Wheel/rim dilemma.

Caoboy

Adventurer
Need some help on deciding which wheels to keep, and which wheels to sell.

Originally on the rig were some 15x10.5 with some 32x11.5x15 Sport King AT.

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Currently I'm running some '08 Tacoma Sport wheels (17x7 or 7.5 with 265/65/17 Bridgestone Dueller HT's them)

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I purchased these because I was originally told by the wheel shop that the 15's were too big/wide of a tire and tore up the bushings up front. There was a rubbing issue, which I have since discovered was just an inner fender well flap. I believe the steel wheels are 15x10? Something along that line.

They were too big/heavy it seems, as the 17's I put on made the vehicle much more responsive, as it went from a 32" to about a 30.5" tire, not to mention it's narrower.

My dilemma would be that while I am OK with the 17's...there are pros and cons for sure.

15's-
Pros: I can get more tire for the same money. Better selection of tires. More sidewall in a given height.
Cons: Don't know how narrow I can go with these wheels. Current tires are junk, very noisy, haven't measured the tread but I'd rather just replace the tires anyways. I don't like them. Definitely seems a cheap all terrain.

17's-

Pros: Narrower, more road friendly, Lug centric (better balancing?)

Cons: Tires are more expensive being 17's. Less selection. Less sidewall.



Now I like the look of both wheels, so cosmetics aren't really an issue (really, they shouldn't be lol) But which seems a better wheel? For this rig, being an auto, anything 32"+ is bad, or so it seems to me.

What range of tires can I run on a 15x10" wheel? How can I make sure it's a 10" wheel? I was thinking of running a strip of tape on each side of the rim and measuring the width that way.

Which would you keep?

I primarily run along groomed/partially groomed fire roads. No rock crawling, just backwoods camping type stuff.


The tires I was looking at for the 17's were either Yokohama Geolander AT/S or General Grabber AT2. I would like to be able to compare tires of that style in a 15x10 size but don't know what I should be looking for.


Either way, one of these sets of wheels will be getting sold.
 
Last edited:

keezer37

Explorer
For all the faults of the 17" Tacoma Sport wheels, anything is better than those aftermarket wheels. I think my buddy had those on his '76 Dodge van back in the early 80s.

I've a set of the 17"s sitting in the basement. Look at the inner side of your tires with the 17"s on. How much space do you have between the tires and suspension? I mention this because the 17"s have abysmal backspacing: 5.25".
If the center hole of the 17"s are the same size as the hubs of your truck, they are referred to as hubcentric. Lugcentric is typical of aftermarket wheels where the center hole is drilled out large to be compatible with a greater variety of vehicles. A wheel that relys on the lugs to do the centering can sometimes have balancing issues.
Turn your steering wheel to full lock and check your clearance also. So you know what you are dealing with.

Besides, chrome sucks.
 

JeffRRC

Adventurer
IMO the 10" wide wheels are ugly and way too wide. If you don't like the 17" wheels just buy a 7-8" wide 15 or 16" steel wheel and choose the tire of your choice. Personally I would go with a 16" for the wider range of available tires. Just my $.02.
 

NorthernWoodsman

Adventurer/tinkerer
^ agreed.

Sell them both. You can score wheels on craigslist very easily. 16" definitely has a wider range of tires to choose from, but 15" Toyota wheels are cheap as heck on craigslist. I scored five SR5 wheels, 15x7, for $50. I had them blasted and powdercoated and threw on some 33x10.50x15 BFG AT's and have a full-size spare.
 

BIGGUY

Adventurer
That looks to be a '90-'95 4Runner? The stock size wheel/tire for that was 7-8 inch wide 15" wheel with around a 225x75x15 tire which was close to 28" tall and 9" wide. If it came with the factory upgrade, it would have a 8-9 inch wide wheel with the 31x10.5x15 tire on it. I think all of the ones with the upgrade package came with a swing away tire carrier and the regular package put the spare underneath.

If yours originally came with the regular tires, the 15" set is way bigger and would rob quite a bit of power and with also being wider and more aggressive, would handle a bit more sluggish too. The 17" combo you have is a lot closer to the smaller stock size and is also more of a street tread so it would handle a lot different and you would notice the power increase too.

I had a '90 4Runner that I bought used. It came from the factory with the smaller tires, but the previous owner had added some 31s to it. It was low on power and got bad mileage too. I had a '90 pickup that came with the factory upgraded tires and gearing for them and there was a big difference in power and mileage. The 4Runner was an auto and the pickup was a 5 speed and both had the v6, but it still shouldn't have been so different. My sister had a '90 4Runner with the 4 cylinder, 5 speed, and smaller tires and could leave me sitting on flat ground. I only gained the advantage on hills. In my pickup, it was no contest with her as I could just run away.
 

Box Rocket

Well-known member
Those Chrome wheels are not 10" wide if I were to bet. Pretty sure they are 15x8. You can run a number of tires comfotably on that size wheel. Tires for the 15" wheel are going to be much cheaper. The steel wheels are more serviceable. Alloy wheels crack, steel wheels bend and can be hammered back into shape if necessary.

For the fire roads that you run typically I would choose the 15x8" wheel. Lots of those roads are very rough and washboarded. Airing down a taller tire on a 15" wheel will smooth out those roads much better than with a 16-17" wheel.

My vote is for the 15" wheel hands down.
 

