Best Tires for 2004 Tacoma? (base model)

Hello All,
I'm looking for some guidance for some new/better tires than we currently have on our 2004 Toyota Tacoma.

This truck is my teen sons and he's still learning to drive a RWD and I'm hoping a better tire may help?

Currently we have 205/70R15 Lions Sport GP on it (honestly I never cared much about brand, always just went to the tire shop and asked for reliable and let the tire guy recommend). But now that my son is behind the wheel and his rear end is sliding up to meet the front - I'm paying attention.

I've also read a few threads in this group and will try to get some weight for the truck bed (is there a certain amount that's good?), I realize that's not the perfect fix, but I'm praying it will help until my son learns to control the truck better. The slide happens when he's giving it gas, like turning onto the highway from a dead stop or in the middle of a large curve - so I feel like he's gasing it too hard for it to fishtail like he describes.

I've driven the truck multiple times in all kinds of weather with no issues at all. (But I'm also not an invincible teen ). So I'm hoping those of you that have more experience in this area can help? His father is no more and I always relied on my grandpa for this kind of advice and he's also passed. So any advice or guidance you can give would be greatly appreciated.

I will try to post a pic of the tires currently on the truck. We live in Southwest Missouri, in case that helps guide for weather/road conditions. Thank you in advance.
A concerned mom

 

Does this happen in snow, rain or dry pavement?

Is this an automatic or manual transmission?

A wider tire will give more traction.
But I have no idea on how wide you can go on a base 2 wheel drive truck.

Also, it this an automatic or manual transmission?

I will have to honest here.
Practice is going to make things better than tires.
The ones on it look pretty new and fresh to me.

Practice, more practice, and foot control is about all that will help.
Find a BIG parking lot and practice starting from a turn.
The progress to back roads at slow speed.

He'll get the hang of it. Just give it some time.

 

Thank you very much for replying.

It's an automatic.

I feel like it happens mostly on wet/damp pavement (like misting rain, but not really a downpour). He told me about it twice and I tried my best to guide him and ask him to slow down. The 3rd time he slid he hit the concrete median going over a bridge, messed up his front and back bumper where he bounced back and forth - and scared me to death.

Yes, they are fairly new... less than 10,000 miles I would say if I were to guess.

 

I’d go with the Yokohama geolander G015 in your size, good tire overall.
https://www.basillynch.com/new-blog/2017/7/2/tested-yokohama-geolandar-at-g015-tires

 

Is this on icy / snowy / wet roads?

Entering at an appropriate speed and not touching the accelerator through a corner is the easiest way not to spin out. Sand bags in the bed can help get more traction from a dead start in slick conditions. You could start with 150ish pounds and go from there if there's no improvement. Ultimately, not racing people who are or aren't aware they're racing also can help.

A kid having their driving priviledges suspended for unsafe driving / having to get a job to pay for repairs will teach just as fast as an empty parking lot imo lol.

 

The tires you have now have no channels to push water away from tire, when you look at a Falken AT3w or KO3 you can see the water has a path out from under the tire.

 

Eh, I'd stay away from an AT for a little 5 lug truck. All season road tires are going to be the way to go.

 

This was on wet roads... like misting rain.

Agreed. He worked all summer to save $2,000 and now that money is being used to repair his front bumper. The side of the bed will have to wait until he has more funds.

 

Thanks everyone, appreciate your replies. I'll go look at them and see what I can find.

One issue I'm running into is when I read about a good/better tire I try to search and find that tire in his size and it's not available.

Should we have a different size tire on his truck?
Or the 205/70R 15 is fine?

 

I can spin my rear tires on wet pavement at a standstill on my daily driver with all terrain tires (K02s) way more than I like and for that reason I choose not to put them on my wife's 4runner. On top of adding weight over the rear axle and safe driving techniques, good all condition road tires like Michelin Defenders ($$$$) will ultimately add to how much control he has over the vehicle.

 

I did search for Michelin tires (another person recommended them) but was not able to find his tire size. Am I missing something or should I be searching a different way?

Also, is it OK to just get 2 good new tires for his back wheels for now? And then upgrade the other 2 later on? Especially since those tires are a bit more expensive.

 

The way I go about buying tires is finding a really well reviewed one (on here, Amazon, tire sites, youtube etc.) and browsing online prices and looking on local classifieds for new tires (size and brand I'm looking for based on my research).

tirerack.com is a good starting point too. You can search by size - here is a list of tires in that size:

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/Tire...&rearRatio=40&rearDiameter=17&performance=ALL

 

@Dalandser thank you very much. I'll take a look.

 

Maybe Michelin Defender XT

 

15" truck wheels and therefore 15" tires are less and less common these days than they were in the past, the nice thing is there are tires with good ratings for less than $140 a tire with that tiny size haha.

 

Yokohama Avid Ascend LX might be a good option too.


https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tire...TR5ASCLX&vehicleSearch=false&fromCompare1=yes

 

Those were highly rated in the search I've been doing

 

Here's another source - WallyWorld - some locations will receive your online order and install them too.

https://www.walmart.com/browse/auto-tires/20570r15-tires/91083_1077064_8595272_2675942

 

^

*Sams Club