Calling all Virginians (Tidewater area)

Bit too small for me, but I appreciate the response.

@EatSleepTacos makes sense to me. With it not being your DD, totally get it.

I'm currently working on a pretty large buildup on my truck. Beginning December of 2020, the fiance and I will be setting out on a pretty epic adventure of nomadic wandering. Going to be living out of the truck full-time and seeing what kind of trouble we can get into. This will include travels to Baja, all over the continental US, eastern (maritimes) Canada, western Canada, and up into Alaska/Yukon/NWT. Obviously throughout that entire adventure, we will see every road surface imaginable, and trying to do different levels of trails along the way. We will also be putting a sizable portion of our miles on pavement out of pure necessity, and gas mileage is for sure a factor. We will do our best to keep to the backroads and anything off-pavement as much as possible, but sometimes it just doesn't work.

I've been asking a lot of TW members about their first-hand experience with different gear ratios and tire sizes, etc. That's where the question is coming from really.
I'm still not certain about this, but as much as I want to go with 35's, I don't think I can justify it for our purposes. Instead, I think a solid 255/85/16 will be the right move instead. I've currently got the FJ Trail Teams wheels, but with my suspension setup, I am forced to run 1.25" spacers due to the 4.84" backspacing on the Trail Teams. Might end up with a new set of wheels to eliminate the spacers and throw the 255's on there.

My last debate is with the gearing. This fall, I'll be redoing the entire front suspension (like everything), so it makes sense to me to regear at the same time while I've got everything apart. Thinking about going with 4.56 so that on-road manners are somewhat maintained and highway speed RPM doesn't skyrocket. The budget option here is to just stick with the stock gears and see how they do with the 255's (they are lighter). If I do regear, then the question comes up on if I go with a front locker or no. My gut says yes, considering much of our travel will be solo (including many of the trails we do).

Sorry for the massive information dump there. Such is the inner workings of my mind. There's a lot rattling around up there. Any thoughts from you fine folks would be well received!

 

I’ve been running 35s on stock gears for 3 years now without any issue. I’m not winning any races but I cruise 70mph at or below 2k rpms. Highway hills suck but I’ve gotten used to taking it off cruise control and giving it enough gas to climb and not be through the roof in the tach.

 

Anyone coming out to farmhouse brewery this afternoon for the meet?

 

I wish. I'm floating around in the middle of the ocean for the next month....

 

What about your suspension would force you to run spacers with 255s? I had 255s before this and they were great, very trouble free. One thing to think about though is attainability. It’s an odd size and if you’re out in another country, it would be easier to get 285/75r16 (I assume).

As far as gearing, 4.56 would be a good pairing with 33s and a little extra weight.

 

Well, my current wheels (FJ Trail Teams) have 4.84" of backspace. Up front I have JBA HD upper control arms. JBA recommends to run a wheel with 4.25-4.5" of backspace to prevent rubbing the UCA. Out back I have a BAMF rear shock relocation and 12" King 2.0 Smoothies. I need to do a little experimenting with tire clearance while flexing the rear suspension to see how much room I have, but I don't want to rub on the shock body. From what I gather from others who have the same rear setup, a 4-4.5" BS wheel is best depending on tire size. I agree on the attainability factor, but I have to believe that in Canada, Alaska, and Baja I will be alright with availability. Maybe that is ill founded, who knows. I currently have 285/75/16 KO2's. Zero issues really. My desire to go with 255's comes from lighter weight, potentially a bump in fuel mileage, slightly larger overall diameter, and because I'm really just curious about the capabilities of skinny tires. Seems like there are a lot of folks who run them and swear by them.

There will be a fair amount of extra weight. Not only are the front bumper, rear bumper, skid plates, and sliders all steel, but I have a second battery, and plans to build our own wedge style camper. Once fully outfitted for our trip, it will probably be decently heavy. We will be shooting to make it as light as possible for less wear on the truck, but there are limits when living full-time out of the vehicle. Thankfully, I have sized the rear leaf springs accordingly: Deaver U402 Expo Stage III leafs. Designed for 1000# over stock weight.

 

Any of you guys going to be around the 8th or 9th of November? I will be in the Norfolk area for the weekend. going to be looking for something to do during the day on the 9th.

 

How soon you looking to switch up ? I need to sell 5 ray 10s / cooper stt pros. They are 16s.

 

I was about to head over to discount tire in like 5 minutes to talk with them. What’s your price? How much tread left? What color?

Edit: nevermind, I just checked ig to see the color. I’m gonna have to pass because I’m not a fan of mgm wheels on white trucks.

 

Are you staying with 35's or going with something else?

 

Was thinking 37s but after putting 500 miles on the truck today I think I would never want to drive it with anything bigger than 35s. I need to find someone with 37s with the right gearing and ride along.

 

Yup sorry they are grey and have 10 - 15k miles on them. 16s are not the best choice for 35s as I am finding out it really limits your brake and suspension options.

 

Having another Tidewater Toyotas Meetup, October 5th at 12pm at Decent People Taproom. Everyone's invited!

 

It’s impressive that they’re all scheduled on days I already have plans lol I’ll be up in PA at AOAA.

 

That’s a solid choice on the 4.88s in the event you ever get the desire for 37s. The 4.56 gearing is what is keeping me at 35s as I just bought two new tires today.

 

You manual as well?

 

Naw I’m auto or else I would have probably jumped to 4.88s like you did.

 

I forget the exact numbers but the manual is geared lower overall than their auto counterparts. You probably already know this but just sharing for anyone else reading not paying attention.

Potential 37s in my future was the exact reason for over gearing lol

 

Hopefully I'll be around, this last one we had great turnout.

 

It's weird not being in Virginia Beach for Hurricane season. This is my first time gone during it. Hope everyone is fairing the weather okay.