NorthernWoodsman

Adventurer/tinkerer
That looks to be a '90-'95 4Runner? The stock size wheel/tire for that was 7-8 inch wide 15" wheel with around a 225x75x15 tire which was close to 28" tall and 9" wide. If it came with the factory upgrade, it would have a 8-9 inch wide wheel with the 31x10.5x15 tire on it.

If yours originally came with the regular tires, the 15" set is way bigger and would rob quite a bit of power and with also being wider and more aggressive, would handle a bit more sluggish too.

I have the SR5 wheels from this era of trucks. They are aluminum 15x7 and would've come factory with 31x10.50x15. The sticker on the driver side door frame should tell you what tire your truck came with originally. As for running bigger tires...I am running larger tires, but am currently stuck with my factory 4.10 gears. It definitely robs some power, but not nearly as much as everyone claims. That being said, I still want and plan to upgrade to 4.88's as soon as I can afford to. As for handling, I find it to be quite the opposite. After installing my 33's the truck felt like it was on rails going through corners. I love the handling of the larger, and better tires. Can't wait to get my new tie rod ends, idler arm, pitman arm, and sway bar bushings installed. Should handle great then.
 

Caoboy

Adventurer
On my door sticker it says 225/75/15...so that's the 4.10 gears then right? That just makes things worse...lol.

Another advantage I see to the 17's is that I can upgrade brakes if needed, which I can't do on the 15's. I know 16's would allow that too.
 

NorthernWoodsman

Adventurer/tinkerer
Yep, pretty positive you have 4.10 gears. Any larger tires than the stock size is going to be noticeable in your performance and fuel mileage.

As far as upgrading brakes, not sure what you want to upgrade to. I upgraded my brakes to T100 SR5 V6 brakes. Not a massive upgrade, but noticeably larger rotors, pads and calipers and so far much better braking. I didn't find that upgrading to Tundra brakes was an option on this era of trucks/4Runners even with 16" wheels. I could be wrong though. Plus, like Box Rocket said, tires will be cheaper for the 15" wheels.

Also, running my 33x10.50x15 tires (my truck came with the 225/75/15's & 4.10 gears as well) causes my speedo to be off by approximately 8mph. Hopefully that, among other things, will be corrected once the 4.88's get installed.

On my door sticker it says 225/75/15...so that's the 4.10 gears then right? That just makes things worse...lol.

Another advantage I see to the 17's is that I can upgrade brakes if needed, which I can't do on the 15's. I know 16's would allow that too.
 

BIGGUY

Adventurer
I have the SR5 wheels from this era of trucks. They are aluminum 15x7 and would've come factory with 31x10.50x15. The sticker on the driver side door frame should tell you what tire your truck came with originally. As for running bigger tires...I am running larger tires, but am currently stuck with my factory 4.10 gears. It definitely robs some power, but not nearly as much as everyone claims. That being said, I still want and plan to upgrade to 4.88's as soon as I can afford to. As for handling, I find it to be quite the opposite. After installing my 33's the truck felt like it was on rails going through corners. I love the handling of the larger, and better tires. Can't wait to get my new tie rod ends, idler arm, pitman arm, and sway bar bushings installed. Should handle great then.

I wasn't positive on the wheels as my 4Runner came with American Racing wheels and my pickup came with the upgraded silver steel wheels. My 4Runner was a dog and the mpg were about 15 all around and 13 in the winter. My pickup would avg 19.5 and get as high as 23. I didn't have a problem with the handling on mine, but someone might feel that the handling had a "lighter" feel with the smaller tire. The 4Runner was a great truck and if I would have kept it, I would have swapped the diffs out and then it would have been a little better.
 

OndrejT100

New member
i thought i heard somewhere that the old school steel wheels are actually pretty weak. They appear that the spokes are just flat. Newer steel wheels have the cut out in the spoke with a slight "flange" or the steel bends into the inside of the wheel instead of just being flat. This makes the newer steel wheels much stronger.

just what I think I heard.

also the steel chrome wheels are probably pretty heavy.

I would look at craigslist for some OEM take-off 15" or 16" wheels.
 

Caoboy

Adventurer
Ok, I've finally completed measurements. Using some Kentucky Windage style math, here's what I think I've come up with.

Stock tires are 225/75/15. (OE equipment, from the door sticker=4.10 gears) which converts to something like 28/9/15

Steel 15's are 32/11.5/15=295/75/15 (trying to convert tire sizes to something I can cross reference) And it's a 15x10 outer rim-outer rim width. Subtracting an inch for (and eyeball measuring it with the tape measure as well) it's a 15x9" wheel, bead rim to bead rim.

The 17" wheels are 265/65/75=30.5/10.5/17 or so.

I'm trying to figure out a good compromise since I'll be on the stock gearing for a while. All I know for sure is that my speedometer is off by about 3MPH.

I was thinking of getting something along the lines of a 30" tire. 225/85/15 is what comes up as a 30/9. A 30/9.5 would be a 245/75/15

I want to put the 15's back on, as tires are a LOT cheaper, and the rig will run a bit easier, not to mention that I'd get more side wall.


After all this, I'm still not sure what will fit (for sure) and I don't want a tire guy trying to up-sale me on something I don't want.

I would really like to be able to (I know it's not really possible) run the stock spare rim with the same size tire as whatever I put on the the aftermarket 15's.

What would fit both the aftermarket 15's and the stock spare

And I found this awesome tire calculator : http://www.dakota-truck.net/TIRECALC/tirecalc.html
 

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