Help with 2005 SR5 Wheel/Tire Upgrade

Looking for some help from a kind soul on where to get started with a long overdue wheel/tire upgrade for my 2005 SR5 Access Cab. I understand my options may be somewhat limited without 4WD/Prerunner capabilities, but my goals are less about offroading performance and more about optics and sitting higher on the road, so shouldn't be a big deal.

Current situation (photo attached) is the rather ordinary-looking OEM setup with some odd plastic faux-rim things that gotta go. Looking for bigger and matte black wheels, but nothing too aggressive. I'm not particularly savvy with mechanical/auto things and have been having a hard time putting together the guides in the 'Wheels & Tires' section for my particular situation. Any pointers on where to go/how to research options would be greatly appreciated. Some questions:

How big a wheel/tire combo can I go without needing a lift? Does 1" larger wheel translate to sitting up 1" higher or no?
Are you asking for trouble ordering wheels online yourself then looking for somewhere to install?
Good to go to a place like JustTires for consultation or would it be wildly more expensive than just paying for labor install?
What might ballpark cost be for low-midpriced tires/wheels + labor? Have 105k miles already so trying to keep costs low on this one while leaving nothing to chance with respect to fitment.

Thankful for any help on this one.

 

Lots of good questions!

The largest you can fit without rubbing would be 265/70r17 or 265/75r16 (same diameter, but different rim size)

Do you want an aggressive tread like an AT or MT? Or are you going to stick with a conservative tread for strictly highway?

You should take a look at Stealth Custom Series. They manufacture a few different wheels and they are hubcentric for Toyotas so they will fit very nicely. There is a quite a following on the forum for them. To get you started, here are the Matte Gunmetal SR8s by them, with 265/70r17 Fallen WildPeak AT3/W tires.


Good luck with your search! My wheels are still my favorite mod so far. Here are the same wheels and tires with my 3in lift and TRD center caps.

 

"Does 1" larger wheel translate to sitting up 1" higher or no?"

No. You have to divide by 2. 1" larger tire would give you 1/2" additional clearance.

 

I still have my steelies with the 245's.
I went with 255-75-17's. They're a tad narrower than the 265's, which help with turning clearance, and fit the factory wheels nice without too much sidewall bubble. They are right at 32"


I like to use Tirerack.com to get an idea of wheel and tire combos.
https://www.tirerack.com/wheels/res...&autoModClar=Double+Cab+No+TPMS&package=false

 

That is one beautiful truck. Thanks for the tips- super helpful, and your current wheel setup is basically what I aspire to. My truck is certainly a pavement pounder as you put it in your build thread, largely confined to metropolitan Los Angeles, and for that reason have no practical use for a more aggressive tread if I'm being honest with myself. Not unusual to spend 2 hrs/day commuting between work and night school, so for that reason am thinking H/T makes the most sense. A/T look more rugged obviously but I'm assuming I'd be compromising some mpg. Did you notice a significant reduction in mileage caused by the ATs?

The SCS wheels are amazing. But looks like you have a 6-lug, and the only 5-lug (5x4.5 i think?) pattern for the SR8s are 18" (or 20" for their Stealth6 model) which would cause rubbing from what I gather. I attached a picture of my current P225/75R15 tire. Your first picture is without any lift, correct? And any idea of some comparable wheels to your SCS's that might offer a 5x4.5 lug version?

Let me know if any of my assumptions are off the mark!

 

Lil Sebastian was such a good mini horse...

I'm not well informed in your lug pattern. Also, I don't think SCS offers anything above a 17in rim but I could very well be wrong. I'm also not sure if they offer different lug patterns.

As far as MPG loss, I really didn't notice that much of a drop. I have an 8 hour round trip to DC ever few weeks and I still average 18 with my lift and tires. My tires are also one size larger so that would affect the MPGs in itself. When my stock was stock I only saw 20mpg once so I consider my MPG to be unaffected for the most part.

 

Okay, Sebastian, I don't think anyone's picked up on the fact that you have a 5 lug and not a 6 lug truck. 5 lug trucks run 15" wheels and from what I understand there's not a lot of options for you out there.

You can go for several different looks. One, you can go lowrider, but that doesn't seem to be what you're interested in. You could go the road racer route and run some X-Runner wheels. They're 5 lug so they'd bolt on, but I have no idea about rubbing issues. Or you can add a lift, stay with the 15s, but go with a bigger tire to increase the ride height.

Do a search on the 5 lug thread and you'll run across lots of discussions on wheel size. I seem to recall that you can go to a 235/75-15, which gives you a beefier look, but no rubber no issues.

 

Thanks for calling this out-- it remains a question mark for me, even after spending far too much time at work researching. I understand that it's a less common (now discontinued) lug pattern with fewer options, but I haven't yet seen any conclusive evidence that I couldn't run 17" 5-lug wheels. Take for instance AutoAnything.com (as well as their 'product expert') claiming that 17" Pro Comp 89 Alloy Wheels are compatible with the 5x4.5" bolt pattern.

Do you think the 5-lug issue is with aftermarket wheels or with tire fitment? I haven't seen mention of an asterisk related to the widely cited 2nd generation tire sizing limits (265/70r17 or 265/75r16) for 5-luggers..But, as you say, it could be uncommon enough that these difficulties slide under the radar.

I really hope my options aren't limited to low-rider..I'm too white for that

 

Hold the phone. I found the thread I'm after. Thank you, for keeping me from making a terrible mistake.