Increasing my SR5’s off-road abilities

Hello fellow Tacoma owners,

This is my first post to Tacoma World, so please forgive me if I make any rookie mistakes. I own a 2018 Tacoma SR5 (double cab, 6 foot bed) with a Leer midsize shell. My general goal right now is to increase my truck’s off-road capabilities. In doing that, I decided I want to upgrade to 33-inch all-terrain tires, because that will give me a bit more ground clearance and general beef. (I have the stock tires and wheels on right now which are P245/75R16.) But if I want to put 33s on my truck without having any rubbing or doing any cutting, I’d have to lift the truck to be safe. So I thought that getting a 2 or 3 inch suspension lift would do the trick. I realize I could just get a body lift to fit the tires, but I figured I might as well increase ground clearance a bit more with the suspension lift. What do y’all think of my plan? Are there any potential technical flaws I’m not seeing, or considerations I should make? I don’t consider myself an expert by means, and there is so much conflicting information on the internet, so I thought I would seek insight here. All responses greatly appreciated! Thank!

-Angiolo

 

Hi Angilolo. I asked this exact same question last week sometime and didn’t get many answers. I guess the members figure this has been discussed hundreds upon hundreds of times and you should use the search function. However when I searched the subject even though I read for hours I never really found the answers to my specific truck. I have a 2021 SR5 4x4 crew cab. It has the exact stock wheels your truck has. I did do a 3” lift in the front and 2” in the back. I put on Toyo P285/70R17 117T (these are 33”) tires onto 17x9 Fuel Vapor -12 wheels. Looks sick IMHO. However I did just discover I have rub on the front drivers side when turning the wheel half way to the left. I was going to start a thread asking about it but I figured I wouldn’t get any response other than “use the search engine”. I will probably have to remove some material. However it really isn’t that bad. Not unless the wheel is being pushed up into the wheel well because I’m running over something. Either way it doesn’t really damage anything it just makes noise. Below is a picture of the truck. I hope this helps. You’re welcome to ask me questions and I’ll be glad to take pictures and help you anyway I can.

 

Lifting doesn't help fit tires as far as off roading is concerned. Lifting doesn't increase the size of the wheel well, the only things that do that are removing the liners, smashing the pinch weld, hammering and cutting interference, and tubbing.

All standard CO lifts do on these trucks is increase where the front end sits in the travel range that it already has. (These numbers aren't exact) Your truck now sits in the middle of 9" of wheel travel. 4.5" up and 4.5" down. When you lift it 3 inches you trade down travel for up travel and end up with 7.5 inches up travel and 1.5 inches down travel. So when you bottom out your suspension offroading your tires will rub, lifting just makes them less likely to rub on the street, since you have to compress the suspension 3 inches just to get the front where it was prelift and another 4.5 to get it to the end of your up travel.

Anything bigger than stock has a chance of rubbing, the larger you go the better the chance.

 

You need to do a cab mount chop to fit 33s. It doesn't matter the lift height, you'll always have to do it. If you off road, you'll rub with no chop.

I recommend using google and not the search function on the forum, you'll get more relevant results that way. I never use the forum search function to find info.

 

You can fit 255/85/16 (skinny 33s) without cutting or rubbing

 

What does “cab mount chop” mean? It’s funny though I did search the Internet. Google, YouTube everywhere. All I found was that people were doing things all over the place with lots of different results and a whole ton of different opinions. I found nothing that was standardized or concrete. I find that utterly amazing since these trucks are all pretty much the same.

 

It chops the metal the cab mounts to to give about 1/2 inch more of clearance for tires.

2wd and 4wd different in their capabilities... let's see what the op is asking about.

 

You can buy "cab mount chop" plates from multiple vendors. I don't know what your definition of "standard" is but I'd consider cab mount chops to be pretty standard modification on late gen toyotas.

 

So cut and weld the frame?

 

This is a step by step. There are a lot of shops that provide this service. I don't have any experience welding so I would take it to shop personally.

https://***************/2020/04/13/diy-cab-mount-chop-2nd-3rd-gen-tacoma/

Edit: Damn the forum blocked the link, my bad

 

I would love to get it done. I’m in Tampa. I wouldn’t even know where or how to start looking for a place to do it.

 

There should a sub forum for florida. Found a thread for you.
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/cab-mount-chop-help-daytona-to-tampa-anywhere-really.596990/

 

Try this link, they have a video you can watch to understand what it is.

 

You guys are awesome. That’s for the help. The OP needs this info also.

 

Everyone, thanks for all your replies. A lot of helpful info. Right now I'm leaning towards the Rough Country 3.5 inch lift along with tires of the size 265/75R16. Either the BFG KO2's or maybe the falken wildpeaks since many people seem to love them. That way I can keep my stock wheels and save some money there. Maybe upgrade wheels sometime in the future. And if a little bit of cutting needs to be done, then so be it

 

Thanks for the insight. Your truck looks sick for sure. Tires are badass. I'm psyched for how mine will look. I kinda decided to not bother with trying to get 33s on mine. Thinking of goin with 265/75r16s, so like a 31.6 inch. That way I can just throw those on my stock wheels and save a little money. Maybe try 33s with new rims sometime in the future. Was also thinking of getting the Rough Country 3.5 suspension lift, since it seems to be a pretty decent lift for a good deal. Thanks for offering your help.

 

I think your cv angles might be a little too extreme with a 3.5 inch lift. You want to stay 3 inches or under of lift usually.
31.6 inch tires with a 3.5 inch lift would look way too small anyways.

 

Also note that the “all over the place” “lots of different results” is because everyone uses different tires, wheels, lifts, etc. Also everyone drives their truck differently and in different environments. Some don’t off-road at all and can fit 33s with no CMC because they rarely flex their suspension at all, have certain wheels/tires that play better with clearance. I’ve researched this same topic for months and found info for all of types of setups and driving types. It’s out there. Just a lot of searching and reading. And asking questions in already created threads about the same topic.

 

Good to know. It's funny, the guy at the custom truck shop I talked to failed to mention that. Makes me question their knowledge. So you think a 3inch lift with 31.6 tires would look fitting? I would just go for 33s but the risk of rubbing becomes too much of an issue that I'm willing to deal with

 

This may be an unpopular opinion, but if increasing your off-roading capabilities is your real goal, lift and bigger tires might not be the first thing you should do.

What kind of off-roading are you into? Mud isn't the same as rock crawling. Beaches are different from mountain passes etc...