1st Time Taco Owner

As useful habits have formed over the years, joining a forum for any vehicle owned has been a big plus. Likewise, having finally attained a economic truck that has enough legroom for a tall guy like me, I'm a proud new to me owner of an 05 Tacoma. I've mulled over a many threads over the past year or so as a guide to helping me find a truck I could not only afford, but plan to keep for a long time. Just so happened that a good friend recommended a Tacoma despite the poor legroom ratings. To much surprise, he was right. Tons of legroom over any other truck I've sat in, and it's a manual shift transmission with great gas mileage. I'm ecstatic!

The truck is pretty much untouched as far as mods and I plan to add only a few basic ones... towing hitch of some kind, new wheels & tires, audio system (have just about everything I need already/ Bayboy from Diyma), minimal body & paint. Any side or direct help will be much appreciated and I hope my time here will be a much pleasant one.

 

Welcome to TW

 

Welcome!

 

if you could post up what wheels and tires you end up with, I just picked up a 2007 access cab with the 2.7 liter and auto, wish it was the 5 speed but I could not pass up the deal. Anyhow I want to switch out wheels and tires to something wider (5 lug) but do not want to hurt performance, already have to wind it out a bit when climbing hills, probably better with the 5 speed.

 

I suppose I could do that in another thread in the appropriate place. I too have found wheel & tire selection quite difficult as I would like a slightly bigger tire on an aftermarket wheel, but without a lift. I like the height of the truck the way it is now. Most here are doing lifts or are putting the usual 265/75r16 on stock wheels which appears to not have much of an issue. Aftermarket tends to increase width by an inch. The most common backspacing seems to be 4.5" with an offset of 0. I am going to stick with street/highway tires as it will not be an offroad rig (maybe rare packed clay dirt roads). That may alleviate more of the issue as all tires don't have the same exact dimensions. It's tricky choosing at best!

 

Welcome!

 

sticking with more of a street setup as well, trying to keep as close to the stock tire diameter and weight as possible to not effect drivability.

 

Other smaller trucks I've had were an 86 mazda B2000 5spd and 96 Ranger xtra cab 2.3 5spd. Both were equipped with aftermarket wheels and street tires. Both handled well albeit underpowered. There's a such thing as "city trucking" as I call it. Where a slight mixture of asphalt and occasional dirt road calls for a street/highway tire for smoother rides and long wear. The 2.7 is a much more capable engine being displacement is higher and 4 valves per cylinder. This thing is more powerful than I imagined and given credit for. The interstate ride home after purchasing it surpirsed me. Still, that is probably only realized when sticking to conventional tire and wheel sizes. Don't think I'm ready to test that water yet.

 

Good power for the size of the engine, noticed when changing the oil it has long intake runners (helps with low end torque I think,) tubular header as well as the variable valve timing.