Wider tires on '14 four cylinder?

I've got the stock steel rims and low end 215/70R15 tires on my Tacoma. On my previous Toyota truck, I put on wider tires and the ride and handling improved significantly. From reading here and elsewhere, for wider tires, my best bet sounds like getting the X-Runner 18x8 OEM rims and putting on decent 255/45R18 tires. There seem to be a lot of good options for 18" tires in this size, certainly more than available for the stock 15" size. Plus the rolling diameter of the tires is almost exactly the same, so no differences in power or speedometer

Is this my best option? Any other suggestions? It's a street truck, so no offroading. I started looking for the X-Runner wheels and it doesn't look like they're made any more, and the places I called that sell refurbished ones are all out of stock. Any great suggestions of where to buy? Or anyone have a set of 4 sitting in their garage they took off when new and looking to get rid of?

 

I’m assuming this is a 5 lug truck.
If this is the case, you probably have better luck looking in the 5lug section as most viewers here have 4x4 trucks.

Even so, if I gather correctly, your goal is to have a wider tire in hopes of improving handling and ride quality? Usually these characteristics are opposites.
You can put a wider tire than the factory tire on your 15” wheel. Speaking purely of width, the 18” wheel is better but at much higher costs. Also, the same diameter tire on a bigger wheel will have a much smaller sidewall and ride rougher.
I don’t know. Personally, I wouldn’t ever change that around on a 2wd truck. I would just buy better tires.

 

Thanks! I didn't even know there is a 5 lug section. I'll look in there

 

Yep, check out the 5 lug crew.

I will say that you can run 235x75x15 on your OE 6" wheel, no rubbing, cutting or lifting required.

That's the ragged edge for both clearance and that width wheel to mount safely.

Or, you could just buy these wheels. Comes with a truck though........

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/2013-x-runner-supercharged.549074/#post-17841095

 

I'm not looking to changing the rolling diameter of my truck, don't want to lift it or anything, primarily handle better driving through local canyons

Searching the 5 lug section for "18x8" doesn't bring up a lot of results

 

Understood.

You might research the wheel specs for those wheels, or see if the seller in the ad I linked would have them handy.

IMHO that's about the only way you'll get the right fitment for your goals, whether its finding a set of OE wheels or aftermarket with the same specifications. Backspace/offset are the critical numbers.

You could also post in the WTB section for the wheels. Someone may have a set they replaced with aftermarket something or anothers.

 

Before my Tacoma, had a 93 Mazda 2600 extended cab. Went from 195/75-14 to a 215/75 Michelin. Was ok in dry conditions but worse in wet. When the Michelins wore out, bought a set of 15 inch wheels, and Michelin hydro-edge tires in 205/70-15. Solved the wet condition problem.
I'm with Clearwater Bill on this - the 235 tire is the biggest I would consider.
I also disagree with your original post - overall diameter may not change going to 18's, but I think you'll have a noticeable loss of power with a 255/45-18 tire due to large increase in tread width.

 

I previously had a totally stripped out 1988 Toyota pickup, 22R engine, 4 speed manual. It came with 14" steel rims, non-metric size bias ply tires. Needless to say, handling was less than stellar. Eventually I put on wider 15" rims and wider tires with the same rolling diameter. Wet and dry handling was greatly improved. More rubber contact surface on the ground = better grip and much better stopping. And for as underpowered as the 22R was, I didn't notice any loss of power or fuel economy. Overall, I was much happier with the driving experience. And with matched front and rear tire width, there was no difference in understeer / oversteer

Going from 215/70-15 to 255/45-18 tires is a difference of 0.7% in circumference, so really negligible, and only 1.57" increased width. The 235x75x15 tires are 7.6% bigger in diameter, which means I will very much notice the loss in power due to the taller tire, and the ride height will increase by about an inch, both which I want to avoid

 

I'm thinking going from bias ply to radials was the improvement you felt. Not the width increase.

In the track scene it's known that going wider will shrink the contact patch front to back. So essentially the same amount of rubber on the road, just different shape. Better for cornering (more friction side to side) but worse for acceleration and braking. The only way to increase your contact patch (all other factors remaining constant) is to increase circumference. Wider will increase cornering at a loss of braking and acceleration.

The ratio of loss vs gain is obviously dependant on the sizes.

 

The stock skinny tires Toyota puts on the 4 cylinder Tacomas is nothing to brag about. If there were better tires available than the Dunlops that came with the truck that would probably help a bit, but there aren't a lot of good options in the stock 15" size

I'm confused about your next comment. I don't understand how a wider tire with the same circumference / diameter would not increase the contact patch. It's basically a constant cylindrical cross section, with either a wider or narrower cross section. For a bicycle tire and a wide sports car tire of the same circumference, the wider tire will obviously have more surface contact, and since the diameters are the same, there won't be any difference in effective gear ratios, so acceleration should not change (assuming no wheel spin). For braking, with more rubber gripping the road, I would expect the wider tire to stop better, all other things being identical. The biggest downside (besides cost for more rubber) is the wider tire will be more susceptible to hydroplaning

Increasing circumference will: 1) raise my truck slightly, which I don't want (i.e., distance from ground to wheel center increases), raising the rest of the truck; and 2) makes truck slower, which is the last thing I want for a 4 cylinder Tacoma

Do tires work different on trucks than sports cars, or am I missing something?

 

Yes, you missed the last part where I said the ratios are dependant on sizes. Obviously a bicycle tire and a sports car tire will have drastically different contact patches. You chose two data points from opposite ends of the table. You are looking to go from 215 to 255, not 175 to like 1295.

I'll leave this link here, where they tested a reasonably close set of tires for what you want to do.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/simana...ider-tire-bigger-footprint/amp/?source=images

I only posted about it because you said there was a significant increase in handling, but also mentioned going from bias ply to radials.

I guess I'll leave you to it then.

 

A while after my last post I picked up some 18" X-Runner wheels, and put on 255/45-18 Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3 Plus tires. It's been like driving a totally different truck. Handling is significantly better, braking distance is most definitely reduced, despite other statements here, ride quality is totally changed and it feels like my truck is much heavier, in that it feels more solidly planted instead of squirrely. Without a doubt the best update I've done to my truck.

I asked a couple of racking buddies about the wider vs. narrower comments earlier in this thread. They all said it doesn't work that way.