Excellent video. I have a 17 Tacoma. I was going to level it with Bilstein 5100’s and put 31 x 10.5 on it but I like this idea much better. You info is clear and concise. Thank you.
I had the stock 16 inch steel rims on my Tacoma with 245/75/16 Firestone LE2’s which worked great for me but I was able to get some brand new “take offs” of a 2023 4 runner and got the 17” alloy wheels with 265/70/17 Bridgestone’s and my truck looks like I put a lift on it. So much more ground clearance and no rub whatsoever. Highly recommend for 2nd gen owners and I got them for $500 and discount put them on and gave me the correct lug nuts for them for $150. So new wheels, tires, and lugs balanced and mounted for $650 out the door!
@@josecalderon233 I found mine on Facebook market place just fyi. Depending on where you live is how much they’ll be. Phoenix is super cheap because so many people buy a Tacoma and immediately change the tires and wheels. I needed new tires and wanted new wheels too so it worked out great and looks way better!
Your tire choice is right on. Been running them for over 3 years now. My next set when these wear out will be the same. Two things to be aware of, they will flat spot overnight in cooler temps, & they can get noisy as they wear. Rotate them with every oil change & will last longer. The flat spotting goes away within a couple hundred yards. P.S. check your pressures monthly with an accurate gauge. I've been around a while & every set of aluminum wheels I've had eventually leach air out. My current factory set leaches quite a bit. My new ones should be here soon, been waiting over 4 months already.
The rear leaf springs in the 3rd generation Tacoma tend to get fatigued over time, so I’m installing an ADD A LEAF when I’m having my TRD lifted 1-1.5” as well as a leveler.
Just want to add, pizza cutters also give you more pressure per square inch leading to better handling and grip in almost every situation especially snow conditions. Also, they give a bigger longer footprint allowing more rubber to be working for you. Just research narrow tires vs wide tires.
Best tire and size to run on these trucks. No complaints with my coopers with all the terrains ive used them on so far. these trucks perform perfect with these. Screw anyone who judges the whole pizza cutter. Function over looks. You will love them man. 10x better than Ko2
Did some off roading past weekend in a stock 2021 Tacoma TRD 4X4 OFFROAD at WMAT in Mattawa, did the "black " trail...no problem for the BFG KO2 265/75/16. Even in the mud they worked beautifully.
I love the skinny’s, when you look back at old Jeep documentaries from the 40’s they always ran narrow tall tires and would rip through anything…. Just like the old family international tractor. Ballon tires are a long running fad IMO
Thank for the awesome video. I found it extremely helpful. I’m also in the PNW, just wondering if you know if snow chains will work with this size tire?
Good question and just browsing through the first few top rated results on Amazon for "snow chains" looks like most of the top rated offerings stop at 255/75/17 so it's not looking like it. Though I used to carry chains with my previous, smaller tires and never had to use them even driving through Snoqualmie Pass or any of the Idaho or Montana passes when I drove through last winter. That said - if you're off-road an in the snow they could come in handy. I bought a pair of Go Treads which have 4 sections that fold out instead of MaxxTrax or other similar traction boards for off-road snow travel. Haven't needed chains - even though we're apparently required to carry them in WA state.
@UNPAVD great content man! I have a TRD off road Taco and I'm working through getting a lift and getting tires. Your videos have been huge help! Question - you've had this lift and tires for a while now. Did you ever get any rubbing? Had to get a CMC done?
I just upgraded to 33.1” falken wildpeak m/t’s. 255/85 r16 on stock wheels and I love it. Zero issues with rubbing on stock suspension and I got pretty off camber on some forest service trails recently. My truck is getting your exact lift as I type, but they run just fine on stock Toyota suspension
How are these in the winter? Debating pizza cutters vs stock rims and spacers with 285/75/r16. 2021 Tacoma trd off-road cheap rough country 3” lift with sumo springs in the back.
Cooper makes a great tire. I had Cooper Discoverer A/T tires on my last Ford Ranger XLT super cab 4WD. The truck was mainly used for work around our property. We too live in the PNW, but we’re in north central Washington state instead of the Leftist side.
Wonderful video and info. I got the impression from the way the tech wash showing you the spare bay issue was a nice guy. Yes, Tacoma world is a source of info, however I find the members to be typical 'bro's” that if they don't know the answer they post snarky BS. On that subject, I find the hole off-road community to be unfriendly and hard to deal with. Clearly not my tribe.
