Larger Wheels and tires, minor lift for 2000 Tacoma

Hi everyone, I am new here and have found a lot of information so thank you all for that.

I do have a question if anyone has experience. I have a 2000 Tacoma with almost 290k on it (I have been the only owner and it is my baby!) and would like to add either 16" or 17" wheels and possibly a minor lift of 1" or 2". There seems to be some back and forth whether 17" wheels will fit the stock 2000 Tacoma (maybe they just have to be 10.5" or narrower). Either way does anyone know how I can determine if the wheels and tire will fit prior to me buying them and putting them on? Sorry, rookie here...

Also, if anyone has added larger tires how did it impact performance of the truck? Mine is a 4 cylinder and I am a little concerned it will bog it down slightly - will 16 or 17" wheels make a difference? Also what about if I add a couple inch lift - does that impact performance? Fuel economy"

Thanks to anyone that can provide information as I have never done any modifications to my vehicle prior.

 

You can go up in wheel size and it wont affect anything. The tire size is where it starts to affect mileage. A 265-70-16 would be equal to a 265-65-17 for example. Shorter sidewall to account for the larger wheel, but the outside diameter remains the same. In theory you could cram some 20" rims up under there and as long as the outside diamter of the tire remains the same, you'd keep your same gas mileage. In theory. Whatever wheels you buy, just keep in mind the factory wheel backspacing (4.25" roughly) and the stock lug pattern (6x5.5) If the wheel has these specs it should fit fine. You can do less backspacing too, so a 3.5" BS will fit, just gonna stick out more.

I have a 4 cyl Taco as well. On stock 265-70-16 (31") tires and stock suspension I got 22 mpg average. The 1.75" lift didnt change anything. But when I went to a 265-75-16 (32") tire, mileage dropped to 20. The power feels the same, but Im a 5 speed so I can control it a bit more.

 

Thank you for the information! I also have a manual so this really helps! Thanks again.

 

What do you have now? What is the factory tire size? Is it 4X4 or 4X2? Manual or automatic? Do you know your axle ratio? Is it a Pre-Runner or base model? All of that comes into play. You can get the same overall tire size with 15", 16", 17", 18" or 20" wheels. The difference is in how big the hole is in the middle of the tire. The overall height and width of your tires can be anything you want it to be with any of those wheel sizes. If the factory wheels suit you, you can make any taller tire work with it. If you want to go to much wider tire than factory then you may need a wider wheel

Here is a good website to figure out the actual dimensions of various tires and compare them to the factory tires. You can get a good visual of the differences and how much changing will effect your speedometer and final gear ratio.
Assuming you have factory tires 245/75/16 or 265/70/16 they will be about 30.5 tall. Most tire companies round up.
anything 30.6' or taller is usually referred to as a 31" tire. As long as you stay with something around 32" any difference in performance or fuel mileage will be minor. If at all. And with most trucks you don't need to lift anything unless you just want to. If you have a 5 lug base model 4X2 then you probably need a lift to go to 32" tires.

Going to 33" or taller requires more modifications and a more noticeable change in performance. I've been quite content to go no bigger than a 32" tire, 275/75/16's. It's actually 31.6", but is 1.1" taller than the factory 30.5" tires. It is enough bigger to look better without any extra expense or loss of performance. But for a lot of people it is worth the expense to go bigger.

 

Thank you for the information!!! I will check the website you mention and try to get more information.

I have a 2000 4X4 SR5 Pre-runner with factory recommended size tires of 235/75R15 and it is a manual transmission. I do not know the axle ratio but can look it up.

Thanks again for the info as it help tremendously. I bought this truck new in 2000 and am looking forward to a few modifications to make it look a little nicer.

 

I have a similar setup and stock suspension. My 1999 4WD 2.7 Tacoma came with the steel 15 inch wheel and 225/75R15 tires. I originally replaced them with 2008 Tacoma Sport wheels 17" (7.5" wide) which rubbed. I now purchased the 16" TRD pro wheels with 265/70R16 tires. I have no problem with the slightly larger tires. Depending on the wheel, your offset may be a bigger concern with frame rubbing. The 16" TRD Pro (13 mm offset) is nearly identical in offset to the First Gen aluminum split 3 spoke rims (15mm offset).

 

Thanks for the information it all is extremely helpful!

I guess that is where I start getting lost and in the weeds. I look for wheels online but then question how I will know if they fit because of offset and backspacing. It seems each wheel or truck it was initially designed for may be different so there really isn't any knowing if it will actually work until you put it on... I am going to try and find some 16" TRD wheels and run with that I guess.

 

I'm sure hundreds on this site will attest other wheels will fit, especially with a lift. I however had put Toyota factory 17" 2008 sport wheels (7.5" wide) on my truck and they rubbed on the frame. I am however a bit of a worry wart and did not want to use spacers so I removed them. Tire height was not a problem as the 265/65R17 was the exact same rolling diameter of the factory aluminum split spoke tire size of 265/75R15 and the 265/70R16 which is the size Toyota puts on the 16" TRD Pro wheels. I found the original optioned aluminum split 3 spoke wheel had an offset of 15mm (7" rim) and the new 16" TRD Pro wheel (7" rim) has an offset of 13mm...nearly identical. That being said, like you, my Tacoma came with the base 15" steel wheels and 225/75R15 tires which throws off the speedometer. A wheel size calculator showed I was off by 8% I believe. I verified with a GPS and found I was no where near that far off. Regardless, someone on this site posted a link to change out the gear in the transfer case to remedy the change. It looks fairly easy. Here is the link:
https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/speedometer-correction-by-t-case-gear-change.480939/

 

Thanks for the info! I am going to look into getting some of 16" TRD wheels like you have and go with that. I think they look really nice on your truck and our trucks are almost identical (including the color).