First Time Tacoma Owner

Hi everybody! I'm moving from Upstate NY to the Sierras in a couple months and decided to sell my rusty F150 and pick up a Tacoma before moving.

I have a TRD Offroad DCSB in Army Green due at the beginning of September, with the TRD Lift Kit. I also plan to get some bronze wheels and some more aggressive tires put on when it comes in.

I've been reading here non-stop over the past week but I'm now in information overload and I really need someone to confirm/correct my assumptions or just tell my dumb ass what to buy. I've never done offroading before besides crappy dirt roads to trailheads, but I hope to try some since I'll be in the mountains.

Per the sticky 265/70/R17 and 265/75/R16 are the biggest wheels you can fit stock on an OR without trimming, which I would prefer to avoid for now. My understanding is that the TRD Lift Kit is not relevant for tire size as compared to stock unless you don't plan to actually use any of the suspension travel?

I was also reading about 255/85/R16 wheels but I didn't get far enough down that rabbit hole to confirm if those will rub at max compression.

I've learned what an offset is and I get it, but what I don't know is if having a wheel with an more negative offset than stock alone is enough to let me size up to any larger tires without needing to do any trimming or UCA swap, or if an offset will actually make rubbing worse?

For wheels I was looking at -

• Method 710 - 16x8 | 0mm/4.4"
• Method 710 - 17x9 | -12mm/4.6"
  
• Rhino Stadium - 16x8 | -10mm/4.11"
  
• TRD Pro - 17x7 | +4mm/4.16"

For tires my F150 has E rated 265/70/R17 BFG K02's for the past 5 years and they've been great in the lake effect snow up here. I really have no complaints but I also haven't taken em wheeling. I was leaning towards just getting K02's again but I'm open to suggestions. I don't think a tacoma is significantly lighter than my reg cab long bed F150 and I never had a problem with the ride on my E rated K02s.

My main use case is on-road and my largest concern is on-road snow traction. I'd prefer a tire that is excellent in snowy roads and otherwise acceptable jack-of-all-trades for highway etc and a bit of offroad. I will likely not have the space to store snows for the winter and am planning to sell the stock wheels and tires when they get taken off at the dealer.

Thanks everyone. There's tons of information on here. It's great but a lot to parse.

TL;DR, Someone is going to tell me to stop overthinking it and just buy the TRD wheels and 265/70/R17 K02 tires.

 

Welcome to TW!

 

Thanks!

 

Welcome to TacomaWorld

 

Welcome… get ready to give all your money away. Muwahahahaha

 

Snow traction in the sierras isn’t the issue. It’s the ice, and BFG k02s (really nothing does except studded tires) don’t do too hot in the ice. In the sierras it’ll snow, get warm and melt, then get cold and refreeze overnight. Rinse and repeat.

You want a tire with a softer rubber, ideally you’d have a winter set of studded snow tires. I don’t have that luxury either though and I’m just running general grabber ATx, the siping is a bit better vs the k02s but on black ice I’d still have to be careful, I always carry chains during the winter months. They also seem to do pretty well in all other conditions!

EDIT: I have 16x8 et0 fn fx pros for wheels and stock tire size (265/70r16)

EDIT 2: I’ve lived in the sierras many years now, until feb this year I owned a front wheel drive mazda 3 hatchback. I never had to put on chains since I had a winter set of studded snow tires even though I always carried chains in the trunk. Rear wheel drive vehicles don’t do as well on the ice and 4wd only helps you drive, it does nothing to help you stop so in addition to having a good rubber you’re just going to want to take it easy on the throttle.

 

I think half the reason I went for the trd lift kit was to fool myself into thinking I'll keep this thing largely stock an my wallet intact...

 

Awesome, ty! We get plenty of lake effect snow from lake Ontario here, but its flat and we use an excessive amount of salt so ice is not much of an issue. I've never even seen a truck with chains here.

 

No salt here, the roads get cinder but we also have quite a lot of elevation gain and loss and that has quite the effect. I’ve been rear ended 3 times here, twice while stopped at a red light. I’m probably a bit unlucky since my wife hasn’t been hit at all. It’s really fucking annoying when out of towners from LA drive way too fast and cause accidents so the best thing to do is just to take it easy until you figure out how your vehicle handles.

EDIT: I do think whatever tire you get is gone be fine tbh, it’s mostly your driving habits and decision making process that’ll make or break you.

 

Oof, that's rough I've been hoping to get rear-ended ever since I wrapped my bumper around stump trying to park on the side of an access road at night. To date I've haven't lost it while driving in snow unless I was purposefully flirting with the limit of my traction, so hopefully I won't be 4th to rear-end you. I'll look into chains, thanks.

 

Well in that case I hope you get rear ended this winter lol. Just enough to get a new bumper.

 

Maybe look at the pros for your answers. I have 285/75/16 with no rub after a 1.25” lift via Eibach pro spring upgrades. My understanding is that the wheels are the biggest reason why I am able to do this without additional mods (not the lift). I believe the pro wheels are -10.

