wheel vs. snow plow (spoiler: the wheel lost)

hi all - the short version is that a guy lost control of his truck with a small plow on it and my front left wheel met the business end. luckily it was a slow collision and nobody was hurt. i'm seeking help for a few questions - i've been sleuthing with the search button and have gathered some good info but am still not confident to move forward without some input. the truck is a '96 2.7L 4x4 with 16" wheels. to replace the winter tires i'm thinking 225/70/16 or 245/70/16. i dont care about the aesthetics of size or wheel looks.

questions:

1. according to wheel-size.com it doesn't look like 16" wheels happened until the 98 prerunner. if i go to discount tire the first 16" wheel is for a 2001 TRD, but its a 108 bore. i'm having trouble finding something that matches the specs of 16", 6x5.5 lugs, and 106.1mm bore. i'm also not sure what width - 6"? and offset - 8mm? any shoves in the right direction would be appreciated.

2. the door card says that OEM is 225/75/15, or 28.3". am i right to assume that this is the optimal diameter for the speedo/odo?

3. i had a set of 225/65/16 winter tires on, which i know were undersized but was all i could find on craigslist in a pinch. there's a ton of info on the forums about how big you can go with tires, my summer set is 265/70/16, but i'm wondering if it's a bad idea to run small, beyond it looking silly...

4. are there any downsides to running one mismatched wheel, if the lug/bore/offset are correct? would differing wheel weights be an issue?

5. does the wheel look salvageable? i'm a metalworker by trade and it seems like i could fairly easily grind weld and rebuild the contour of the rim - is that a bad idea? i haven't checked yet to see if the wheel still runs true otherwise but am curious if i should just put it in the scrap pile or not.

i know that's a lot all at once - thanks in advance.

 

1. just say you have a 2000, no big deal, same truck after all. rim size matters more as people will upsize at any point.


2. that was the size for the base model. your gear ratio will determine what size tire is best to run (I think '98 started 265/75-15 or 31" and 4.10 gear ratio)


3. depends. if you want skinnier then 245/75-16 is the same ~31" tire as 265/70-16 (again your gear ratio matters for speedo accuracy as well)


4. as long as the diameter of the tire matches the others then you can run whatever wheel/rim you want, with 4wd you want all the same diameter


5. if you have the skills you can definitely repair that wheel. but like you said make sure it's not out of round as that more complicated

 

thanks for the response, i appreciate it.

my door code is BO2A, so i've got the 3:58 gears. elsewhere on the forum people say that 225/75/15 is the right size for those gears, at least for highway driving.

i'm still having trouble finding any 16" wheels with the 106.1mm bore size. all of the wheels that are supposed to fit 4x4 tacomas i can find online are 108 bore... any ideas?

 

225/75-15 would be the right size for that gear ratio for optimal "power band" performance. not saying larger will be an issue but different shift points


aftermarket wheels are generic but if you look around you can find ones for Toyota (any Toyota with 6x139.7mm or 6x5.5). '85 - current should work


you can also use hub rings to take up that space. https://a.co/d/3qKVzw3


108mm was the largest normal size offered by GM so it makes the wheels "universal"

 

thanks, that's helpful.