Moving to Colorado, Need to Upgrade Wheels & Tires, Need Suggestions

Hello TW Friends!
I've recently acquired a new job in Colorado up in snow country. The town I'm moving to typically gets snow from October through April, usually reaching 5ft in depth at the peak of winter. To prepare for the move, I'm planning on upgrading my tires and possibly my wheels.

I would like to throw on a set of the 17" TRD Wheels that Toyota offers (purely because I love the look), but I am also tempted to keep the stock 16" Wheels that came with the truck. Optimally, I'd have two sets of wheels (could both be 16's) and tires, one for road trips and pavement pounding, the other for snow and off-roading. Suggestions?

Regardless, my current Goodyear Wrangler A/T Tires (which are basically highway tires) aren't going to cut it for the heavy snow i'll be expecting. I am currently looking at a set of Goodyear Wrangler DuraTrac tires for the sake of sticking with Goodyear, but am open to other suggestions. I would like to get some additional lift to keep my frame above the snow, so I'm thinking about getting larger tires. I hear 33" is that max that will fit a Tacoma, not sure if that involves trimming...

Current Wheels: 16" Stock, 7.5" width -- TRD Wheels: 17"x7.0"
Current Tires: 265/70R16 112T (definitely want nothing less than 112S)

Thanks ahead of time for your help!

 

Also, for snow do I mostly want something wider or something taller (larger circumference)? I know both will give more standing surface area but I heard it's better to keep them relatively skinny.
Looking at the Goodyear Wrangler DuraTrac tires, I could replace my stock tires with a 265/70R16 or I could get a 17" Wheel and throw the 255/75R17's on those... I'd lose 0.4" of width but gain 1.5" of overall tire height.
It looks like if I want anything larger than 32.1" i'll have to steer away from Goodyear...

 

DuraTrac's are great in the snow but they cup, wear like crap and have a two ply sidewall. I would look at the Nitto Ridge Grappler.

 

What do you mean by "cup"? I've never heard that term before.

 

Tire cupping is an uneven wear pattern, which occurs due to irregular up-and-down motions of a wheel (bouncing). It interferes with the proper contact of the tire with the road, scooping rubber in spots. Also called tirescalloping, this form of treadwear appears in dips all over a tire's tread edge.

This is normally caused by bad shocks but I have run three sets of DuraTrak's on two different trucks and had this issue. The wide lug pattern on the outer edge like a mud terrain aids in this on that particular tire. That is my theory anyway. LOL...

 

Well that's great to know! Thanks for the info.

How do you feel about the BFG's? Also, checking out Nitto, it seems the Trail Grappler would be better than the Ridge Grappler, got an opinion on that?

Regarding the Nokian Tires, do you recommend any specific model?

 

The 2nd set of wheels with a set of dedicated winter tires is the way to go for those conditions.

The wheel diameter doesn't matter.(16 vs 17). But yes, you'll find that narrower and taller is the common recommendation. Like most things, there are conditional exceptions. But this is one of those times that going with the odds is in your favor.

Look at a place like Tire Rack to learn about winter tire types and function. Blizzaks, Nokian and a couple others are excellent.

Keep in mind that when you say 5', you aren't going to drive in that. The more severe driving will be on iced roads, or ice pack on top of snow.

 

Looking at the Terra and Ridge, after further research, seems those two are rated for winter/ice conditions (they have those small cuts in the tread feet) while the Trail Grappler is purely for mud (solid, bulky tread feet).
I'll probably go with the Ridge, because it looks more aggressive, but I might choose Terra if they're significantly cheaper. Thanks for the help!

 

No worries man. My opinion is the Nitto is the best quality tire on the market. They wear great and balance better than any other tire I have found. I think you will be happy with that choice. This is my truck with the Terra's. I did not go with the Ridge though it looks much better because it is hot here in the summer and you can hear the tread sticking to the road eating up your tires so I wanted as much rubber as I could get. LOL... You can also get most of the Nitto tires in an 8 ply which is the sweet spot for these truck if you ask me. Saves some weight but can handle some abuse. 285/75/16 on mine.

 

NICE! Did you have to do anything special to get the 285/75/16's to fit correctly? I've heard that they rub in certain spots if you don't have enough extra lift on the truck

 

Yeah I have a 3" OME lift with dakar leafs in the back and SPC UCA's and the plate bumper allows for a little more room. I did not have to do a CMC but I would not try for 285's if you do not have a lift. I ran 265/75/16 for years and should have stayed with that but I have an ego issue and an average penis.

I have heard that the 3rd gen has a little more room to add bigger tires over the 2nd gen but you might want to research that. Every truck is a little different so I would be sceptical in thinking you would get 285's to work well on a stock setup without a lot of cutting. I would think you could do 265/75/16 pretty easy setup the way you are.

 

No all terrain will be even close to matching the performance of a winter set.

My suggestion would be get a set of summer/wheeling tires, and a dedicated set of studless snow tires if you want the best performance.

 

This is sound advise also.

 

I'm planning to get these additions before throwing on the larger tires:
ARB Summit Bumper plus Winch
OME "Heavy" Lift Kit (suggests 2" front and 2.5" rear lift)

Regarding the OME lift, did you just upgrade to OME coil springs for the 3" lift in the front while keeping your stock shocks? That being said, is it better to grab a set of Dakar leafs rather than get a full OME suspension kit?
If I can upgrade the suspension for cheaper or for better performance by getting separate pieces I will strongly consider that... Also, when lifting, are new UCA's required to keep the suspension parts in alignment? I had not considered getting new UCA's.

 

I used a full OME kit with OME shocks all around, 886 coils for the added weight up front plus the OME HD rear leaf pack and SPC UCA's. I have used this setup on two Tacomas and am happy with the results.
I would recommend talking to Marie @HeadStrong Off-Road or @Wheeler's Off-Road Inc . They will be able to get you the best setup for what you want to achieve for the best price.

It is also okay to use the 3 leaf progressive aal, it will give you the lift you want and save you a little coin over replacing the rear packs.

UCA's are not a must but for me I like to upgrade it all and correctly, to get the geometry you want you will want aftermarket UCAs in my opinion but it is highly debated.

 

So it sounds like you used this kit (http://store.arbusa.com/OLD-MAN-EMU...016-ON-TOYOTA-TACOMA-OMETAC16HKSB-P22906.aspx), which states a 2" lift with an ARB bumper and Winch, so since you got 3" using the same kit I'm guessing you use synthetic on the winch?

Those 3 Leaf Progressive AAL's look nice, but if I go that route i'd have to buy the other needed parts separately and that might cost more overall as opposed to getting a kit right? Or I guess I could just go with AAL's and upgraded Coils and UCAs and call it a day eh?

As long as I can make some 285/75/16's fit without rubbing I'd be a super happy camper! I'm assuming the larger the tire the better it'll work in the snow?