Largest tire size?

Hey all. I’ve read a few other posts about this topic. I’m just hoping for a little more clarification. I’m seeing several people saying that the 5 lugs can’t really handle a very big tire at all without a black box mod and/or a lift and some regearing. I found this website below that is ran by Toyota that says a 265/75/15 would fit a stock Toyota with no lift. But several users here are saying that isn’t correct. Here is the link. Scroll down some to see where it shows the largest size for a 15 wheel.

https://parts.olathetoyota.com/blog/4536/toyota-tacoma-tire-sizes

I’m not a very mechanically inclined person but I understand what most of the vehicle components are and what they do. Could someone explain what prevents a 5 lug from using the tire size that the website above shows will work? Thanks in advance for the help, advice, and info.

 

Also, what would be the largest tire size upgrade I could go to without needing a black box mod or a regear?

 

First issue - to really go higher than 225/75R15.. you really need to get wider new rims, with lower positive off-set, and higher back-spacing. The OEM steelies are 15x6.

Second issue - your cited site is not explicitly differentiating between a 5-lug, and the 6-lug cousins .. our steering geometry and suspension setup is different from the 6-lugs - what fits them, won't fit ours (without great expense). The next listing at 245/75R16 is the 6-lug pre-Runner that was equipped with that size OEM.

0 offset rims are ideal, for the direction that you appear to be going, and assuring underside clearance with chassis and suspension components. Some 15" aftermarket rims won't fit the Tacoma 5-lug brake-calipers, so care needs to be taken in selecting appropriate rims. Many people on this group have sourced appropriate rims, to go much wider than stock for tire width.. 33" seems to be the flavor of the day, at present. There is a cost in going more neutral offset, than the factory +40 (or +45, forget which) 15x6 OEM steelies in the form of wheel-bearing wear.

You can get away with a 29.3" tire on similar backspacing/offset figures on a 16" rim without the black-box mod, or lifting... anything further than that, and shit's going to start rubbing.

 

Ok. Thanks for all of the great information. I really appreciate it. I’m looking at a 235/75/15 tire now which I believe is a 29” tire. Any recommendations for a good 15 inch wheel?

 

I have no experience with the 15" aftermarket rims .. someone else would need to advise on that. I would suggest going through the several threads in the 5-lug group, that shows alternate aftermarket rims that have worked.. it's going to take some research, i'm afraid.

 

Ok. Thank you.

 

Stock works well for 235's if you go aftermarket just make sure you bs is 4 and offset is 0 or negative. I would do black box mod but besides that no lift for 235's. Check the link in my sig for no lift 235 pictures.

 

Most I've ever ran on stock 15s are 32x11.5

 

Ok cool. Thanks for the verification!

 

Dang! I might look into that also. Did you have to do the black box mod to get that?

 

Did a little research on the black box mod. Seems really easy so I will probably do it. Is there some information somewhere about what the largest tire size would be after doing the black box that wouldn’t require me to do a regear or wouldn’t cause problems with the suspension or wheel bearings?

 

Best advice is to stay close to stock if you're concerned at all about re-gearing or suspension problems.

In other words, if you're gonna get bigger tires, then just do it. That means deleting the black box, getting it lifted, buying tires and rims, adding different shocks, getting an alignment, getting it re-geared, and expecting to have suspension problems down the road and your speedometer/odometer being wrong. So the total cost of larger tires is about $4,000. Don't go down that road if you aren't willing to pay the price. It's completely cosmetic if you're not going off-road.

 

I found 235's to be a good number for a non lifted 5 lugs. That's being said I'm going wayyyyyyyyy larger after my current set lol.

 

Ok thanks for the advice. I think I will probably only go to a 235. I mainly just wanted to do the largest size possible for a little more clearance that wouldn’t cause too much additional strain on the suspension/wheel bearings and wouldn’t require a lift. I still plan to pull a small camper as well so lifting and regearing probably wouldn’t be a good idea. I really appreciate everyone’s input and feedback.

 

If you can find a good deal on an lsd that might be useful with a slight regear for pulling stuff. Also if your manual you'll need an auto 3rd member to regear.

 

LSD = Limited Slip Differential?

 

If you mess with tire sizing at all - especially in light of towing a small camper - you will need to revisit whether you've picked the appropriate truck for the job. I would be looking at air-bagging the rear end, to start. The stock 4x2 base Tacoma in both Manual and Auto versions are highway geared - not towing geared. If you are serious about towing, going to light truck rated tires (LT vs P rated), an upgraded suspension setup, and a regearing, slightly overgearing to get maximal torque out of the i4 (when/where it's needed) might well be in the cards also.

The basic level Tacoma, when equipped with a Class 3 hitch, is rated for 350lbs tongue weight, and 'nominally' 3500lbs towing weight max.

 

Yes.

The 5-lug Tacoma beyond 2009 had an electronic LSD, using the ABS system for double duty.

An Eaton Detroit Truetrac mechanical LSD setup is what i have installed into my regeared 5-lug.

 

Ok I’ll keep that in mind. The camper I plan to tow is only about 2800lbs and I’ll be the only person in the truck when towing it, so I should be ok as far as staying under the tow limit goes. I mainly bought this truck for the better gas mileage and to do some work around the house. I noticed it could tow 3500lbs though so it will probably become my towing truck as well when taking the camper to the beach (mostly highway driving the whole way).

 

Ok, that’s what I thought you meant. My taco does have the auto lsd and a button to turn it on and off when needed. I don’t know if the button was stock or if the company that originally purchased the truck to use as fleet vehicles had the button added.