EVERYTHING you need to know to put 33s (285/75/r16) on a 3rd Gen Tacoma

I’m writing this thread to hopefully save some people from the stress I went through mounting 33s on my 2020 Tacoma TRD-Offroad 4x4. I got this done about a month ago now and could not be happier with it. I remember going through dozens of forums, YouTube videos and everything in between trying to figure out how to do it and if it’d work. More specifically how to do it without spending a fortune on it and being able to improve the offroad capability instead of being restrained to light offroading and pavement due to the extremely frightening ... tire rub .... I purchased a 2020 Tacoma TRD-Offroad 4x4 in March and pushed that baby stock as hard as I possibly could offroad before upgrading anything. Ended up only getting 7000 miles off the stock tires before having a blowout on a light dirt road. RIDICULOUS RIGHT?! But on from that, august comes around and it’s time to either go with another set of the stock size tires and move on with life or do the upgrades. I went with the upgrades and here is EVERYTHING you’ll need to do specifically to take your 3rd Tacoma from stock to fitting 33s (I went with 285/75/r16s). I'm sure there are other ways to do this but the way I did has been cost-effective, made it more durable, and maintains the ride quality of a stock TRD-Offroad that we all love and enjoy.

First off in case you don't want to read all of what's below, I'll simply list what I have installed and the specs.

Icon Progressive add a leaf pack
Bilstein 5100 struts only all around
16x8 inch wheels with 0 offset
Some minor cutting of the plastic in the wheel well and a hammer back of the pinch weld by about 3/4"
A GOOD alignment
Overall Cost - $2474 after tax

To start with this is simply the parts and the prices of the parts that I bought and installed (all installations I did at home with tools that most people should have in their garages). I'll also list some tips to save some money or time along with each part. Along with that I'll include a link to all parts at the bottom from where I bought them.

1. Bilstein 5100 lift kit (4 shock struts and installation parts only) $445.
- This was a fairly simple install, there are helpful youtube videos about the installs to show which bolts, washers, etc go where and how to get them off and put back on.
- BIGGEST TAKEAWAY. DO NOT attempt to take the old struts out of the coilover housing and put the new ones in yourself. People will say "oh just rent the tool from Autozone for free". NOT WORTH IT. Take both coilovers with the old struts still in them and your new struts alongside to your nearest offroad shop or suspension shop and have them swap them out. Cost me $20 for one side after I said f*** this having done the first one in my garage the night before (took almost 4 hours to swap the strut out) the shop will do it in 15 minutes.
2. Icon Progressive Add a leaf pack.
- You definitely need this because although the blistein 5100s is a "lift kit" what I found out after installation is that it does not lift the back, just leaves your truck looking kind of weird with the front end riding high and the back still at stock.
- This was one of the more difficult installs because it required cutting of 2 of the leaf pack clamps that were already installed, basically, just put the new leaf pack underneath to see which stock clamps you'll need to cut out. I believe I actually only ended up needing to cut two out but the progressive pack comes with two more in their place that are stronger anyhow. I used a hacksaw and it was fairly easy (surprisingly soft metal on those stock clamps). Be careful about your brake line in the process not to damage it.
3. 16x8 inch 0 Offset Aftermarket Wheels. (I ended up going with Mickey Thompson Sidebiter IIs) the price can vary but for the wheels I bought (which I'm very happy with) they were $684 for all four of them. The offset is important, 0 is best for the 285/75/r16s to prevent rubbing, try to stick between -5 and +5 for the offset to avoid rubbing issues as badly.
4. BFGOODRICH Ko2 285/75/r16s cost $852 for all four. I would highly recommend against mounting this large of tires on stock wheels as they are only 7 inches wide and have a bad chance of losing the tire at high speeds and several other very dangerous issues that can come with that thin of a wheel and a 12 inch wide tire. Trust me I tried with the stock rims. Found it was quite not worth it.
- PRO TIP go to Costco and get an estimate on that set of tires, then take that estimate to discount tire and have them price match it. The reason I say not to buy the tires from Costco is cus they're suckers and chumps over there. They won't mount a tire on any vehicle if the tire you bought is more than 3% larger in weight than the tire that comes stock on it. 1/5 stars for Costco, 5/5 stars for discount tire.

