Tire question
 

Hey guys...

I'm planning on getting new tires here soon and had some questions regarding what size I can fit on the wheels I have. The tires that are on there now are what came with the vehicle when I bought it and I HATE them. Here's a pic of the front driver's side:

http://home.earthlink.net/~rpeamp/im...rontdriver.jpg

The tires on there now are 225's. As you can see, I have plenty of room under there for a bigger size tire and I definately want a bigger tire. What are my choices with the wheels that I have now. I don't see many 2nd gens with those wheels these days.

BTW- Sorry about the large image. :)

What brand were you looking at? Did you see the new Bridgestone's I got?

I was hoping for some BFG AT/KOs or some Bridgestone Dueler's. What size do you think would be optimal on this wheel?

I had the stock RT/S and just replaced them with these:

http://www.toyotaoffroad.net/jnburtm...estone_hl3.jpg

The RT/S was a nice looking pretty quiet tire, but was horrible in the rain. THey would break loose all the time and hydroplain bigtime. I didn't know how bad there were until I replaced them with the above Bridgetone "HL" tire. They are one of the only few SUV tires that offer a 60k treadwear warranty right now, and are rated the best for rain traction, etc. They also has the "Uni T" in them. It lets different rubber compounds expose as the tire wears down and won't loose grip as it gets older. Tire-rack has them for $106 each right now - They normally sell for $140 a piece in the stores!

I go into much more detail on these tires here with more PICS:

https://www.yotatech.com/forums/show...ht=Bridgestone

These tires will last twice as long as the stock tires, won't slip in the rain, and will cost you about the same $.

If you can, I would go with 265/70's. You do have a lot of room there, and I think it would look MUCH BETTER with more meat under those wheel wells! :)

I also had 225's on mine and I went up to 255/70-R15 so the speedo would not be off so much. I have Bridgestone Duelers AT's and I really like them. I was told that 2nd Gens. can go up to 32's without a lift but that would really throw your speedo off. Hope this helps.:D :D

It will throw your speedo off the same percentage your tire size increases. So if you go from a 31 to a 32 your speedo will show 3% slower than actual.

Increasing your tire size will also reduce your perceived power, especially on 2nd gens. I noticed my power loss right away when I went up long hills. It really depends on you stock gearing, though. My 4.88s aren't that bad, while any ratio smaller than that will be even worse. Corey experiances this because his gears are so small and the tires are pretty big. I believe he said he travels on the highway at about 2000 rpms, while I'm up near 3000. When accelerating I'm close to redline.

So that's another thing you worry about when going to taller tires. The benefit is that your odometer won't show as many miles!

Steve

Hmmm...I wasn't going to go too high, maybe just some 265/70s or 75s. That shouldn't affect power, speedometer or odometer much huh?

31's will look good on your rig, but as Steve stated, you will see a bit of a power hit.
I don't mind a little power loss for better looks and ground clearance.

The 3.0 is not that much of a power horse anyway.
Here are some 235 or 245's on my rig the forst winter I had it.
http://www.pnw4runners.net/tando/pics0b.jpg

Awfully funny looking aren't they? And that is not even with the T bars cranked up yet or Downey coils in the rear.
Can you imagine how it would look with those same tires now?

By the way, that pic was taken winter of '98/'99.
I put them on the Runner shortly after I got in Nov. of '98.
Those wheels are from my '90 truck, and the studded snow tires there were on their 9th season :eek:

31's are going to fit your wheel wells perfectly, as that was the optional size tire for some SR5 models.
They will also fit the stock wheel you have.
I do know where there is a set of polished SR5 wheels though that will blow you away if you see them.
Contact Paul S on the forum here. I think he had a set for sale.

I ran 31s on those same rims on my '92 extracab with no problems. I still have a few pics around somewhere if you are interested in seeing how it may look. The 'Runner is a little heavier than a truck, but I don't think you will have an issue with power. You won't break any land speed records, but you should be fine.

Hermes,

That would be great. I would love to see how they look on that wheel. You can either post them here or send them to pedwards@pipelink.net.

Thanks!