From Seattle too and heading down a very similar path to your build so was happy to see the shoutout for the local shop as static balancing is something that shouldn't be reserved for heavy tires. I used to work for a major auto manufacturer and our in house garage did that as a matter of course.
I liked all the details but I was more hoping for a review on the off-road performance of them being narrower. It just so happens that my Land Rover Discovery 2 has the 285 75/16s and a lot of these guys say they are too wide but in the Land Rover world I think they base that on because it rubs without trimming so they base everything on that and then go super skinny and look at the old Willy's Jeep or the series Rovers and say to go skinny because those were ultra skinny but those trucks were a lot lighter. I'm considering the 255 85 16 next. So basically I'm interested in how well they grip at 10 in wide instead of 11.2 in wide or whatever between the two. I've noticed when people discuss the width of tires there's never a good starting point it's always based on what rubs on that vehicle is wide and I don't care about none of that I'm wondering is there a place to find like a formula that talks about the weight of the vehicle and how wide you should have for optimal traction on X Y or Z surface if that makes sense? It's like the Jeep guys who have a rig that weighs the same as mine consider my narrow just because theirs can merely fit something wider from Factory. And I know that catching traction has nothing to do with what you can fit without rubbing and then going from there for your wider narrow consideration but has to do with the weight and the surface contact. On the one hand Jeep guys tell me minor skinny Land Rover guys tell me mine are wide and they're both only basing that on because of how well skinny or wide fit on the factory build without rubbing LOL I wish somebody would make a video of mine or anything going from a mediocre with to like an inch or more narrower on the exact same land like the exact same day or something and determine traction loss or gain
Look at All dogs offroad for rear lift options dude. the weight you have going on for ur future would handle it great. They wont sag out and will hold up the weight too. My coopers are running around 30-35PSI cold.
great video, new subscriber here and am originally from the Seattle area. I live in West Virginia now and am getting into overlanding myself, for the time being I am just retrofitting my Sequoia to be my camper of sorts. making a drawer system/bed platform. Headed out for our first trip at the end of the month. I just got new mud terrains for my rig. wanted to put 33's on it but not too many tires available right now in the size that I needed. I wanted to go with the 305/65-17's for mine. Not too many companies offering that size. but would have settled for the 255/80-17s as well. again strike two. had to go with the size that was already on my vehicle. 265/70-17's which is ok. didn't have to do any cutting or anything. So when I get to where I need to replace these. I will be looking and probably buying well ahead of time. Thanks for your very informative video. Looking forward to seeing more of your content.
Thanks for the sub! Funny, my parents have a 2006 Sequoia from when I was in high school (still running strong at 270K miles) and I originally asked them to sell it to me for my off-road rig. No dice haha. They love it too much. Good luck finding tires. I saw something on RU-vid about a rubber shortage, so not sure if that’s a contributing factor or not. If you get to the point where you’re looking to upgrade suspension on the Sequoia, I’d be interested to hear what you choose. I don’t see a lot of suspension upgrade options for 1st gen Sequoias but read on a forum that you can look at Tundra suspension upgrades since Tundra and Sequoia share the same frame - I haven’t verified that fyi. Good luck on your mods!
It looks like you have a Sr5. I have a 21’ Sr double cab. Do you have a lift to fit these tires ? Have you experienced any rubbing on the upper control arm ? Thanks
I slapped yokohama geolandars on in 265/75r16 and have no rubbing on a 21 sr short bed all stock suspension. No rubbing even with 800lbs in the bed off road. Ittl be good if you dont have positive offset aftermarket rims.