CUTTING AND CHOPPING.
I did NOT do a cab mount chop or aftermarket UCAs and have had absolutely no issues in either of those areas. When I first mounted these tires I had rubbing in the weirdest circumstances but not during my most extreme offroad obstacles. For example, turning into my curbed driveway, going down a steep, bumpy hill and turning in one direction sharply such as a switchback down a trail. I solved this with a hammer and a knife. I simply cut back some of the plastic in the very back of the wheel well (only for the front tires, never had back tire rubbing) progressively till it exposed the pinch weld underneath and in front of the door, once I got to that I took the hammer and hammered that back and up about 3/4 of an inch to ensure that even if it did rub it would rub over a smooth piece of metal instead of a very sharp pinch weld. Since then I have had no issues with rubbing whatsoever under any circumstances.

ALIGNMENT POST MOUNT
Definitely get an alignment after mounting the tires and wheels, go to an offroad shop if you can and let them know that they can indeed just align them back to factory suggestions from Toyota because this height lift is still fine with factory settings. Just make sure you have a good shop do it, don't cheap out. I paid $95 for mine.

POST MOUNT GAS MILEAGE.
The horror stories aren't as bad as they say. I average 16 on highway now and 14-15 in the city. Before I did the upgrades I only really averaged 17-19. Just don't have a led foot and you'll be fine. Plus it still has plenty of power, I have barely noticed a power or torque difference.

OVERALL REVIEW.
100% worth it in my opinion and has made it so much more capable and comfortable offroad. I wouldn't have done a single thing different to be fully honest.

Let me know if you guys have any questions at all. I'm going to make a youtube video covering this and will update with that link, which will show it offroading for your comfort, when I'm done with the video. For now here's some pic before and after.

LINKS BELOW PICTURES

https://offroadalliance.com/product...eiuzmTPgKEvqPaaDX1G6v4PxR6gjY8vYaAsEMEALw_wcB

https://www.bilsteinlifts.com/shop/...NDVv-v3TVqRDWrAv0SqdG49SmSREPRK0aAmSGEALw_wcB

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/...fK7s0aap1nGEFk4o54JtATUxNQOzCJvIaAha8EALw_wcB

 

Just a quick thing I missed. I would HIGHLY recommend putting 33s onto 16 inch rims rather than 17 or 18. In my opinion it looks much better, but as far as fact goes, it's much better offroad because you have a lot more tire base to scrape on rocks and obstacles than with a 17 or 18 inch rim.

 

Welcome and great first post.

 

A couple qustions OP. What notch did u set the bilstein 5100s at up front? Did u get the actual 1.5" lift in the back with the Icon AAL as some people have stated they got less?

 

Looks like your in AZ (ASU sticker/Saguaro's)...which shop did you take your springs to for mounting? Curious, because Wheeler's Off Road wants $100 to mount springs to the struts.

Was it $20 total...or for each spring?

TIA.

 

Great first post but this has been done and discussed endlessly on this forum (myself included ran 285/75r16s at one point), not sure the need for a new post about it, but I'm sure it will help someone, glad you got it dialed in.

 

Yes and I believe the Pro is able to mount up 285/75/16 without any modification at all.

 

What made you stray away from 285s on stock Tacoma OR wheels? Is that just a personal opinion? Ive seen people run them still. Appreciate the reply and feedback.
I’m running 6112/5160. Roughly a 2” lift. Still wanting a 285/75/16 setup but unsure yet. Might stick with 265/75/16 but might regret it since I’ve always wanted 285s.

 

This is the lift I am looking at...with SPC UCA's. The advice I'm getting is directing me towards a CMC if I'm eventually going to run 285's.

Currently running Falken 265/76/16's on stock OR suspension.

 

I actually have SPC UCAs as well. I was thinking of doing a viper cut too if I did go 285s.

I bought the stage 4 bilstein kit from runnin4tacos. My set up is on the “6112” thread somewhere. If not, my Instagram is @_whitetac0. You can see my stance.

I threw on 1.25” spidertrax spacers too to get the more “aggressive” stance. I’m thinking that might help with the fitment of 285 along with the viper cut.

Still debating whether or not I want to trim and CMC yet and just go with a 265/75. Mainly looking at Ridge Grapplers or km3.