Fitting TALL 33s on a 2nd gen!

Hello TW!
I do not post much on here but I wanted to share my experiences lifting my 2015 DC 4x4 Tacoma and installing 34x10.50 r17 Toyo AT3 tires (tall 33s is what I call them since they are not true 34s lol). I know a common upgrade for those who lift their taco and put larger tires usually use a 2-3” lift with ~33” tires.

So, starting with my goals for my build. I absolutely did not want to cut anything, hammer any seams, chop my frame, any of that stuff. I do not have anything against those who do that! I just wanted to push the limits of what a Tacoma with a lift and some specific alignment specs can fit inside the wheel well without scrubbing on/off road. Now I don’t rock climb or jump my truck as a disclaimer so rubbing off road for me is relative. Also, every thread I see on 33s has some argument about whether you should have the “pizza cutter” (255/80 r17 or equivalent) OR the fatty 33 (285/70 r17 or equivalent). I say: why not stock width? Why not get the OEM stock width tire that is 33 inch tall? I get that there are very few options. Basically just two AT tires lol. My stock tires were 265/65 r17 and though they do not make a 265/80 r17, the 34x10.50 r17 is the EXACT width of my stock tires, but at 33.5” of diameter. So I don’t look at them as 34” tires falling short of 34”. Rather, a tire that exceeds my standards of a true 33” tire. My Tacoma was an essentially bone stock 6spd 4x4 DC sport before the lift and tires. Aside from regular maintenance items here and there and other small touches like tint etc.
Typically, my truck sees mainly highway miles commuting to work, terrible pot holes, and occasional rough dirt roads in the north GA mountains. Nothing like rocks or mudding, so for my purposes if I don’t rub that doesn’t mean someone else won’t!

As far as what I decided to use for the lift in my 2nd gen build:

1. Toyo Open Country AT3 34x10.50, load rating D (8 ply).
(actual specs according to Toyo are 33.5 height and 10.5 tread width. Installed on the truck under load with 60 PSI they are 33.3 FYI. Dummy me didn’t think to measure them off the truck . So I’m going with Toyos measurements)

2. Bilstein 5100 front coils/rear shocks with OME 887 front springs
(Specs vary as far as how much lift you will get with these. I can say on my taco coming from factory Sport suspension on a v6 4x4 6sp, I got ~2.4”. Averaged from both sides in the FRONT only. YMMV.)

3. Ready lift 2” rear blocks
(Plan is to get full replacement leaf packs once I get a shell and other random weight in the bed. But for now this with 5100 rear shocks is working wonderfully haha. Until I need to haul something of course lol)

4. last, but probably most important: SPC upper control arms.
(I won’t go into much detail on these here. There are tons of other threads where I got my info on these UCAs. I can tell you now IF you want maximum clearance, at least in my case, lock out your lower cam bolts [AND GET NEW CAM BOLTS PLEASE] just like the SPC video QR code that comes with your UCAs, and dial in your camber from using the ball joint on top of the UCA. The spec sheet will tell you how much caster you will add based on where you place the star/ball joint. Anywho, I digress)

5. Just random front end stuff like tie rods, factory replacement LCAs, sway bar end links, etc. just because I was in there anyways, why not replace it right?




Specs for the tires. Side note, I believe the only common man tires that come in this size are BFG KO2s and these Toyos. Since I had stock size Toyo AT2s on that I just wore out, I wanted to try the AT3 which I’m loving so far!

This thread isn’t an install thread, just to provide information at a sample size of 1 just to further the knowledge that is out there on tacomas and bigger tires/upgraded suspension. So I’ll skim over install. YouTube is your friend for any hiccups you come to on the install. I will say it was much easier on me since I literally tore everything out suspension wise that was a wear item at the same time to replace it lol.


Good picture showing how the 34x10.50 is the same width as the stock sport 265/65 tire size.

Also I had a used set of factory 2nd gen sport wheels sand blasted and powder coated flat black and added 4Runner matte black TRD Pro center caps just because I thought it looked cool lol. And I wanted to have the factory offset wheel, and I do like the look of a factory wheel with a little custom touch but maybe that’s me!

notice how I had to put OUT on the tires since the tire shop swore each inner/outer side wall was the same but my OCD self knew they were indeed different lol


Also as far as the setting I used on the SPC UCAs, I used setting E which says -1 degree caster from stock UCA alone. For my build, setting E resulted in +2.8 caster right side and +2.65 caster left side. I do not have an alignment readout since I did it myself (more on that in a bit).

after working on it 3 days straight in the GA heat, finally all installed and torqued down! Gosh I hate GA sometimes…

working on alignment here. So I purchased the Quicktrick Gen 4 full kit. It’s about $600 depending on what all you want to get out of the kit, but I got their turn plates and the whole 9 yards. It’s super simple as long as you understand what an alignment is (toe, camber, caster). Also I didn’t want to go through the headache of explaining to some shop how the SPC arms work and what specs I wanted just to have to bring it back for something screwed up. I know some have had excellent experience with shops and custom lifts, but I just didn’t feel confident with the alignment shops in my area. Sooooo, I will save money on alignments in the future now since I can use this kit on all my other vehicles!

Speaking of alignment, these were my specs after I had everything settled and adjusted like I wanted:
Caster:
R+2.8 L+2.65
Camber:
R-0.05 L-0.05
Toe:
R+0.06 L+0.05

This took me HOURS because I wanted the camber perfect lol. So essentially having a little + toe and a little negative camber, which is how I love any vehicle of mine to be set up for road use excluding autocross or track duty but that’s a different animal.