I wandered in late to the video. Great video. Folks take a look at what tires (tyres) Dakar Rally vehicles use vs mall crawlers. Take a look at what long term round the world overland travellers use on their (mostly stock) vehicles...
cool video. Just got a similar setup for my 23' Nissan Frontier pro4x. but it has 17" rims...so went with falken wild peak at3w in 255/80r17. basically 33" x 10" tires
The stock suspension? I think I had the pizza cutters on with stock suspension for about 1-2months before swapping out for the Bilstein 5160s, but during that time i didn’t have any issues running stock suspension both in town and off-road
Did you notice any rubbing before lift? I’ve heard that there is and also that you can run there in this size with no rubbing. (Mixed information). I’m planning on keeping my truck stock height for a while and am torn between 265/75 and 255/85
I didn't feel/hear any rubbing for the month or so that I had my 255s on stock suspension. Even if there was rubbing that I wasn't aware of it must have been minuscule. I was considering 265s because there's a LOT more variety of tires to choose from, but the 33s had more appeal for me mainly because I knew that I was eventually going to upgrade the suspension. But if you have no intention of upgrading suspension, 265s should be good. Having rolled with these tires for about 5K miles now, there's no way I'd go back to anything smaller than a 33 (I'm biased). Hope that helps!
I've looked into 33s as well. The ones I'm considering are the Toyo Open Country MT. I have a 01 4 runner with stock 16 inch rims but I did do a 2 inch lift. Hope that's enough to clear the newer tires
Setup is still going strong! Haven't had any issues to date. Just rotate my tires every 5k miles during oil changes and make sure my struts aren't too sandy
Will those fit fine on a gen2? I want to put them on mine. When your suspension is fully compressed at speed off-roading do the tires rub on the fenders?
Hrmmm I'm not sure about 2nd gens. You might have better luck asking TacomaWorld. The folks on there will be able to answer - there might even be a that about 2nd gens and skinnies already! I didn't rub at all with stock suspension, was a pleasant surprise 🙌
Have you noticed any issues with gears ? I am thinking about going this route on my 2021 trd or, everything points to this being a good option however I worry about possible re gearing which is expensive. My other option is trying 275/70/r17 which are about 32 inches. Thanks for good information and research
Any update on your set up? I’ve got a 2020 TRD sport with stock rims. Planning on going with pizza cutters once my Toto’s are toast. How is the noise and any wandering or pulling issues with the ST Maxx? I’ve had Cooper tires on other vehicles and liked them.
Thank you so much for this video. I've been looking into 33inch pizza cutters recently after being pretty set on the traditional 33's. For the life of me could not find a good video showcasing these tires at a proper angle. It looks absolutely dope cant wait to get my hankooks in that size for my 4 door
I'm curious to see if there's any rubbing while turning with the front suspension fully compressed on one side. If it will go lock to lock from ride height to bump stop with no serious contact, that's awesome.
Haven’t felt or heard anything yet turning onto uphill slopes, but then again, I’m not running with a lot of weight. I’m adding an 1.5” lift in the front and rear within the next few weeks to get a smoother ride and to give a little mercy room to prevent what you mentioned. I’ve gone about 450 miles now on them both on an off road combined and still no rubbing.
@@unpavd That's great! I'm undecided on what tires and in what size to put on my '20 TRD OR. I thought I'd settled on 265/75/16, but I'm going to have to give the 255/85/16 some serious consideration. I probably won't be looking at a lift until it's paid off and the warranty is expired, but I plan on keeping it long term, so maybe 265/75 for now and 255/85 with a small lift the next time around.
@@tonyz2897 The 265s are a good looking tire and I see them quite a bit! If you've read the Trail Tacoma article on Tire Size, the 265 *appears* to be the way to go, but you can definitely hop n the 255 train without rubbing - disclaimer that's without taking added weight like bed caps, racks, bumpers etc ... into consideration. Since I know i'm adding a tent and rack which add up to about 220 lbs combined, i'm also installing a 1.5 inch add-a-leaf kit in addition to the upgraded front and rear suspension, also at 1.5 in the front to maintain some rake angle. Good luck on the tire hunt! i found the selection for 16 inch wheels to be lacking - the Coopers were the only all terrain tire i could find from Tire Discount and Tire Rack. I wrote to BFG to ask if they'd make the Ko2 in 255/85/16 - no reply haha. The suspension lift is my next mod and following that, I'm going to regear the truck. Each of my new 255s is 58lbs which adds 10lbs rotational weight. I def feel my trucj struggling to go uphill. At 65-70mph my gears will stay in 3K rpm huffin and puffin. Outside magazine just published an article on why regearing is such a game changer. I'll be making a video of how i justify the cost over time (about $3K) considering the lost of average mpg i'm seeing and avg. gas prices over the past 10 years.
