Limited owners or people with 18" wheels chime in

[lcbjr77]

I have been foaming at the mouth for some time seeing the posts and pics on the forum... mostly due to the aftermarket mods like lift kits, and off road accessories.

My question is are people going on trails/ off roading with the 18" wheels that come standard on the Limited model? My concern is due to the smaller tire sidewall.

I don't really want to shell out cash for a smaller wheel and new tires... any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

 

[paperchasin]

I'm in the same boat. Here are the 2 options that I've considered:

1- "upgrade" to meatier tires, 265/65/18's ; this would be the cheaper route

2- Get some 17's and my tire choice would be some 265/70/17's

I'm 99% sure I am going with #2...just not ready for it yet

 

[scoester]

Also same boat.

Looking at keeping the 18's and going 265.65 or 255.70

Already have a mild lift.

 

[mrpurplepenguin]

What specifically is your concern with having a smaller sidewall? Easier to scratch the rim, not as much footprint if/when you air down, too big of a hit and you might crack a rim...?

I only started off roading when I bought my Limited (and added a mild lift), but I've never been worried about lacking sidewall. My old tires (Yokohama Geolander ATS's) surprised me in what they were able to handle, but that's tread design. FYI, my avatar pic is with those Geolanders on my 18s.

Having larger tires is definitely a good thing for off roading (more easily climb larger obstacles, extra ground clearance, etc), but I don't think a 32" tire mounted on a 16" wheel is going to perform significantly better than a 32" tire mounted on an 18" wheel. Many people go with 17s when buying tire/wheel packages because there is a wider selection of off road tires available in 17", not necessarily to get a taller sidewall.

 

[paperchasin]

What specifically is your concern with having a smaller sidewall? Easier to scratch the rim, not as much footprint if/when you air down, too big of a hit and you might crack a rim...?

I only started off roading when I bought my Limited (and added a mild lift), but I've never been worried about lacking sidewall. My old tires (Yokohama Geolander ATS's) surprised me in what they were able to handle, but that's tread design. FYI, my avatar pic is with those Geolanders on my 18s.

Having larger tires is definitely a good thing for off roading (more easily climb larger obstacles, extra ground clearance, etc), but I don't think a 32" tire mounted on a 16" wheel is going to perform significantly better than a 32" tire mounted on an 18" wheel. Many people go with 17s when buying tire/wheel packages because there is a wider selection of off road tires available in 17", not necessarily to get a taller sidewall.

You pretty much nailed it...everyone's got different concerns with this regard. If a thicker sidewall adds more wheel protection (which might allow you to climb larger rocks), couldn't that be arguably performance related? I agree that it isn't 100% necessary, but given the option to do so, it wouldn't hurt. I also prefer the looks of the 17" wheel over the 18" wheel. Plus the weight savings of a 17" wheel is an added benefit.

Many people go with 17s when buying tire/wheel packages because there is a wider selection of off road tires available in 17", not necessarily to get a taller sidewall.

This statement sort of contradicts itself doesn't it? Part of having a wider selection of tires isn't just about tire brand, but tire sizes right? And in some cases, having a taller sidewall is part of the consideration.

 

[dchild]

You pretty much nailed it...everyone's got different concerns with this regard. If a thicker sidewall adds more wheel protection (which might allow you to climb larger rocks), couldn't that be arguably performance related? I agree that it isn't 100% necessary, but given the option to do so, it wouldn't hurt. I also prefer the looks of the 17" wheel over the 18" wheel. Plus the weight savings of a 17" wheel is an added benefit.

I tend to look at this as a bang-for-the-buck thing. You are right that there is additional protection to be had, but a 1" change in wheel diameter means your rim is only 1/2" further from the ground and the difference in sidewall area is ~35 square inches on the outside of the tire - about the size of a small index card. Is it a difference? Sure. How many hundreds of dollars is that difference worth? Only you can decide. To me the real question is, for that money, are there other mods that would make more of a difference?

My take is that I would get 17s if I had a reason to get new rims, like if I wanted to keep a set of snow tires mounted, but otherwise I'd rather get some skids or lights. To answer the OPs question, I do go offroading on my 18s, but so far not on trails where this would make any difference.

 

[mrpurplepenguin]

You pretty much nailed it...everyone's got different concerns with this regard. If a thicker sidewall adds more wheel protection (which might allow you to climb larger rocks), couldn't that be arguably performance related? I agree that it isn't 100% necessary, but given the option to do so, it wouldn't hurt. I also prefer the looks of the 17" wheel over the 18" wheel. Plus the weight savings of a 17" wheel is an added benefit.

I'll admit I'm not very knowledgeable here (eager to learn more though), but I always thought the idea of running smaller wheels with taller sidewalls was to 1) increase footprint when you air down, 2) provide more room for the carcass to flex and deform around rocks/etc, and 3) reduce the chance of the rim contacting hard objects and getting destroyed.
I agree that, when outer diameter is identical, a smaller rim with larger sidewall is better than a larger rim with small sidewall (imagine rock crawling with 24s!), but I was trying to convey that the stock 18" wheels will handle offroad just fine. I think sidewall size is a relatively small part of the equation for our trucks compared to tread design, tread width, and overall diameter. I'm ready to be educated otherwise though!

