Drawbacks of upsizing tire size

I have a 17 OR DCSB with the GY Kevlar tires in the stock size of 265/70/16.

I know I want new tires ( more aggressive and better for OR ability ) Being a stock truck Ive read many times going to a 75 series tire is not a problem for fit.

Some people who change there tires stay with stock size (70's) and other upsize to 75's.

What are the drawbacks or upsizing ? Also most or the tires I'm finding are "E" load which is much heavier.

 

Rubbing and a hit to MPG depending on how big you go.

 

Depends on the tire and amount of size increase.

Unsprung wt. is the enemy of everything.

Taller starts changing effective gear ratio.

Wider is not always better.

I buy for how I use the truck 80+ % of the time, looks as a secondary consideration.

Some theads around about folks going to 255 80 or 85 on OE wheels with no suspension mods and no rubbing.

 

Yep. MPG hit is especially nasty around town. Not so much on pure interstate. Accelerating that extra mass is a penalty.

 

There is more to tire sizes than just the middle number. Take some time to learn about what the whole thing means. Just because you increase the middle number doesn't always mean the tire gets bigger.

 

If you put it on the stock rim, it will move scrub radius close to, or at zero; even negative if you go taller.
It can feel squirrelly depending on tire and the driver.
At zero, there are equal amounts of tire on either side of SAI; any difference in load on either side of SAI will reverse the direction of steering pull.
That said, I have LT/265/75/16/E KBro2s on stock rims.

 

Some drawbacks. I went a size up with more aggressive tires for mud, to get to my camp site, which I have to pass through mud holes and up lengths of slick sloped rock. The ability to do these things in confidence and not have to worry about punctures etc is worth the drawbacks to me. Some drawbacks are irritating, some tires make more noise than others. Depending on the weight you may take a hit on mpg, though I don't sweat that stuff too much. I think so far the only drawback I've had to actually adjust to are the mud crickets. One chased me INTO a Walmart the other day and I fucking KNEW I shouldn't have even stepped onto that grubby ass property but god willing I was gonna get a 10 dollar 6 pound bag of peppered beef jerky. The thing is that these mud crickets let off a howl and they hunt in packs. You get bit by one you need antibiotics. Sayin. Lucky for me a keep a broad spectrum antibiotic in my kit. But generally, You gotta get that looked at. So it's 50/50, you take the good with the bad.

 

Going to a 265/75/16 will net you a tire about 1" taller and the same width, generally no modifications are needed. Any time you go to a larger diameter tire you effectively change the axle ratio. Most Tacoma's have 3.73 axles. changing to 265/75's effectively change that to a 3.61 axle ratio. You also change the calibration of the speedometer and odometer. With 265/75's none of this is enough to really be noticeable.

If you go to 285/75's you gain another inch in height and width, but also start needing to spend more money to lift or modify the truck. The effective gear ratio change can be enough to notice if you are loaded heavy or pulling a trailer.

Bigger, wider tires will wear out suspension parts, shocks, springs, ball joints, universal joints, brakes, and other parts sooner than stock sizes.

LT tires are much heavier than P series tires and rob power and fuel mileage. More aggressive mud tires will cost you about 2 mpg even in the same size due to increased rolling resistance. There are plenty of P series tires available in 265/75/16 in an All Terrain tire. All of the really aggressive tires are only available in LT sizes. A "P" rated tire will haul and pull much more weight than your truck is rated for. The only advantage LT's have on a Tacoma is tougher sidewalls that could be an asset in hard core off road driving. An "E" rated tire is designed for 3/4 and 1 ton trucks. If you're going to buy LT's a "D" or even "C" rated tire would be more than enough on a Tacoma

Remember, for each 1" taller tire you only gain 1/2" more ground clearance.

Here are my thoughts:

There are few if any downsides to 265/75's over 265/70s'. A 285/75 costs more and adds other costs to modify the truck for only 1/2" more ground clearance over 265/75's. If I'm going to the trouble and expense to modify my truck to put bigger tires on it, I'm going to go a lot bigger than 285/75's.

 

I was just looking into this earlier. After some reading I figured what I wanted to do would be ok. I'm planning on doing a 265/75/16 KO2 on a set of 16x8 method wheels on stock suspension.

 

Lack of low end Torque and poor shifting will be exacerbated

 

Nice write up Marshall, good advice and info shared here. OP, take heed with the advice.

 

Yeah.

And it will be worse too.

 

post of the night. Props.

 

You may lose a few mpgs from all the women you'll be carrying around all the time

 

You have to buy five tires because your spare will be too small. A small detail I didn't notice until I had a flat.

 

Why do I have to upsize my spare ?

 

Should not run mismatched circumference tire because of mechanical and electronic devices. Your ABS or your VSC or your 4WD or your differential.... Your computer checks out stuff all the time to make sure everything is rolling like it is supposed to roll. If it has a different diameter tire it will be rolling at a different RPM. Your computer is smart but it didn't know you only bought four tires of a new size, had a flat and put the one tire the old size back on. It could reward you with dash lights or axle wrap or, in special cases, maybe a code!

 

In an emergency shouldn't it be ok? Lots of cars don't even come with full size spares.

 

I just put a set of Duratrac's 265/75's on my OR. I'm having to downshift on hills my MT would have easily pulled in 6th with the stock tires. I was shocked how much it affected driveability. this might expedite my desire for 4.88's

 

Lots of cars don't have the same 4WD system as the Tacoma and 4Runner. A slight difference is fine for a short time. Like, for example, one size difference is about the same as a new and worn out tire of the same size. The engineers took that into account. But if you go a few sizes different then you could have issues. Also, going around a tight turn, you have to remember that the outside tires are going a longer distance than the inside radius tires. If you had an upsized tire in there it will make it worse. Much better to just buy five tires the same size.