Need wheel/tire/brake size advice

[erse]

Everybody loves a wheel/tire size thread right?

Well I need some down and dirty advice to button up a plan today. Picking up an 85 with a V8 (350tbi) this weekend. It has 15 inch rims with 33x12.50x15 tires. Only two tires are good but they are very good and worth keeping per current owner. I am hoping to upgrade the brakes going forward and was thinking of just jumping now to a 17inch rim to accommodate the Tundra brake set up.
It already has a 4 inch suspension lift and a 3/4 inch body lift. Therefore it should accommodate a bigger tire. I am advised by a knowledgeable man that the 33" tire on a 17" rim will be a rougher experience and perhaps should be avoided for an at least part time DD. Going to a 35 or 37 would seem to me to make the truck even taller and that's not really what I want. I was already thinking the 4inch lift was a little big to be honest.

There is the new terrain tamer rotor/fj80 master cylinder set up that would work with a 15" rim as an alternative to the tundra brakes.

Anyone been down this rabbit hole before that can shed some light/advice?

I have limited time to make a call and trying not to spend money today that I have to then spend more tomorrow for an alternative set up.

Appreciate the community help as always.

 

[wardharris]

Everybody loves a wheel/tire size thread right?

Well I need some down and dirty advice to button up a plan today. Picking up an 85 with a V8 (350tbi) this weekend. It has 15 inch rims with 33x12.50x15 tires. Only two tires are good but they are very good and worth keeping per current owner. I am hoping to upgrade the brakes going forward and was thinking of just jumping now to a 17inch rim to accommodate the Tundra brake set up.
It already has a 4 inch suspension lift and a 3/4 inch body lift. Therefore it should accommodate a bigger tire. I am advised by a knowledgeable man that the 33" tire on a 17" rim will be a rougher experience and perhaps should be avoided for an at least part time DD. Going to a 35 or 37 would seem to me to make the truck even taller and that's not really what I want. I was already thinking the 4inch lift was a little big to be honest.

There is the new terrain tamer rotor/fj80 master cylinder set up that would work with a 15" rim as an alternative to the tundra brakes.

Anyone been down this rabbit hole before that can shed some light/advice?

I have limited time to make a call and trying not to spend money today that I have to then spend more tomorrow for an alternative set up.

Appreciate the community help as always.

I am not a wheel/tire expert, but as a consumer (and brake vendor) have some personal observations:

1. Wheel size for brake clearance. Our Terrain Tamer demo truck (Harrop Eaton ELockers, etc.) will get a set of upsized Terrain Tamer slotted/drilled rotors from the Tundra line. Needed 17" rims to clear, so went with 17x8" Evo Corse wheels from Main Line Overland as below (their shop truck in photo).
2. Wheel size for tire choice. I moved from 15 to 16" wheels on my older Land Cruisers (60 and 70 Series) in order to have access to more tires in more sizes as manufacturers have gone away from 15" - same thinking in action in this build.
3. Handling/ride/air down. I talked to a number of owners and tire vendors for input/opinions on behaviors of tires on larger rims. Feedback is that in most cases, the relatively bigger sidewall / extra "rubber" is not meaningful in a modern tire. E rated tires like BFG have plenty of sidewall strength to air down with sidewall protection, yet provide good handling and ride quality. We went with KOIIs on the 17s.

I went through a similar exercise last year when considering doing a build on an 80 Series and my conclusion was to do 17" steelies off of an FJ Cruiser.

Just one man's opinion.....

 

[FJ60Seth]

I had 17" FJC wheels on my FJ60 with KM2 33x11.5 tires. The driver's side wheel rubbed the TRE. I had to run spacers. The tires looked great and handled extremely well but when I aired down I didn't have as much side wall as I would have liked.

 

[wardharris]

Yes, the BS on newer rims require spacers. Sounds like handling/airdown sidewall experience was a trade-off

 

[erse]

I am not a wheel/tire expert, but as a consumer (and brake vendor) have some personal observations:

1. Wheel size for brake clearance. Our Terrain Tamer demo truck (Harrop Eaton ELockers, etc.) will get a set of upsized Terrain Tamer slotted/drilled rotors from the Tundra line. Needed 17" rims to clear, so went with 17x8" Evo Corse wheels from Main Line Overland as below (their shop truck in photo).
2. Wheel size for tire choice. I moved from 15 to 16" wheels on my older Land Cruisers (60 and 70 Series) in order to have access to more tires in more sizes as manufacturers have gone away from 15" - same thinking in action in this build.
3. Handling/ride/air down. I talked to a number of owners and tire vendors for input/opinions on behaviors of tires on larger rims. Feedback is that in most cases, the relatively bigger sidewall / extra "rubber" is not meaningful in a modern tire. E rated tires like BFG have plenty of sidewall strength to air down with sidewall protection, yet provide good handling and ride quality. We went with KOIIs on the 17s.

I went through a similar exercise last year when considering doing a build on an 80 Series and my conclusion was to do 17" steelies off of an FJ Cruiser.

Just one man's opinion.....



View attachment 1407412

Appreciate the response. I did speak with georg yesterday to discuss some options. We didn't touch on Tundra sized terrain tamers. Food for thought

 

[erse]

I had 17" FJC wheels on my FJ60 with KM2 33x11.5 tires. The driver's side wheel rubbed the TRE. I had to run spacers. The tires looked great and handled extremely well but when I aired down I didn't have as much side wall as I would have liked.

I would definitely like to avoid spacers. Appreciate the input, thanks

 

[wardharris]

Here's a thought.....the 16" sport wheels on JDM Prados (light duty 70 Series) came with correct backspacing (as I recall) for the 60.

Georg might be able to help you "find" a set like the ones below - 16x7" and no spacers!

Great retro look.

 

[erse]

My understanding is tire options for 16" rims might be quicker to disappear than 15" or 17" options

 

[wardharris]

My understanding is tire options for 16" rims might be quicker to disappear than 15" or 17" options

Hmmmm....

 

[Tapage]

Hmmmm....

if you go to the tire store you'll see how is there more options for bigger wheels than smaller ,,

 

[erse]

Decided to stay with the 15" rim for now. Terrain tamer rotors, fj80 master etc going on to hopefully help it feel more secure in braking. Increases the chances that the will drive it from time to time and that increases my chances of keeping for a long time. Appreciate everyone's input. If at a later date I opt to go bigger I will update this thread for those that might find themselves in a similar quandary.

 

[wardharris]

Decided to stay with the 15" rim for now. Terrain tamer rotors, fj80 master etc going on to hopefully help it feel more secure in braking.

We have dozens of rigs in Americas running the Terrain Tamer rotor/pad set-up and reports are consistently positive.

if you go to the tire store you'll see how is there more options for bigger wheels than smaller ,,

That has been my conclusion based upon unscientific research to date....

 

[Mace]

My understanding is tire options for 16" rims might be quicker to disappear than 15" or 17" options

I would agree with 17" being more and more popular than 16" but I'm still seeing a very large number of tires available for 16's. Considerably more than 15's.

that being said, I run all three on my rigs and have not really had any grief getting replacements.

16.5's are going the way of the dodo bird tho..

 

[bhk]

As a point of reference, 16's are standard on all 2017 Tacomas with the exception of the luxury-oriented packages. Even the top of the line TRD Pro has 16's.