16" vs 17" Wheel Availability/Options

Curious if anyone knows why there appears to be so many more 17" vs. 16" wheels on the various markets. I have a 2015 TRD Offroad with 16", but the vast majority out there seem to be 17". Is the Tacoma Sport a far more popular model and thus all the 17"? I want to stay with 16" as I assume this is better for offroading (presumably more tire for shock absorption), and since it comes on the offroad model itself. Looking to be educated here if anyone is able to chime in. thanks.

 

Bigger wheels allow for bigger brakes and that is why we are seeing bigger wheels than in the past. Most trucks and SUV's had 15" wheels back in the day. 3/4 and 1 tons had 16" wheels. The overall tire diameters can be the same with any wheel size.

But they aren't putting bigger brakes on the models with 17" wheels than the ones with 16" wheels. At one time there were more options, and better prices with 16" wheels. But that may no longer be true. I haven't compared prices lately. I'm thinking 17" may be more common today. Most 1/2 and 3/4 tons are coming with 18" or 20" wheels.

 

Offroad I would say there is very little differnece for most people between 16's and 17's. If you get really serious into offroading, then the 16" is better because it has more sidewall for the same outside diameter tire size.
32" tire on 16" wheel would have roughly 8" of sidewall
32" tire on 17" wheel would have roughly 7.5" of sidewall

The reason 16" wheels and tires are getting harder to find is because very few new trucks offer 16" wheels. Most are 17" or larger due to brake size and style trends. I have 17's and don't see any need to run 16's unless I was really serious about making an all out trail rig. Even then, I'd probably stick with 17's. In theory a tire with more sidewall will ride better. But there is a point of diminishing returns when comparing these sizes and ride quality will depend far greater on each tires characteristics like load capability, overall construction or other variables.

 

Wheel size: There has been a trend for some time that people wanted bigger wheels and tires. 15" were replace with 16", 16" replaced with 17" and I bet we will see 17" becoming more limited soon and replaced with 18" even in the offroad world. Just look at how many vehicles you can now buy off the showroom floor for offroad use that come with 35's. In the Jeep world 40's were the thing now 42's are. Toyota will have to design a whole new Tacoma soon. A refresh will just not cut it. They will have to have a stock option of 35's at minimum, or it will just become no longer relevant in the offroad world.