Is it better to stick with 16/17" wheels for daily driving?

I have a newb question, so please don't be too hard on me. I come from a car modifying backround, so I'm new to the whole 4x4 thing. I'll be ordering a new TRD Sport Access Cab as soon as my wife and I get our Christmas shopping out of the way. So I'm looking at pictures of everyones trucks, and I notice that everyone pretty much runs 16 or 17 inch wheels on their trucks. I'm gonna get wheels as soon as I order the truck (they'll be here when the truck gets here) along with tires in the factory size. I was gonna go with an 18" wheel, but that may be a bad idea from what I'm seeing. And remember, I'm used to getting a wheel that's a couple inches in diameter than stock with a lower profile tire for handling. Question: Why's it better to stick with a 16 or 17 inch wheel and tire combination? I'll be using the truck as a daily mostly, but they're may be a chance that I'll be taking it off road also, so I'll be getting All Terrain tires for it. Any help would be appreciated, because I'm really trying to learn something before I get started.

 

18 inch is fine I just wouldn’t go higher. More stress on the rim and you have less rubber for when you deflate your tires to offroad through difficult trails.

 

Smaller for more constant offroading, larger for DD. I wouldn't go over the stock size though.

 

I wouldn’t go 18 inch unless you plan on running 33-35 inch tires. Even then, I still wouldn’t do it. I think many would agree that trucks/Jeep’s look best on 15-17 inch wheels.

 

Sport comes with 17” wheels. Upgrading to a 18 isn’t a big difference. Especially if you plan to mainly use it on the street. If you plant to off-road, you’ll want more tire, less rim. From your post seems like your more about looks/handling. If that’s the case the 18” and a lower profile tire will be fine.

 

Thin profile tires are fine on the street, but do not protect the rim or provide extra traction when off-roading. A tire with a tall sidewall, that is properly air-down (partially deflated) will deform around an object (log, boulder, etc), and continue to propel the vehicle forward. A tire with a short sidewall can’t do this and any impact may press the tire into the rim, either cutting the tire, or breaking the rim.

 

Not just for off roading (more rubber on the side wall, let’s you run low tire pressure and so on ...) , but also for street driving, you will lose a bit of accretion, breaking and gas millage with more rotating mass. It might also be harder to not scratch them parking against taller curbs.

 

A/T tires typically come in LT- sizes with stiffer/stronger sidewalls as a necessity to protect against rock gashes off-road. Even sticking with stock wheel size, you'll already have a rougher ride than stock. Going up to 18" will make the ride even worse. By both tire compound and tread design, A/T tires will also have less grip on pavement on stock tires. Weigh your options carefully - you could end up with harsher ride AND worse handling on pavement.

 

Don't be the guy that gets 22 inch rims with almost no tire then complain about how the truck drives. And ruins the purpose of having a truck

 

Never planned on going that big in the first place.

They do. But I'm noticing that there's more wheel choices in a 17" wheel size. And I'm also trying to learn a little bit about off roading.

 

Get a 17 and throw on 265/70 tire and call it a day

 

I love the look of my 2017 limited model wheels, and may even power coat one-day when I de-chrome.

Once I lifted the truck I bought some 275-65-18 wild peaks. Did some pretty hard off road on private land near Natural Bridge with zero issues. Truck is also my daily driver and couldn't be more happy with the setup.

So just FYI but do what you like.

 

Go 17”, way more options for wheels and tires.

 

Believe it or not the stock tires should be fine. Toyota engineers do sometimes know how to engineer tires and wheel combinations. If anything get better tires on stock wheels.

 

He’s suggesting you use the “Search” function of this here website, not start a new thread.

Good luck with your research.

 

Be very honest to yourself... truthfully, is the truck going to be a pavement queen or are you FOR SURE going off road. If it is primarily going to be a mall crawler (and that's okay) then go for the 18's for simple reason that a lower profile tire will handle better. If you are FOR SURE going to go off road, and fire roads or grass fields or dirt and gravel don't count, stick with the 16-17's so you can air down for rock crawling or deep sand and mud.

 

I think if most fellas were being honest with themselves, 90% of any tire purchase is how it looks, and 90% of the off-roading they do would be fine with the factory tires.

 

Yes, my 2017 Limited came with 18" wheels with 265/60-18 Michelin LTX2 tires. It drives great on pavement.

I just moved to 17" wheels with 265/70-17 AT tires because I've started to do some fire roads and trails and I wanted some more sidewall for airing down a bit, etc...

18" wheels are 100% fine for on road, and even work off road if you like.

 

More tire options and a better ride. The larger the wheel, the smaller side wall you have and so there's less room for the tire to conform around bumps. You probably wouldn't notice a huge difference, but without going to a larger tire, it's just going to look strange. Never really understood the trend of trying to go with paper thin tires. You get a worse ride and it doesn't look that good. You're getting a truck, not a sports car.