All finished! Finally got the alignment dialed in and ready for a true road test. After making sure my brakes and everything still work as intended in the driveway I was now ready to take it on the road lol.

SO THE BIG QUESTION.

Does it rub? On a ~2.5” front lift, 2” rear, factory offset wheels, will a 33.6” (or 33.3 depending how you look at it) tire clear everything?

Yes and no lol

No by I have over 1 inch clearance between the tire and OEM mud flaps AT ALL TIMES and over 1 inch clearance in every section of the inner fender AT ALL TIMES which I think is absolutely amazing! This is of course sitting still with no movement of the suspension. Only turning the steering wheel.

Yes as in I don’t have enough negative offset. The inside tread lugs JUST BARELY rub the UCA when at full lock. And I mean barely. You can feel it vibrate and hear it slightly only at full lock. But no rubbing at any other time and damage has happened to the tires luckily. So, I bought Spidertrax 1.25” hub centric spacers to see if I can clear the UCA, and still clear the fender wells/mud flaps (I know those are frowned upon by some, however I have never had issues with a good quality hub centric spacer. YMMV). Those will be in today sometime so I will be sure to report back with my results then! But as far as normal driving on the highway, speed bumps at normal speed, zero rub until you go full lock in a parking lot. As far as off road goes, I have gone 30 mph through a pasture that has been trampled to death by cattle for half a century (IYKYK lol) launching my sunglasses out the window and nearly hitting my head on the headliner from the rough field with zero rubbing of the tire from cycle of the suspension which I am impressed with.

This isn’t extreme by any means, but it tells me enough to assume I won’t rub from day to day driving, how I typically have driven my truck. Except for the rubbing at lock which I am working to resolve. I’m sure I could get them to rub the fender lining if I wanted to. After all, I just added exactly 3 whole inches of diameter to my tires, and only ~3.9” of height to my front fender flares compared to stock. So I am happy with how it has turned out! I will continue to put the suspension through trials and will be sure to report back. I will also get some better photos of the same parking lot that I took the stock pictures just to have a comparison. Granted, I will be working 3 12s on night shift the next 3 days so I will report back as soon as I can .

Godspeed,
Garrett

 

Guys,
Just to update:
Spidertrax spacers came in today and finally got them installed
The fit nice and snug, and they are completely flush against the rotor. I like so far
And…..


no rubbing whatsoever! I have tested at full lock, going over bumps at full lock (speed bumps I mean), no rubbing. I just drove to work tonight and still not rubbing during any turning, uneven changes in the road. Now the only thing is testing off road more. But as far as street manners go, no rubbing. I also tested the incline and reverse incline at full lock multiple times with no rubbing.



needless to say I am very happy with how it turned out. Thanks for reading!
Garrett

 

35

 

Looks good!
Plan on a similar build but long bed.

 

Any updates?
Whats the wheel specs?

 

Looks great!
Another 33.5" option for those interested is the Toyo M55 in 255/85/16 and fits without modification. Their performance is exceptional in all conditions that I've used them in, here in NW MT.

 

So far everything has been good. After the suspension settled in some the front left tire will rub the factory mud flaps occasionally when turning hard on a hill. That could be alleviated by some trimming or taking them off completely but it’s not bad enough for me to cut anything or take them off (I like keeping rocks and mud from getting on my door paint lol). The wheels are OEM sport wheels powdercoated flat black. So I guess 17x7.5” and +30 offset. The center caps are OEM 4Runner off road wheel center caps for a 2020. I think the caps are used on other wheel/year combo Toyotas as well. I did have to file them down in some areas to have the retainer ring fully pop in.

But as far as other updates it’s been no issues at all. MPG stayed the same, but the RPM is about 350 less at any given speed. The speedometer is roughly ~6 mph off which I’m fine with.

 

Wheel before going on the truck

 

Did pizza cutters on mine,255/80/17 Wildpeak Ats,no problems.

 

BFG KM3 in 255/85/r16 work great for me no cutting. 2.5” lift, stock wheels.

 

Post your pics!
You think 2 inchs is enough.
Could squeeze 2.5 but may need new uca if i go that much.

 

I do have Total Chaos UCAs. The other keys are the tall skinny tires, stock wheel spacing, and getting an alignment done by a shop that knows how to position the front wheels so they won't rub. My lift is approximately 2.5" but I cannot tell you how critical it is to go that much.

 

I went with the Mickey Thompson Baja Boss A/T tires in a 255/85R17, they've been great! I'm on about 2.5" of lift and only needed to do some minor trimming for them to fit.

 

Great work. I have been running the 255/80 r17 Coopers for years but they are short 33s and every inch counts when crossing little cuts and washouts.

 

How well does the spare fit underneath? Would the 255/85/17 even have a chance to fit under the bed?

 

A 255/85/17 won't fit under the bed in the normal spot. I have a spare strapped to the back of my bed.

 

This is a perfect truck. Wish I had done mine like this.

 

It was a long shot I guess. I’m making plans for my next tires when my current 265s wear out or I start to get frustrated on trails. The Baja boss seems like a great tire and I love the 255 idea. Lighter weight, minimal cutting, and less modifications needed. Your truck looks awesome as well, great stance! I would prefer to stick the spare underneath for now since I like keeping my bed open for bikes. I may have to stick with 255/80/17.

 

I've been really happy with them. I take the spare out as needed for hauling stuff or local camping trips. I still have the stock spare tire underneath for emergencies in case I don't have the full size spare.

 

Thank you for posting this!!! This is my next tire. I recently purchased 17" wheels specifically to get this size. They look great.