Looks almost always play a huge role in this too, and I personally think a taller sidewall looks better on 4x4s (to a point), so I'm with you there.

Weight savings are always good, but I didn't think a few pounds one way or the other were a big consideration here when the tire/wheel package weighs ~70lbs.

I checked Tire Rack - Goodyear Duratracs have 11 sizes available for 17" wheels and 8 for 18" wheels. BFG KOs, 11 on 17" vs 3 on 18". KO2s, 12 vs 9. You're right, part of that is the increased selection in sidewall height. My point was at the end of the day, you'll have more options available on 17" than 18".

 

[paperchasin]

I'll admit I'm not very knowledgeable here (eager to learn more though), but I always thought the idea of running smaller wheels with taller sidewalls was to 1) increase footprint when you air down, 2) provide more room for the carcass to flex and deform around rocks/etc, and 3) reduce the chance of the rim contacting hard objects and getting destroyed.
I agree that, when outer diameter is identical, a smaller rim with larger sidewall is better than a larger rim with small sidewall (imagine rock crawling with 24s!), but I was trying to convey that the stock 18" wheels will handle offroad just fine. I think sidewall size is a relatively small part of the equation for our trucks compared to tread design, tread width, and overall diameter. I'm ready to be educated otherwise though!

Looks almost always play a huge role in this too, and I personally think a taller sidewall looks better on 4x4s (to a point), so I'm with you there.

Weight savings are always good, but I didn't think a few pounds one way or the other were a big consideration here when the tire/wheel package weighs ~70lbs.

I checked Tire Rack - Goodyear Duratracs have 11 sizes available for 17" wheels and 8 for 18" wheels. BFG KOs, 11 on 17" vs 3 on 18". KO2s, 12 vs 9. You're right, part of that is the increased selection in sidewall height. My point was at the end of the day, you'll have more options available on 17" than 18".

Agreed with everything you said, that is why I'm 99% sure I will be ditching my limited 18's for some 17" wheels. One thing I didn't mention also was that by going with an aftermarket 17" wheel, you can get a wider wheel, which still plays into a wider tire option availability.

 

[lcbjr77]

Thanks for all the replies

I think my main concern was scratching the crap out of the wheels, I currently have Bridgestone Revo II's on there that are about 2 months old, I also have a set of BF Goodrich Rugged Terrain that have descent tread on them but are much louder... They are the tires that came on my 4runner.

Was thinking of maybe getting a set of cheapo wheels with some good tires in 16" or 17" if I even plan on doing some serious off roading, til now I'll probably keep my rig as is.

 

[m85476585]

16" rims might not fit the Limited. I think it has larger brake calipers or rotors? It's very confusing to try to figure out what brakes are offered on different models and years.

17" has more tire choice, and the tires were slightly cheaper for the same size last time I checked. Which is strange because they have more material.

18" works fine off road, but I don't think it has any advantage over 17". I haven't scratched mine yet with stock size tires, but I haven't done anything too difficult. But I still think rims that are any bigger than necessary are stupid. At least we don't have 20" like the 5th gen limited or the Venza.

 

[kevinpt]

I have been foaming at the mouth for some time seeing the posts and pics on the forum... mostly due to the aftermarket mods like lift kits, and off road accessories.

My question is are people going on trails/ off roading with the 18" wheels that come standard on the Limited model? My concern is due to the smaller tire sidewall.

I don't really want to shell out cash for a smaller wheel and new tires... any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Also same boat.

Looking at keeping the 18's and going 265.65 or 255.70

Already have a mild lift.

im running 18's and have had no problems off road on the trail or the beach. im running 255/70/18's(32) and i have not really had a time where i wanted or needed to get a different size rim. the only time i wish i had 17's was when i find great prices on used fj rims or other good looking 17 oem rims and im not able to just spend money on rims and swap the tires i have

 

[rick13]

I'm newish to T4R and to Runners in general, but NOT to wheeling. I beat up my 16" rims with my 33's on my last rig and decided to chance it with the 18's on my "new to me" 06 Limited. Another consideration of mine was the selection of tires that are just over 33" from multiple brands. I was tired of my 32.8" tire selection on my 16" rims, so this helped make my decision.

I've only aired down once this summer for a trail run but felt pretty good about the amount of sidewall flex on rocks and fallen trees. I also have quite a bit of paint peeling from my stock rims so I guess I'm not sure I'm super concerned about a bit of rock rash.

In all honesty though, I think the small wheel diameter and taller sidewall looks so much better than my current setup. Maybe I'll have the fundage to drop to the 17" rims when I need tires in a few years. We'll see.

Just my 2 cents. Cheers and good luck!