33s affecting drivability?

This year in March I bought a 2006 Toyota Tacoma with 87000 miles on it. It was a good deal from a family friend for only 16k. It is a double cab with the off road package. It also has the tow package.
The truck has a leveling kit with 33 inch tires and they did not do a diff gear change when they put them on. So I'm assuming the stock 4.56 gears are still in there. On the highway my truck hates any type of hill and likes to shift down 1 or 2 gears. I also have a steering wheel shake at highway speeds which is magnified when I press the brake pedal. I think that might be a brake problem.
My overall question is will switching to a 31 inch tire improve the driveability and braking for my truck? It will effectively change my gearing and possibly make the truck stop hunting for gears on the highway and in general. What do you guys think?
Thanks.

 

The reduction in rolling mass will help with acceleration and braking for sure, but these trucks are known to search for gears when going up hills and such. Mine did the same thing when it had the factory tires on it. For the steering wheel shake I would look into your front suspension and brakes to see if anything is worn and needs to be replaced. I would also check your carrier bearing to make sure that its not worn out. These trucks are also known to have a drive shaft shake at certain speeds after you lift them.

 

Yes, downsizing the tires will help with all of your symptoms. My son had a standard cab 4x4, 4 cylinder automatic. It had big tires and big offset wheels when he bought it. He didn’t know that it ever drive any different until we bought a set of new take off wheels and tires. Completely changed the way the tuck drove, 100% better.

 

Are you sure it has 456s and not 410s

 

The 4 cyl with factory 4.10's should be able to handle 33" tires. The 4 cyl isn't a speedy engine, but it is has lots of torque and combined with lower gears will handle bigger tires pretty well. You just have to be realistic, the 4 cyl isn't going to win any races. If you have the 4.0 V6 with 3.73's then you may see enough loss of power to be noticeable, but it shouldn't be too bad. Downshifting 1 or 2 gears on hills is normal. That is why they have 5 or 6 gears. It would do pretty much the same with 31" tires. There just isn't that much difference between 31 and 33" tires.

The wheel shake isn't unusual with oversize tires, especially those with aggressive mud tread. They can be harder to get balanced. If you're getting wheel shake when the brakes are applied your front rotors need to be turned or replaced. You might try getting a tire store to try to re-balance the tires.

Sounds like a good deal for someone, not sure it was you.