Newb help with aftermarket wheels

Hi All,

I have been in the market for a 1st gen Tacoma for a while as I want something to run around town with, put a small John Boat in to take fishing & to just generally help out when we need to haul stuff. I have never owned a truck before but all my truck owning buddies swear by the reliability and longevity of the older Pickups and Tacomas.

Every deal I saw in Craigslist was snapped up right away and last night I managed to get in first and pick up a 1999 for a very good price. It has some scratches that I can fix and a few dents which I probably can't but as I said, I got a great price, I was not expecting a lot cosmetically and the guy had taken amazing care of the truck mechanically. He had owned it for years and had to sell as his wife was pregnant and they needed something a little bigger.

Here is a link to a picture (large):

http://confitdesign.com/images/profile.jpg

I have never been into modding anything and really have no interest in it. The back is lowered with blocks which can be removed easily to get it back to stock height. However, he has also added aftermarket wheels to the truck.

Here is a closeup (large):

http://confitdesign.com/images/wheel.jpg

The look of these do not bother me too much but I bought the truck for function over form. I am not expecting to do any heavy offroading in it but I will be taking it on some potholed roads and trails to get to fishing spots, will this damage these wheels? Knowing nothing about this I measured the rims this morning and pulled up 18" but that was from the top of the rim to the bottom. I have just read that you are supposed to measure from bolt to bolt.

Really it is the thinness of the tires that worries me. Would I be able to get bigger tires on these? If not, I would consider selling these rims/tires & getting some stock wheels fitted...do you think they are worth much? You may think I'm crazy but I also prefer the look. I am not out to make a statement (although the color does that well enough!).

Any help for this complete newb would be much appreciated & I'm looking forward to becoming part of the community.

 

I just went home at lunch and checked the tires and they are 225/45R17 so they are 17 inch rims.

In the close up photo of the wheel, the wheel is actually turned to the left and it seems if it is straight on, there wouldn't be much room in front of the tire. There seems to be loads of room behind it though.

 

Welcome to TW. Seeing as your new truck is a 5-lug, I would suggest asking this question in our 5-lug subforum. They are much more knowledgeable about these sorts of things, and they would know the biggest tire you could fit if you returned it to stock height.

Also it looks like you are missing a lug nut

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/5-lug/

 

Thanks for the help. I will post it over there.