TRD sport wheels on TRD off road

I’m going to be doing some longer road trips this summer with my truck and I have my stock TRD off road wheels on my truck with some Falken Wildpeak tires that I like for my day to day short commute, dirt roads, and snow. however I’m thinking some TRD sport wheels may save some mileage for some longer road trips. Anybody do anything like that at all and how did it go for you?

 

The 17 inch rims will require tires (duh) so you could choose a 245/75 in a highway-type tire and get a bit of extra diameter with no rubbing. The taller narrow tires will have less rolling resistance as a bonus.

 

Like BC hunter said, you’ll need to buy wheels and tires so it will take around 3 or 4 years to pay off approx with your fuel savings. I’d save the money for road trips. What mpg you getting now?

 

Interesting BC. Wouldn't the taller tire cause issues with MPG though?

 

All the taller tire does is decrease your final gear ratio by around 3%. So for every engine revolution you travel a bit further than you would have on the OEM size.

Or, at a certain true speed, your engine would be going 3% slower. Say, 1940 rpm instead of 2000.

There are a ton of variables at play…for example you are riding ~1/2” higher, so there is a bit more air resistance, but the narrower tires (which will be at a higher pressure to maintain load-carrying capacity) will have less rolling resistance.
Our experience with our manual transmission Tacomas is that the larger tires make the final drive ratio in 6th closer to the final ratio that the automatics get, and we get the (slightly) improved fuel economy on long drives that they enjoy.

As they say:YMMV.

 

I would just pump up the air pressure to 45 for hwy driving better gas mileage ..for sure ..down side is more likely to have a blow out ....

 

This could make sense as long as you choose a tire that makes sense. Personally I would go smaller, 245/70R17. Since it’s clearly about performance and not looks, a skinny 30.5” ought to net the best performance and mpg. I have never ever experienced better mpg from a larger tire, though I suppose experiences can vary.

If I were doing what you were doing, I’d pick Michelin Defenders in 245/70R17.