So you wanna put big tires on your 2.7 powered truck

So I've seen a lot of posts go out there, questioning whether or not the 2.7 can handle the rigors of having large tires added to it. I thought I would share my experiences and insights.

Now 35+" tires on 4cyl trucks is nothing new, people have been doing it since the 80s, but there's some taco specific stuff that you'll need the know and consider, as well as some 2.7L specific stuff. Imo anything below a 35 doesn't need a regear, unless you plan to stay that way, the stock 4.10 offering in the second gen is more than enough to move your 33" and smaller tires, manual guys will just be able to downshift and send it, auto guys well you should have bought a manual lol. Auto guys will notice the most difference here as the auto isn't the greatest.

For 3rd gen manuals you guys might actually benefit from a regear, imo the 3.90 is way to high to use the potential that the 2.7 has, your cheapest route is find a set of 4.10 2nd gen diffs at the wrecker and toss em in, we are still talking about 33" or less tires here.

3rd gen auto you guys got 4.30 gears which should be good for 33s.

3" lift 265/75r16 skids and sliders

Same specs just added an RTT


Full armoured bumpers +tent and gear, I noticed a bit more downshifting here, but the 4.10s still did the job and I was seeing around 18-20 mpg



So you wanna put 35s on!!!



Awesome just do it don't let anyone tell you not to!! With the right gear ratio you won't hardly notice the tires except for all the broken necks and wet panties left in your wake. What is the right gear ratio you ask, well that depends what you wanna do. Imo for a 5spd, 4.88 is the perfect compromise between milage and crawling. It gets the truck up and moving and you don't have to stand on the clutch too much when crawling around on the trails. Obviously any time you regear that is the time to add lockers!!






You'll need to do the standard amount of cutting to fit the big tires on the Tacoma, 2.5" front fender chop, cab mount cut as much as possible or relocate, rears will require trim with stock shackle, shackle flip you can leave them. Pinch weld and fire wall smashing required!! Wheels are important you need to select a wheel with enough backspacing so you don't rub as bad, 4.25 is the minimum, the more backspacing the further those tires get pushed out !!

Now here's where it gets interesting. If you wanna go up to 37s it's been proven that LT setups and mid travel setups can handle it, and according to the handy dandy gear ratio calculator
http://www.grimmjeeper.com/gears.html
You'll find that your 5th gear cruising ratio with 5.29s and 37s is lower than with 35s and 4.88s

What I wanted to get across here is the the 2.7 can do it, it will do it if you want it too.

Some things I've learned, although I advocate 4.88s for manuals as a great compromise, that's exactly what it is a compromise, when you get into long crawling trails ie Rubicon, having more gear is definitely nicer to your clutch. You want a clutch you can slip, agressive on/off type clutches are useless. Having more gears is always better ie: dual cases or multi speed tcases ie: Atlas. Unless you full tub your firewall you will rub no matter what, get used to it. Additional fender flares are great if you wanna see out your windows, get creative here but long John mudflaps are the gold standard up north

Feel free to ask me questions or opinions I'm not an expert but I've put my truck through a lot and I like to help people, don't be discouraged if I don't answer right away I will answer eventually.

Cheers

 

Good info, and good looking rig. I had already made up my mind on 4.88’s, but, validation is always nice. Haha.

 

Great post! I’m planning on 4.88s, but sticking with 265/75/16s for the time being with no immediate plans on going larger. Reason is, I live in an area that has a ton of small mountains and hills, so the stock truck is way undergeared for me. Also, I find that 4-lo is a must off-road to keep from roasting my clutch.

My only concern is that I use the interstate about 12 miles to and from work, and I’m afraid I’ll be stuck to around 70mph(Typically do 75-80 now)to keep the rpms around 3000.

Do you think it’ll be geared too low for regular interstate driving?
If I had the auto with the double overdrive gears, I’d do 5.29s without question

 

there's so few 4cyl guys running big tires its nice to have reassurance

 

As you can see from my pics I'm from the rockies. I once held 3rd gear at 5500 rpm for 15 min climbing a hill. Shifting is part of the 4cyl life. 4hi is pretty much useless, because it offers no gear reduction it just engages the front driveline. 4lo is a 5 spd trucks best friend. With 4.88s and 32s you're going to be slower on the highway because you'll be overgeared imo even if you bumped to a 33 you'd have slightly better final rpms try the grimmer calc

 

I had a 2009 regular cab with 4.88 gears and 255/85/16 tires on stock steelies. Imo it was perfect. Enough gear for the trail, but still made for a nice daily driver with slightly more pep than stock. Gas mileage didnt really suffer. If you want to see it, then look up my old profile gtrotter07

 

I have 2.7 with the auto on 255/85R16 and 4.88’s. I would not say that it’s a pleasant experience. It’s not that hilly here but every small hill is a struggle. I couldn’t imagine putting 35’s on this thing.

 

Like I said having an auto you'll want more gear, as the auto sucks the life out of the 2.7 especially the 2nd gen auto, 4.88 is a compromise, whereas 5.29 is more of a trail gear. I honestly wish they never offered an auto transmission

 

Yea. I plan to convert my truck to a manual in the near future.

 

I'm planning on moving to 285/75r17 or 295/75r16 and doing 4.88s soon

Your truck is a beast man, keep up the good stuff. Great info here

 

You almost have to do the same amount of trimming for 295s as 315s so logic dictates you just do 35s

 

I decided on doing the 285/75r17 as my next tire, now to decide on wheels....

 

It's never an easy choice.

 

I went with 305/65/17's and have minimal rubbing at full lock backing up a slope. It would have been great to go a little bigger but it just wasn't worth the extra hassle and cost. Plus, I think it would have made towing even worse with the stock gears. The truck had 285/75/16's when I got it and the fender area had already been trimmed but it doesn't have the cmc done.

 

I fear running P265/70/16 on my 2.7/ auto

 

That size shouldn't be an issue. Mine has the auto and I tow one of my boats almost every weekend with the taller tires.

 

looks beefy, love the reg cab

 

my truck can barely push the p245 Dunflops

 

Great post! I have followed your build for some time. It has made me incorporate some of your ideas into my own truck. It is an art to have a 4cylinder setup that flat out works and yours does it!

 

Switching to 255/85 was one of the first changes I've done to my 2.7L
Love this setup with a mild lift...just had to remove the mud flaps.

I do mostly city and country roads with lots of hills.
You do have to be in the right power band, when dealing with hills.
Getting in front of slower traffic is key (due to power band), otherwise your downshifting.

I'm now on 265/75s, which is slightly better.
I will be switching over to 4.88s, just have to find a competent mechanic.
When I do, I'm sure you guys will spot my grin when looking south