire". Walmart.com shows them for $115 each.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Starfire-SF-510-All-Season-Tire-265-70R17-115S/179937596

 

OP...if the wheels are in good shape it's not a total loss. Stock OR alloys are solid wheels, I like mine.

 

I knew the truck wasn't going to get raised and that there was a lot of let's say bloviated writing in the ad but I had stock steel wheels that were looking rough the rims looked nice and the tires looked fairly low mileage. I learned my lesson I'm sticking to new but monies tight so I took a shot. Hopefully it's fixable at a reasonable price.

 

If they really are as new as he says, maybe the warranty is transferable.

 

They are stock Toyota TRD OR wheels, unless they are somehow bent you got a decent wheels. The tires are probably just marginal or unbalanced. At $550 you did fine. At worst maybe over paid a Franklin or two if the tires turn out to be no good. No reason to beat yourself up over it.

 

If you count the total cost I seen stock or wheels go for the 4-500 range. So you didn’t get totally hosed. Take tires to shop check if they need to get rebalanced

 

Probably needs to be rebalanced - i prefer using road force balancers - cars/trucks ride smooth as glass afterwards.

 

Did you take your hand and run it over the tread all the way around all of the tires before you bought them? I’ve bought plenty of used craigslist tires and always had good luck. If you feel the tires like that you can tell if any belts are broken or if there’s anything structurally wrong with the tire. As long as that’s all good and they visually look good it’s usually just a balance issue

 

Yeah the tires look and feel fine. Hopefully it's a simple fix.

 

You got a decent deal on the rims if they are in good shape. I was looking for a couple of years for those rims for my truck but gave up because I wanted a STEAL. I eventually got ONE matching aluminum rim to my stock 2003 TRD ones and now I have a full-size, matching 16" aluminum spare. That took YEARS of waiting and I paid $20 for a rim that was scratched and had mold on the backside from sitting in the guys backyard for years.

 

Been there, done that,,,, hope you get past this by the end of the weekend. Life's too short.
Definitely get them to a shop and have 'em checked out. Seems like you got a pretty good deal if the tread on the tires gets you a year or so and it's just a balancing issue. Good Luck, let us know how it goes

 

My .02 cts. is you got a decent deal. As stated b/4 tires are ok should last as long as they last. Wheels are listed new for
2014 Toyota Tacoma Parts - Wheel, Alloy - 42611AD031



Part can be found as Reference No#3 in Illustration
Brand: Toyota

List Price : $448.95
Our Price : $313.10

So go get them rebalanced have them put the weights on the inside of the wheel where they are supposed to be. That is what I see could be wrong with them. Looks like they didn't balance right thumping and shaking are clasic signs of unbalance tires.
Keep us posted and good luck.

 

^^^ X2

 

I'd be cautious of buying wheels with tires mounted from a Chinese brand. Tells me he has had it run on a tight budget. Have a tire shop throw some good tires on there and balance them out.

 

I'm no expert on Starfire tires, but supposedly they're made in the US.

https://www.tires-easy.com/tires/starfire-tires