Straight bolt on black rims. "No mods"

hmmmm... Sounds like he wants you to spend a lot more money on some nice shiny aluminum wheelies!

 

Just looking back at some posts, I had a good chuckle on the way to work yesterday morning. Bombing down I440 around Raleigh with the same wheels and heavier tires than most, doing 80mph smooth as silk, NO vibration. I had just done an oil change and tire rotation the night before. My point? Lug centric wheels have been around a LONG time. My first car (a 1982 Pontiac Bonneville Brougham) had lug centric wheels, and my dad taught me the fundamental rule of tighten them slowly, by hand, in a cross pattern. I don't use ANY power/pneumatic tools when I rotate tires, and have NEVER had an issue caused by lug centric wheels. If some "wing nut" at the local quick lube starts slamming lugs home one at a time with an impact, you bet it's gonna vibrate the sin out of something. Let me also say that it was the "wing nuts" at 4 Wheel Parts that told me there was NOTHING I could do for my 5 lugger... If you aren't in there to stroke a big check to get your mall crawler YJ lifted, they aren't really concerned about ya... that's just my rant and .03 worth. On another note... I've been loving that LC Engineering header!

 

100% agree...

 

ordered from summit same wheels, did not fit my 2006 5 lug.

 

Pulled the trigger on two of the Cragar test wheels and a set of the hubcentric rings. Assuming no issues with caliper clearance, I'll order the other two and some 235/75/15 tires and get this already-awesome truck upgraded.

Particular thanks to gitsum and Josephm, and thanks to almost everyone who contributed to this thread. One of the more useful ones I've ever read here.

Updates in a few days when UPS brings all the goodies.

 

thanks for the kudos FTD. I hope they work out well for you and looking forward to your updates with pics!

 

just finished my fat bobs and cragar/31s upgrades, very happy with the results. my 2007-

 

SWEET! looks so much better that way!

 

JayCagney that's a great looking ride!! Did you re-gear when you went to the 31's or leave it stock? I want to do the Fat Bob's long leaf, and 31's, but feel like it would really need to be re-geared with the 5spd man. (Gotta put a new Can-Am Renegade in the garage before any more $$ goes into the truck)
--- Anybody here know what the right gear would be to get back to close to stock, or slightly taller with 31's?? Thanks!

 

thanks, I did not regear, mine is also a 5 speed. it's definitely more sluggish but I'm not really in a rush to get anywhere.

to get back to close to stock you would go to 4.10. I may go that route someday but it's fine for now and my motorcycles eat all my money

 

Really nice! Did you need to remove the black boxes? I really regret not moving up to 31" tires, they fill in the wheel wells. For once I hope my tires wear out quickly. 15,000 miles and they still look new.

.

 

yes I did, before this I had on a used pair of 30's on the stock rims so they would of rubbed. don't miss it one bit

 

I am running 31x10.5. Before my 3rd member swap it was a pig! lost a lot of power and would have to run in a lower gear to try and keep the rpm's up. then I was talked into 4.56 gears by those guys at east coast gear supply and they are too low. Now Im running way too high at 3500 rpm's on the turnpike. not bad around town though. Should have been 4.10 gears. that would have been the sweet spot.

 

Gitsum, Thanks again for the info!! You really are one of the five lug guys that tries things, and posts up your findings for the rest of us to follow suit! I do a fair amount of hauling, I have a 10X6 trailer that gets used for utility and hauling atv's to the park on a regular basis, there's no way I could lose any more ground. As it is now I only get to use 5th, (even with an EMPTY trailer) going down hill with a stout tail wind, and fourth can get touchy going up slight inclines, and i've not even had it in the mountains of NC. I love my 5 lugger, but oh how I wish I could have afforded a 4.0L!!

 

this is a little much but it gets it done

 

how much did your 3rd member swap end up costing you? I'd like to do it at some point but it's hard to justify the cost when there are so many other things to throw money at, and it technically works as is. just not ideally

 

about 1k installed myself. If you go with 4.10's you may not need to replace the housing and save some money there.

 

yeah i went with another TW member's old 4.10 third. You need to get it off a non-TRD tacoma and non 4wd, so basically a pre-runner. Fits perfect, just bolts on.

I can vouch for the 4.10, it's perfect. Back up over 20mpg consistently, power feels as good as a 4cyl can. I have a manual, but i feel like a can get a ton out of it when i need to.

 

Rims fit. No margin for error - if I could fit a piece of paper between the caliper and the wheel, I'd be surprised. But it does clear.

They look good. Next up...get some tires and get 'em mounted.

 

Mission accomplished.

The old rims/tires:



The new rims/tires:



Toying with leaving the pinstriping on, probably won't. Clearance was not an issue but it's closer to the caliper than I'd like...but hey, it works. No rubbing with the Grabber 235/75/15 I put on, black boxes are still present.

One inch of ride height shouldn't make this kind of difference, but it sure feels like another vehicle these days.

I used centering rings, I think that's a really good idea even if you're a master of lugcentric wheel installation. I had Discount mount the tires and balance the wheels but took them home and did the install myself. Hey, if I had an air wrench I'd use it too in spite of best practices, but that's why I did it myself - so I know it's done right. Six spline black lug nuts from DPAccessories.

I'm very happy with how this came out, I owe most of you on this thread a debt of gratitude for doing the heavy lifting here.

If you are smart about your tire buy, this is a fairly inexpensive mod that makes your 5-lug Tacoma look truly badass.