Help me choose wheels / tires

Those Falkens are hard to beat. They look good. I'm seriously considering a set of the TRD Pro wheels for my next "upgrade."

 

I don't I'll get some for you soon...

 

Okay now I'm seriously considering adding Bilstein 6112 / 5160's to my truck. And of course now that's got me going should I do 33's or 32's... My ghut says to go with 32's but wondering if they will look small with that minor lift? Anyone have these setups?

 

Honestly the 6112/5160 seems like a bit of overkill and over $$$ especially for 32s. 33s seem to be the point in which lift and cutting come into play for Tacomas. So it really gets down to what you do with your truck and from your original post it was not specifically to hit off road trails but rather some rough rutted dirt tracks. That being the case 5100 front and rear and 265/75R75 as I mentioned before IMHO would be perfect - and skip the lift. If you are dead set on a lift then the only question is how to get some lift in the rear (you can get a nice 2" lift in the front with a 5100). A block would be the cheapest way and probably OK . . . . I guess, but I just have a real aversion to lift blocks (tons of folks on here swear by them though) I would would spend the some of the tons of cash you will save by going with the 5100 and not the 6112/5160 set up and get an AAL (add a leaf). Again, really if you are not going off road the 6112/5160 are a waste the 5100 will be more than sufficient on the type of stuff your describe you drive on.

But to get to your question - and it is all subjective - 32s would look too small with a 2" lift IMHO but will fill the fender wells out nicely without a lift.

Just one other comment - your Taco stock suspension actually is also OK and was engineered for the stuff you drive on so the 32s on the stock wheels would be more than enough. And not to beat a dead horse but I will - you will never use 6112/5160 any where near to their full capabilities. But for sure you will get a nicer ride with the 5100s.

Last, 33s - are an entirely new kettle of fish - I would skip that route unless it's all about looks . . . then be prepared to pay for those looks. Hey 33s look bad ass - I get it.

Anyway these guys know what they are talking about.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27BNd7pkoKA

 

Not aggressive enough + to quiet

 

There's different 33's out there to consider
255/80r17 easiest to fit but limits your wheel options as you want to keep it no wider that 8"
285/70r17 the most common option requires some work to fit but limits wheel offset options if you don't want a cab mount chop.
33x12.5 most uncommon size snd honestly pointless on our trucks will require a wider wheel and cab mount chop for sure.

 

Fantastic shocks. Over and over, outfits selling much higher end shocks would say "best bang for your buck - the Bilstein 6112 / 5160's". I've been 100% pleased and what a difference over stock OR's shocks. Guys who ride w/ me who have stock shocks say the same.
The wrinkle is I have no lift on them, ordered assembled and installed myself. Tires are Falken Rubitreks (another great buy) 265/75/16. No need for lift and zero desire for one, too many negatives.

 

Okay just to make sure I'm following this now. If I want to upgrade suspension / get a small lift you're recommending the 5100's over the 6112's? If the difference in price were not an issue then would you recommend 6112's out of pure quality choice? Seems to be a lot of people on this forum saying "Why buy a 30-40k truck and then skimp on major components". I'm assuming if I did go for the 5100's front and back with 265/75 r17's I'd be able to at least level the truck and it would look 'beefier'?

Sounds like 33's do involve quite a bit more work than I'd be willing / able to do on my own (mostly the CMC) and I'm not sure I trust anyone here enough to hand over that project to. Or is it not as bad as I'm picturing it in my mind?

I think if I lived in the US / somewhere with a decent shop I would jump on 6112's and 33's without question. But not having access to knowledgable / experienced techs here worries me with that level of work. Again maybe I'm thinking it's a lot more involved for a tech than it is..

Hmmm - So much information what to do.... !

 

Appreciate the reply - do you have a photo by chance?

 

Close ups have old stock tires..... BTW - Bilstein dealers will raise prices 7/1/24 - saw a note on that

 

I did a lot of research into this because I do go off road easy and intermediate rated trails mostly but some difficult trails as well. Also there is tons and tons of opinions (a lot on this forum) and are just that opinions (not right or wrong) but there is also a lot of bad information that gets spread around. So take what I (or anyone says) with a grain of salt and look into it for your self to verify the validity of a particular opinion.

