16” vs 17” wheels 2019 TRD

Just wondering what the difference is and and pros and cons with running a 17 inch wheel as opposed to a 16 inch wheel in my 2019 TRD. Any help would be great.

 

There are more options in tires for 17". Most of the 16s are e-rated and less options to choose from.

 

What about mechanically or drivability?

 

The tire matters more than the wheel....except......

Weight considerations

Strength considerations

Other dimensional fitment considerations

 

What's your intended use? What size wheel/tires are you considering?

 

Mainly road with some mountain/road driving at times. That’s what I’m trying to figure out. Thinking about raising the front like 1-1.5 inches and trying to figure out the perfect wheel and tire size. Don’t want to chop my cab mount or anything. And definitely don’t want to rub. Just want a good size semi aggressive tire with a tiny poke out the side

 

I have 265/75 r16’s - they are a good size for 16-inch wheels, but 16 and 17-inch rims can give your axle additional height without CMP’s if you use a narrower tire than that -search for “Pizza cutters” here on TW. Some are using 255/80/17, or 255/85/16 for that.

 

I went with 17" rims to fit 33" 255/80/17 pizza cutters. Wildpeak AT3's was my choice. Shortly after I made this purchase, Wildpeaks came out with 33" 255/85/16 AT4 pizza cutter (C Load) tire. Had I known that, I would have stuck with my 16" oem rims.

 

^
^ what he said ^
265/75R16 if you already have 16" wheels or 265/70R17 if you already have 17" wheels (assuming you are running stock wheels)
They will fit without any cutting or rubbing. Since you are not doing any extreme off road stuff C rated AT tires would do just fine - aggressive and not to heavy. As far as poke . . . . yeah that is where you have to be careful - too much poke (negative offset) and you introduce rubbing issues as well as other issues (stress on the the suspension or whatever - I really have no expertise in that area). I have no idea how much negative offset you would need to get the poke that you want.

This video explains fitting wheels and tires and wheel offset
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAYGdcKSA3o

Before I I did a 2" lift I simply went up in tire size to 265/75R16 on stock wheels - I put on E rated KO2s but there are plenty of lighter C rated AT tires to choose from. Anyway I had no cutting and no rubbing to deal with and even kept the mud flaps

 

Do both
265-75-16 265-70-17

 

Speaking strictly for myself, if I were to spend a lot of time off the beaten path, I'd opt for 16" wheels, however, the only time my Tacoma goes off road is crossing the lawn with a load of mulch, to 17" wheels for me. Why? If for no other reason, the slightly shorter sidewall (for any given tire diameter) gives slightly improved handling and steering response.

 

265/75/16 and 265/70/17 are identical in overall size and comparable in price. That's as big as you can go without modifying the truck or losing performance. Until recently there were more options for 16" tires, but that does seem to have flipped, but there are plenty of options in both sizes for non-LT tires.

The only difference is the size of the hole in the middle of the tire and the amount of rubber between the road and the bottom of the wheel. 16" wheels mean more rubber, a softer ride and slightly better off road performance. 17" wheels mean less rubber between the road and bottom of the wheel. You get less body lean when cornering aggressively on highway driving. And a little stiffer ride.

But the difference is minor. If you're comparing 16" to 20" wheels the difference is more noticeable. 17" and 18" wheels are a sort of compromise. The difference is so small that if my truck came new with either 16" or 17" wheels I'd keep what it came with and not swap.

 

also consider the potential upgrade of brakes to a larger size say 4runners brakes. They would not work with 16inch wheels.