2013 LE XREAS Suspension Upgrade

[mugenrios2k]

And all this time, I thought I WAS serious about offroading

Always love seeing a picture of your rig pop up in threads.
Is it cracy to do a BCM with only 150miles on the od. [emoji12]

 

[RiDE]

[MENTION=106242]Miguelon[/MENTION] - You're that one in a million.

 

[emeshuris]

So this is what I was asking. My truck has had scratches on it since the 3rd day of ownership, bought new. Its been on numerous trails stock.

[emoji1]
Why did you not downsize?

 

[jwkilgore]

If you do stick with the 20's you can upsize to 275-55R-20 and get a much better selection of AT tires. You'll get over an inch increase in width and a little less than a half inch increase in diameter. It should fit right on without any mods. There are also more 285-55R-20's than the stock size, but less than the 275's and most big box-shops won't install on the stock wheels because they are too narrow. You'll also likely have to do a little fender plastic trimming/moving with the 285's.

Anyway, switching from 20's to 17's...

Pro:
- More air-down room for better traction
- Softer ride on- and off-road, especially when aired down
- Much larger tire selection and tires are generally cheaper
- More vertical cushion to protect against sidewall pinch
- More transverse protection to protect against curb or rock rash
- Looks more like an off-road vehicle than a mall crawler

Con:
- Looks more like an off-road vehicle than a luxury vehicle
- Softer ride (flexible sidewalls) means worse handling in high-speed on-road curves

 

[emeshuris]

Thanks!
So 275 (1.2" increase) is considered safe but 285(an extra .4") is crossing the line. How is the threshold determined.? Also if I went with the 285, it would seem that airing down would be limited, not trying to perform the butane magic trick to pop the tire on the rim.
But 17" seems like the way to go, not worried about high speed maneuvers [emoji3]. Taxes coming in soon...

 

[jwkilgore]

Thanks!
So 275 (1.2" increase) is considered safe but 285(an extra .4") is crossing the line. How is the threshold determined.?

It's the recommended wheel width range specified by the tire manufacturer. Many big-chain tire shops won't install outside the manufacturer's recommendations for liability insurance reasons. Most 4x4 shops and many local general tire shops won't have this problem.

Incidentally I was wrong... the LE wheels are 20"x7", and both 275-55R and 285-55R require wider minimum wheel widths. It's 7.5" for most brands of 275s and 8" for most brands of 285s.

And that said, countless people have run both 275s and 285s on stock wheels without problems. It's the same issue with running 285-70R-17 tires (minimum recommended width = 7.5") on stock 17"x7" wide SR5 or TRDP wheels. Some people refer to running narrower than spec wheels as a "poor man's bead lock" because there is extra force pushing the sidewall toward the rim.

I don't think it's a safety issue; it's more of a tread wear issue. You may have more pronounced center-tread wear on the rears when running over-width tires, but that's solved by following the tire rotation schedule without slacking off.

 

[emeshuris]

That is awesome! Going to research many things now. Thanks stranger!

 

[jwkilgore]

I just noticed that this thread hadn't been referenced:
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/5th-gen-t4rs/156378-going-bigger-5th-gen-tire-fitment-guide.html

Lots of useful info there.