 

Welcome to tw

 

Maybe check out the Nissan Frontier. The 3rd gen is kind of a POS with frames that rot and a 3.5 that does not like altitude and a trans that searches for gears. Of late it seems a fair amount of motors are blowing up also. Just drive some other shit. These trucks do not deserve the rep they get around here. Also, welcome! LOL

 

welcome!

 

the Frontier? Yes! Please go buy one! Even two.
Nissan is working hard to copy the looks of the Tacoma; off-road they are (crap) just as good.

Also the transmission is annoying in the 3rd Gen.. but only if you come to TW and read everyone talking about it.

if I had never come here; every few months or so I’d think, man, Toyota needs to upgrade the his tranny and software.

tye interior is utilitarian and sorta nice. Seats are more comfortable than the Frontier.


In 5 years … the Taco will command a much higher resale also. Unless the world ends before then. Which at this rate…..

My 2cents

 

I have owned 8 Toyota trucks, 3 of those were tacomas. I drove several 3rd gens and you fanboys need to realize this truck is not the one of its forefathers. If the frames continue to rot and the 3.5’s keep blowing up I am doubtful your resale will be all that. Also look at some actual fucking data outside this site and realize you are driving the truck ranked 7th in reliability out of 7 trucks in its class. It’s just facts. And yes, the Nissan is a better truck, hell all of them are better than the Tacoma per data. You have your opinion. I have data. I am glad you are happy with yours. I cannot however recommend this truck.

 

I’m happy I’m happy with mine too!

I love the term fanboy in the woke world; it’s like a landmine. Somebody out there is going to tell you that they ID as a Fanthey. Then we will be in a different conversation all together.

Back to the point. I told the OP to go buy a Frontier right off the bat. No need to bring statistics into this. (I’m not a mathematician anyway).

a straight fact is as follows. The Frontier has a cheap interior. It looks like a 90’s era Isuzu SUV, and the off-road performance is second-rate to the Taco.

Resale is going to get a F’y due to the govs all forcing people into Battery powered vehicles. Otherwise, like it or not; Tacoma will still have a ridiculous resale value.

Maybe not everywhere; but just most places.

The important thing, at the end of the day… Drive what you want to drive. Then what you can afford to want.


…otherwise I’d be in a Ferrari.

 

When you quote someone's post with content that is in direct contrast to the opinion they have expressed typically in a platform such as this you are inviting a conversation. If that is not what you are interested in then you could simply post your own opinion or content to be considered and move on. Hence the response.

Furthermore, I am far from being a member of the "woke" world or agenda. I used the term fanboy because when you praise something that is proving it is not worthy of said praise you are in essence a fanboy. You are building something up on false pretense just because you are fond of it but with no basis or data to justify the pedestal you have placed it on. If that is how you want to live your own life then it is of no consequence to others and should not bother anyone. When you start using that as a foundation to advise others of how to spend their money then it becomes a detriment to that person in my opinion. As for saying fanboy, your profile says your name is Joe. I assume you have a penis and are therefor a man or a boy for slang. If it said your name were Jill I would have used fangirl. If you do not have a penis then I apologize. If you do have a penis but wish you did not, I stand by my comments but also do not wish to offend and wish your the very best of luck in coming to terms with your own sexuality.

As for you telling the OP to buy a Frontier, I took this as sarcasm and perhaps I was wrong. Overall I do not care what the OP buys. My point is that everything points to other vehicles in this class being a better value and my point was simply to not get caught up in the "TOYOTA FOR LIFE" fandom that so easily runs on this forum. As a person who had been driving Toyota pickups for the last 30 years or so, in my opinion this truck does not stack up and therefore other options should at least be considered.

Resale, I mean I will give you that point. The Tacoma does command a high resale however is at the top of the price point on initial sale also. As more issues and reliability seem to dip you will probably see that take a hit. 5 years ago most everyone would agree that Honda's were one of the best quality vehicles on the road. The last 5 years has seen that change and it seems Toyota is following suite.

Your opinion on the looks of the other trucks and interiors is subjective. I welcome your opinion on that. Everyone who drives a 3rd gen seems to think everyone is trying to copy Toyotas design. I do not see it and would not understand it as I am not really fond of the way the 3rd gen looks but again that is opinion so.... Okay.

As for off-road. Come on, you guys act like you are hitting the outback or something. Truth be told the majority of the trucks on here are never taken on terrain that a civic would not conquer. I have not wheeled a 3rd gen or a Frontier so you might be completely correct. I do tend to judge people who purchase a new truck and take it off-road but to each their own I suppose.

Lastly, I 100% agree that at the end of the day you should drive what you like within your means. I respect your opinion and even rebuttal of my comments. That is what makes this place worth coming to and this community valid. I have been around here for a long time and that is why I am still here. I know it can be a bit off-putting when I bash a truck on a forum that made for enthusiast of it however life is about perspective and not just aimlessly running with the pack. Have a great day and carry on. Best of luck to you.

 

Thanks! To you too!!