Side by side pics, before and after. 2nd gen 5-lug reg cab

I wish I would have been able to see these before I made the purchase, but I did it anyways, and now I'm glad I did.

I made an effort to get before and after pics for direct comparison, even parking in the same place and such.

I've been a big fan of leaving the truck alone, for the most part. But, I've found I have a bunch of fun playing in the weeds, and one of the few things I'd change about the base regular cab 5 lug is how tiny looking the tires are compared to the rest of the truck.

Here's "before": Stock steelies with 215/70/15 Destination LE radials on my '06 4cyl, 5-speed reg cab.




Here's the "after". I kept the steelies, but I went up to a 225/75/15. Nothing else on the truck changed.



I wish now I'd have started doing this years ago. I think the truck looks about 10 times better, personally.

THAT SAID:

1. There is a noticeable power drain. Not so much that I'd go back, but if you have the 2.7 with the stick, you know how absurdly responsive she is. I could tell immediately. It isn't bad...I have no issue getting up to speed on uphill tight cloverleaf onramps, and passing is still not a problem. But I can feel the difference, and it is noticeable.

2. I topped off the tank right before getting them put on, so I'll be able to give you MPG numbers on a per tank basis in about 10 days. I expect to lose about 1MPG overall.

3. The bite difference is nothing short of startling, going from the radial road tire to the A/T. There's a construction site not far from here that I did a couple quickie passes though on the way there and the way back. There's a loop around a concrete machine that's a hard right 90 with a going-away slope. With the the old L/Es, I'd start to slide a bit at 25MPH and 33ish I started having to correct with the steering wheel to keep on the track.

Now I went through at 40 and barely got the ass to drift. Front end with the motor weight may as well have been on rails.

4. There is also a slight road hum at speed. Frankly, it's low enough that I don't need to adjust the radio to understand the reporting on All Things Considered. Effectively not a concern for me.

I'd do the change again in a heartbeat, as I think the truck looks way better. But if you're already thinking the manual-trans 4cyl doesn't have the oomph you want, you shouldn't do this.

I won't comment on the auto side of things.

 

I believe I even saw your post here when I was thinking of changing to a bigger tire, I like the look you have there, and my superwhite RC base 4-banger looked big compared to the original tires on there. I still couldn't bring myself to get rid of four perfectly good used tires, until I picked up a screw and it was "unrepairable" according to the guy at discount tire.
That was all i needed. I had Wally put on a new set of Goodyear Wrangler Radials at 235 75 r15 on the stock rims. I have the auto, and I can say I feel the difference. The new tires are 2 inches larger, and as I've seen others post, they have plenty of clearance.
Wally made me sign a paper stating that they did not suggest the tires and were not liable for the fit.
It does do a bit more down shifting, and the mileage has decreased a bit. When calculating mileage I have to multiply by 1.075 to make up the difference. My speedometer also shows about 2 mph lower than actual speed, whereas before it was showing 2 over actual.
Pics of the truck after plastidipping the stock wheels.