@@unpavd Thanks for the suggestion about the Trail Tacoma article. I've got it open in another tab, ready to give it a read as soon as I'm done typing this. You make a good point about gearing. That's a real concern in this hilly terrain and probably another good reason for me not to get too far away from the stock tire size until I'm ready to regear. It sounds like you've got a solid plan for yours and I'm looking forward to seeing how it turns out.
Been watching your videos, well edited, describe and lots of great information! Great work! You made my decision for me. I'll be going with 255 instead of 285. Though do you rub? Even on flexing suspension, or full turns? Thanks! Btw are you now lifted 2" or 3?
Nice! Glad you found the info helpful. Keep an eye out for tire load ratings while you're shopping for 255s. Most of the ones I found (and the pair that I installed) were E rated so they're in the upper 50lbs range. I believe the Toyo Geolanders are a C rated tire (48lbs i think) - my big wish is that there were more C rated/lighter tires in the 255 range.
@@GhettoFabulous670 Not rubbing at full turn. Went wheeling this weekend and had no issues. I will say that the tread of the tires (Cooper ST Maxx in my case) sometimes sounds like what I’d expect a rubbing sound to sound like... but no rubbing. I’m now lifted 1.5” in the front and rear (see my Bilstein lift vids), didn’t have a prob with 255 clearance with stock suspension, though that was mostly mall crawling, truck feels like there’s more room for the tires to breathe with my lift. I was originally thinking of going 3 inches, but got talked back from that ledge by folks on TacomaWorld. Turns out 1.5-2” is apparently the sweet spot unless you wanna go 3 and buy a bunch more gear to drop your diffs since a 3” lift gives the axles a more extreme angle and contributes to faster wear
@@unpavd fair enough. Tho ik a bunch of my boys wheel their 3rd gen taco hard. And they're only on 3" strut spacer and AAL in the rear. A lil harsher ride. But no issues. 4x4 still works, and the cv angles are still cherry. You're risking your front diff and axle more with a diff drop. So hense they didn't do it. After all. The boot holds grease, and not oil.
Thank you! When I bought them last year they were around $800-$900 total for 5 ... Haven't looked a prices recently but I picked them up right before the rubber shortage last year
no noticeable difference to me between the Ko2s and Coopers on both highway and city driving. however, the Coopers def feel more knobby when I'm cornering (not in a bad way, just something I noticed)
@@unpavd excellent! I’m running 255/85/16 BFG KM2 mud terrains now, and it’s a shame more ATs aren’t made in this size. The MT are just too crazy aggressive for my needs, so looking at STMaxx next to tame it down some
@@hunterjohnson4954 exactly. I wrote to BFG to tell them they’re missing out on the wave of potential customers who bought Tacomas in 2020 with 16” wheels. The KM2 and KM3 is too much for me. I watched a review on the rubber composition of the KM3s and the safari guy was like - don’t buy unless you do at least 50% off-road driving. City boy over here haha. Looks like there’s more variety in the 255/80/17 (Falken Wildpeaks look nice) but I want to stay at 16” wheels so i have more rubber to work with when airing down.
@@unpavd great minds think alike- I also wrote to them and linked about 65 forum threads expressing the same desire for 255/85/16 AT tires, especially in load range C or D. That was about a year ago :)
Thank you! I just ordered the Bilstein 6112s (front) and 6150s (rear) since I’m mostly doing rock climbing trails in the Cascades. I was also considering the Fox 2.5s and OME BP-51s, but those seemed like overkill considering the terrain I usually travel on. If I were doing more desert runs with crazy washboard + moderate rocks, then I’d consider Fox, King or the OMEs. At this point, I don’t think I’d generate enough heat in the coil overs to warrant the investment in those top of the line models (though I’d love to check them out in the future!) The Bilsteins seem to have the most performance bang for the buck especially at 2.5 inches in shock width - so similar capacity as the Fox 2.5s without the adjustability. Def check out Courtesy Tire! They’re super nice and did a great job balancing these tires. I’ll prob post a vid in the next few weeks about how I researched and chose the lift that I did.
@@unpavd I probably will just follow ur suspension setup!! I think for my 2021 TRD Off-road, it has billstein 5100 or something, do you think if I do pizza cutter build, will it rub with stock suspension?