OK that disclaimer out of the way here is what I learned: If you are going to go off road (which you are not) the 6112/5160 is a very good choice - if you can afford them. The 5100 are and entry level off road/ daily driver choice and quite affordable - BTW for the same $$ there is the 5125 which is a stiffer shock with more extension more oriented towards off road so maybe a stiffer ride. The 5100 will fade when beating them hard on off road trails all day - they still work but not as effectively I guess as they heat up with hard prolonged use - so in situations like that the 6112/5160 would be your better choice and if your are talking desert racing then there are even more expensive choices. So my point is pick the shock that makes the most sense for your application. IMHO 5100 fit the bill - a nice up grade (an improvement over stock, which BTW is not too bad either) for not to much $$$.

The cutting to fit 33s is not the expense involved. The CMC (cab mount chop) is not expensive (~$200-$250) and relatively easy for a shop as it is very basic cutting and welding. Trimming up the front fender is even easier and something you can do yourself for $0. I personally wanted a viper cut and I could possibly have done it myself but it takes a little bit of skill and steady hand with the cutting tool so I had someone do it that had done several others for $200. the expense for 33s adds up with new UCAs (upper control arms) mostly so you can get a good alignment but also to clear the wheels and tires, in my case I added after market taller thicker coils so that played into it as well (again, I'm going off road - you are not). Then there is the cost of the wheels where off set is really important plus the cost of the bigger tires. And then after everything is set up you definitely need an alignment. And finally you will deal with lower MPG (don't even think about it if that is a factor) and a Tacoma who if you thought the gear hunting was bad stock the bigger wheels seems to make it worse for some people. The solution: an OTT tune ~$350-$450 which I doubt is available in the VI.

I am pretty sure you have 16" stock wheels so 265/75R16 are the 32s for your stock wheels - if you want 17" wheels (like the Methods) then you want 265/70R17 tires not 265/75R17 (I don't think anyone makes tires in that size anyway).

The last thing I will mention is that lots of folks go with what they call "pizza cutters" which are skinny 255 wide tire to get 33s on their trucks and avoid a lot of rubbing issues and suspension upgrades. Full disclosure: I know absolutely nothing about going that route or what is involved (and don't want to know) as I hate the pizza cutter look - I'm looking into how I can even get fatter tires on my rig.

 

Tire and wheel selection is the truck owners prerogative. You are personalizing it as a reflection of what you like. You don't want to copy somebody else vision. Make it your own unless you don't have any imagination but then again every other Tacoma you see looks just like the next guys.

 

OK but this is a totally different conversation. The OP is asking for technical advice not if he should put on a PRO grill with Raptor lights or whatever.

What amazes me though is someone who obviously does not go off road giving advice to install more expensive off road suspension that provides capabilities that will never be used by the OP let alone by the person giving the advice. I wonder how many folks who stay on the hardball or do some mild over landing to get to a fishing hole or camp site even understand the concept behind the shock reservoirs, or diameter or shock travel for example and when that stuff comes into play. But they heard that the more expensive shocks were "cool" so they bought them and I guess want to justify the outlay of $$ so say how great they are - and I'm sure they are fantastic even though they will never begin to use the capabilities of those shocks they paid all that extra $$$ for. Anyway another thing they are probably not aware of in the case of the 6112/5160 vs 5100 is the 5100 have a life time warranty where as the 6112/5160 a 90 day warranty (but are serviceable) probably because Bilstein knows hard core off roaders will beat the crap out of their shocks where light off roaders and mall crawlers not so much.

This is for the OP - two really good explanations comparing 6112/5160 vs 5100
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SaYty_6oyB0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RU9kB2QygsE

; }

 

I love my Nitto Ridge Grapplers . 25K miles and they still have a bunch of tread left .

 

I’ve been rocking the 285/70R17 Yokohama Geolandar M/T G003 with Method MR701 and been loving it compared to the Cooper STT pros prior

 

Finally bit the bullet this morning and ordered the Method 703's 0 offset and some Falken Wildpeak a/t4w 265/70/17's. Figured This was the smart thing to do for now and then can lift in the future if I want to run bigger tires etc. Thanks for all the help / advice!

 

Yep - nice wheels and tire setup for stock suspension and no lift

 

Wheels and tires finally arrived and put on yesterday. Tiny bit of rubbing on some of the steep corners getting to my house but nothing a little bit of trimming won't help. Super happy with the result. Thanks everyone for their input - couldn't be happier.

Before (Stock)

After (0 Offset // 17" Method 703 // Falken Wildpeak AT4's 265/70/17)

 

where on the truck are they rubbing ? That shouldn't happen with that set up. Did you get her aligned after you got the new tires?

 

No I haven't yet. Still trying to find a shop that can actually do it properly here.