HolyHandGrenade
NOOB
- Joined
- Apr 22, 2019
- Messages
- 505
- Age
- 45
37x12.5x17 Cooper STT Pros. I really like them. Good on the rocks, wear well on the street, good in mud. Good in deep snow. Not too loud. Not great wet traction on the street.I'll play.
First set of tires on the Taco were 295/75r17 STMaxx. Tore a sidewall on second trip. Really good grip on wet rocks, decent in mud, no experience in sand but I would assume they would be decent. Ran them for just over 25k and never had another sidewall tear. My girl is a heavy bitch but sidewalls flexed nicely at 15 psi. Five of them are still in my shed....
Because all the cool kids went to 35s, I got six Nitto Mud Grapplers in a 35/12.50r17. Did the usual fender/bedside trimming and beat the fuck out of the pinch weld. I absolutely loved these tires. Grippy as hell on any surface from wet or snowy roads to mud, rocks, you name it. 4.88s with ARBs front and rear were installed right before the 35s went on as did the supercharger. As you can guess mileage went down a tad. Only bad thing about the Nittos was the tread wear(and the NOISE). I know the soft compound was why the grip was so good, but 28k with rotating 2 spares and I was down to harder rubber and grip disappeared. After a few scary on road incidents, I decided new tires were in order.
Despite really wanting to try the STT Pros, I went with the Toyo MTs because I got a great deal. They balanced well, which is typical of any Toyo, and they were concentric. They have nowhere near the grip of the Nittos, and I definitely have to run lower pressure to get the sidewall flex and grip that I had with the Nittos. Not sure I would buy again, but have about 20k on them and tread wear seems good. Minimal tread chunking despite a decent amount of rock crawling done on them.
@HolyHandGrenade can chime in with firewall tubbing pics and feedback on his tires.
37s on a Tacoma is a shit ton of work.
@Stairgod helped me do it (read pulled my ass out of the fire).
Summary:
-Relocate body mount
-1” Body Lift
-Remove both kick panels inside
-Remove ECU (UCON as well in my case)
-Pull all wiring away from cut / weld area
-Pull back carpet and padding on both sides of firewall (I don’t have carpet so I didn’t have Worry about that part)
-Remove front fenders for better access
-Unbolt everything from top of inner fenders
-Relocate battery
-Space under hood fuse box up while cutting and welding (I used a 2x4 chunk)
-Remove coil overs
-Cut. Turn tires. Cut. Turn tires. Repeat until nothing rubs. Then cut a little more.
-Begin making panels to fill new gaping holes in inner fenders and cab. (Then call your friend @Stairgod when you realize you’re in over your head)
-Weld in new panels, as well as 1/8” plate to rebuild vertical structure of cab
-Seam sealer / paint.
-Remount / relocate everything you unbolted from inner fenders prior to cutting
-Make all wiring fit back under kick panels
-Put front fenders back on and cut to clear tires
-Build flatbed so you don’t have to cut bed
Be careful. The factory seam sealer is quite flammable. So is the carpet, padding, and insulation on both sides of the firewall.
Last step? Enjoy your new trail capabilities.
You can probably get away with cutting less. But this is how to do it if you don’t want 37s to rub anywhere at full stuff or lock to lock.
If this sounds like too much work, my truck is for sale
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