@@iamalemontree i just checked Edmonds and you and I should have the same height spec (albeit different suspension - yours is better than mine) so I think you’d be fine to go with a pizza cutter setup! The reason why I’m upgrading my suspension within the next few weeks is because I’ll be adding static weight (bed rack + ikamper) in the bed so once that weighs me down plus the gear I usually take over landing, plus full tank of gas, plus another person and/or dog the weight starts to add up, especially when you’re climbing and descending. Plus I’ve already had some height clearance probs (see my vid on skid plates) where I’ve torn out my driver side bumper cover. Fun fact - Tacoma 3rd gens are heavier on the driver side - if you follow Chloe Kuo on RU-vid she ran into a front shock height snag on the driver side when she was installing her Fox 2.5s. I ordered my Bilsteins from Shock Surplus (also good presence on RU-vid). In addition to the shocks I’m getting an Icon 1.5in add-a-leaf kit. Was around $1550 from that setup. Just be sure you also get (or research) new upper control arms. I bought some Old Man Emus for around $560. Plenty of Tacoma World threads on why UCAs are important to include when upgrading your suspension.
@@unpavd thanks so much!! 😀, do you have a shop in mind yet to install your suspension kit once it arrive? I think I will eventually need to upgrade my suspension as well since right now I have the snug top canopy on and I am worried that without the lift the pizza cutter build might rub
@@iamalemontree I'm prob looking at Tru Line Frame and Wheel in Seattle because their main focus is suspension and they've got great Google reviews - including for lift kit install and alignment (crucial)
over 2inches of lift becomes expensive, you will need to look at UCA for proper alignment and better ride quality. Theres only so much stock parts can handle.
@@CanadianOffroad4x4 I went for a 1.5" lift installed Bilstein 6112s and 5160s with new old man emu UCAs yesterday and cornering road bumps feel way better. Heading offroad tomorrow to compare 🙌🔥
Unpopular opinion: Unless you need the additional spring rate that most conventional suspension lifts come with, I would avoid a suspension lift. Yes, it's the knee-jerk reaction to every clearance issue and everyone on the forums will say you need it. However, there are negative effects to lifting a suspension on an IFS vehicle, and you will not gain additional tire clearance. I'll say it again: you will not gain additional tire clearance. The front suspension on an IFS vehicle rotates in a limited arc around a fixed center. A suspension lift only moves the static position of the tire along that arc. Any gain in up-travel comes at the expense of down-travel and the limits of the arc have not changed. If you hit the body at full compression before the lift, you will hit at full compression after the lift, and if you don't it's because the higher spring rate has limited your articulation not because you gained tire clearance. I would look into a body lift instead. A body lift moves the limits of the suspension arc. By moving the body away from the fixed center, your suspension can now move along a longer arc, regardless of what the static height of the suspension is. Add to that the fact that a) it's cheaper, b) it doesn't reduce down-travel, which is critical both on and off-road and c) it results in a lower overall COG than a suspension lift and a body lift starts to make more sense. I've been down this road many times (and spent LOTS of money figuring it out) with my built 100 series. You already went against the grain with the pizza cutters. Keep going down the rabbit hole.
3gts only offer 1 inch body lifts and they are gross. He is lifting the front end up 1.5 to level it up cuz these trucks are nose diving. In a sense youre leveling the truck out. The biggest thing he needs for the rear setup is proper leaf springs or air bags, but if ur an offroader air bags maybe not ideal. Theres no tire clearance needed for these. Let alone upgrading the suspension isnt about just lifting in general. Its about ride quality and 6112 bilsteins will give him the best of both worlds on the front and 5160s for the rear
I think you hit the nail on the head there fella! Ride quality with the Bilstein 6112s and the 5160s + 1.5 add a leaf has improved greatly. In fact, I did a little test by just leveling the truck first (skipped the add a leafs) and you'll notice in my latest vid (ikamper criticism) that my rear is sagging wayyy down. Think I only had an inch of clearance on that trip! Installing the add-a-leaf pack was a much needed mod 🤘🔥
@@yukilwon I was planning on re-gearing in June but those plans fell through. At some point - yes - I'll likely re-gear within the next 12 months. Lucky - with 17" wheels you get more variety of skinny tires to choose from
To help avoid pin bearing noise you can do a differential drop when you do your lift . A 1 inch drop should be more than adequate for a 1.5 inch lift . Sway bar relocation should not be necessary but I would do a center carrier drop to help align your driveline and avoid vibration.