Bigger tires + leveling kit + towing on a 4 cylinder

Never had a lift or bigger tires on anything I've towed with, so I'm kinda curious how much effect this will have on my '13 Tacoma regular cab with a 5 speed.

I'll be installing a set of Bilstein 5100's (not sure if I want to go with 1.75" or 2.5" yet), some Firestone Riderite air bags, Level 8 Guardian wheels (17X8.5) and Goodyear Duratrac tires (275/70/17) and I'm wondering how much this will affect my towing capacity.

What I plan on towing is a Seadoo Sportster boat. I figure it will be around 2500 pounds with fuel and gear, just the boat itself is around 1500 dry. I will only be towing it 20-25 miles to local lakes, with no long grades.

Will this be a problem or not?

 

In my opinion you will 100% want to re-gear to get some power back from all that additional rotational mass and slightly larger tire if you plan on towing.

You can try it out and see what happens. Worst case scenario plan on spending an additional ~$750 for a re-gear.

Side note: why not go with 16's??? Cheaper (wheels/tires) and lighter combo

 

I might end up doing that. Do you have any idea how much more a 17" set up weighs over a 16" set up?
I definitely want to level the truck simply for aesthetics.

Would just the wheel/tire package really take 1000lbs off the towing capacity? I'm not planning on touring cross country or anything, just 20-25 miles to local lakes.

 

Oh, and part of the reason I decided to go with 17's is that I didn't see the Duratrac's in a 265/70/16 and figured if I was going to a 265/75/16 I might as well go to a 265/70/17.

 

Thanks, that helps a lot. It looks like the tires would be 12 lbs heavier (per tire) and would be 1.2" taller than the Dunlop Grandtec's (245/75/16) that are on it.

Oh, and it looks like the 17 would be 1 lbs lighter than 265/75/16?

 

Most accidents happen within 10 miles from home. I owned a 2.7 5 spd unless you re-gear it will be a dog and all I towed was a mid size popup.

 

I'm curious to see how you like 17's on a 4 cyl. I went from 16's to 18's on my last v8 truck and hated it, felt like I was riding on peanut butter all the time.

Sub'd keep us updated.

 

Not sure what you mean with this. Am I more likely to be in an accident because I'm towing with 17's instead of 16's? Am I missing something?

I'm just kinda weighing my options right now. I don't have the boat yet, maybe I'll just get another PWC.

FWIW, my last Tacoma/boat combo was a 1998 Prerunner V6 (with whatever stock sized tires those came with) and a 1995 Bluewater ProAm Skier on a tandem trailer that came in at 4800 lbs. On the routes I use, power was never a problem. I did end up buying a a 2001 Tundra with a V8, mostly for the extra room and stability (the trailer didn't have brakes).

Thanks to all for the insight/suggestions

 

Do you know how much that trailer weighed? I'm just trying to get an idea of what the real world limit is.
I guess another option to re-gearing, would be a second set of wheels and tires. The reason I'm getting the Duratracs is for winter conditions here, I wouldn't need that traction in the couple months that I'd be towing a boat anyway.

 

I have towed a 3500 lb boat with another 1000 lbs of tailer and gear and it did fine. I am running a toytech spacer kit with 255's. I towed it about 40 miles and the only problem I had was a couple of hills where I had to drop a few gears and run High RPMs to keep my speed.

 

Got them on yesterday, so far I'm not noticing a huge difference. They're a little louder, a little slower in acceleration (though I haven't done any jackrabbit starts before or after the switch, and don't plan on it). I DID hit a hill that I used to go up in forth gear (it would slow me from 60-50 in forth) but it didn't really warrant 3rd since I was just about to the peak at 50 MPH. With the taller tires I was slowed to 45 MPH before I went down to third at which point I was able to speed up to 55 MPH before hitting the peak. Also all these impressions are WITH the stock wheels and tires in the bed of the truck since I'll be taking them to work for a coworker.

I'll be moving soon so I'll get a U Haul 5'X8' box trailer and have that loaded up with all the heavy stuff and see how it does with that. I DID already tow one of those with the stock wheels and tires and it did fine. Not really sure how much the trailer weighed (though I know U Haul WAY overbuilds their trailers) and had it loaded up with a 400 lbs safe in the front, 5hp 30 gallon air compressor, 300 lbs roll around tool chest, 5.5 hp pressure washer, and probably 200 lbs of random garage stuff (jacks, jackstands, power tools, etc). If I have the time when moving to the new place I'll run the loaded trailer across the scales (which are on the same road I'd take to get to the lake) and see.

I'll keep you updated.

 

i do not know what U-haul 5x8 covered trailers weigh but i had a 4wd auto dblcab with 3" toytec lift, lt275/70/17 Goodyear ATS and i got like 12 mpg. when i pull my jayco popup 10 foot box i get 17 running 70 mph. the u-haul trailer had an aluminum frame and only had fullsize bedroom suite. seems to me like you do not tow regular so if bigger tires and wheels don't bother you i would not fool with a gear change.