Going down to a 245/65R17 Tire Size

josephp732 said:

Thanks for all the constructive criticism. I guess I need to set the back-drop. I used to commute, in NJ, switching between a 2017 Honda Ridgeline and a 2018 Nissan Titan XD so driving in a larger truck is no big deal.

The Ridgeline's lease was up so it was turned in. While commuting in my Titan XD I was rear-ended by a semi in stop and go traffic and the truck was totaled by the insurance company.

Mean-while early this summer I picked-up a 2019 4Runner Limited down in FL for use when my wife and I go down there a few months out of the year - my kids all go to school in Tampa so we visit often. We really like the 4Runner and she does a decent job of towing my boat.

This fall we decided to get another 4Runner Limited as my wife's daily driver in NJ, to replace her 2015 Ford Expedition. Down sizing as the last kid just started college.

So, back to my situation with my Titan XD totaled I needed to get a replacement commuter something.... Off to the Toyota dealership - I was sort of thinking about getting a car - test drove the TRD Camry - interesting vehicle... then the dealerships GM came over and told me they had one 2019 leftover 4Runner and he would give me a good deal on it.

They pulled the black TRD Off Road to the front of the showroom, I did a test drive - (confirmed what I had read about on this forum that the TRD has some nose dive), dealership offered me the TRD at $32k out the door including tax and tags - MSRP was $42k. So I did the deal.

As for the TRD as my commuter truck, I need to get some better highway manners out of the TRD for the type of driving that I am doing.

My goal was to reduce the sidewall flex that the factory tires have, get a little better acceleration and better braking. One of the easiest way's I know to do this is to reduce rotational mass and un-sprung weight. I will probably change out the shocks and struts/springs, as Anand recommends, when the spring rolls around to help with the nose dive.

I am "blacking-out" the TRD anyway so I figured I would go with the 17" black Toyota SEMA TRD wheels (only weighs 25lbs) and a lighter, stiffer and smaller diameter tire to drop un-sprung weight and control rotational mass. I was looking at XL tires like the Vredestein Quatrac 5 in 245/65/17 - a good load rating, 32lbs in weight, stiff sidewalls, 29.5" diameter. The new wheel & tire combination would be over 10lbs lighter on each corner - that's a solid improvement.

The Vredestein Quatrac 5's have very good reviews and only come in at $550 for the set, I figured not a lot of money to try this out - considering I was going to buy the TRD rims anyway. Another option is to go with a 265/65R17 tire like the Michelin Premier LTX at 33lbs and 30.3" in diameter, it's biggest draw back is price and low tread life, but I did have this tire on my Ridgeline and it's a very solid performing street truck tire.

Don't kill me in this thread - I am just thinking through some of this in real-time and trying to solve for my situation.

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