A few months ago I decided to upgrade my wheels and tires because my previous set of tires was no longer meaty enough for off-road use. I choose the Method Racing NV 305 in bronze wrapped with Falken Wildpeak AT3W in 285/70/17. While not officially a 33-inch tire, many with agree that it’s close enough.
My research of the TRD Pro Tacoma with 33s led me to believe that there would be minimal rub and that I would need to clean up some of the plastic in the wheel well. Some forum users even claimed that their Tacoma with 33s does not rub on factory suspension without any modifications.
I’m here to tell you, it’s bullshit. Anyone telling you there’s no rub on a stock TRD Pro Tacoma with 33s has never taken their truck off-road.
Then there are some guys that suggested getting a special alignment to address the rub. Seeing as how they typically recommend one specific alignment center proves that it’s not a conventional method. I prefer to do it the correct way. So, in addition to remolding the plastic wheel well with heat, I also ended up performing my own CMC(cab mount chop aka body mount chop).
The end result is a better ride that I can trust won’t be an issue on or off-road.
In this video, you’ll see me perform my own CMC. This includes creating a custom plate by hand as opposed to buying premade ones.
I’m not a professional so this video goes to show that any person with the right tools can attempt to do this.
My truck is a manual 6-speed transmission so I don’t have many of the complaints that the automatic guys have. For example, I don’t need an ECT button to help the truck fight the infamous gear hunting.
After upgrading the Tacoma with 33s, the truck still feels the same off the line in terms of speed. I’ve heard a few automatic transmission guys complain that their truck feels more sluggish all around. My truck does, however, feel a bit sluggish at higher speeds. Not so much at lower speeds.
The biggest getting used to is that slowly releasing the clutch pedal barely moves the vehicle forward compared to smaller tires. I guess this should be obvious but it was not something that I had thought of prior to upgrading. Now off the line, I have to give it more gas to move forward on an even plane.
I also took a hit, losing between 1-2 mpg after this upgrade. Even my attempts at driving conservatively at 40 mph city and 70 mph highway will net me around 16-17mpg at best.
So was the upgrade worth it? Yes and no.
Yes, this should help me on the trails giving me better clearance.
No, because I should have just done it all at once and gone to 35s. The tire size upgrade over the stock 265/75/16 feels minimal.
I’m not one to be wasteful so my next upgrade will probably come after these tires are spent. Save your money and go to 35s instead.
Method Racing NV 305 Bronze Wheels 17X8.5 6X5.5 6X139.7 0mm Offset
Falken Wildpeak AT3W 285/70R17 Tires
Camera Gear
Shot with Sony a7S III
Sony FE 24-105mm F4 G OSS (SEL24105G/2)