Leveling and tires

Hello,
Just said Goodbye to my old Tacoma and Hello to 2004 Tundra AC (80k miles.) Trd, Limited , 4x4. The truck came with cooper A/T3 265/75/16R. Right now it is bone stock, besides the little platform I built in the back for camping.
My immediate plan is to put the change the shocks all around. I will use the blisteins. I will keep the same wheel size but change out the stock wheels, for the wheelers offroad. They are simple and good, had them on my tacoma. I will change out the A/T3 for the Cooper S/T Maxx. I have been a cooper fan for awhile now. I have not figured out out if I am going to ad a leaf yet. (any insight on this, would be helpful).
Now my question is,
I called up the the old 4 wheel parts, (they have the cheapest price on shocks) they told me even if I leveled the front with the blistein's , I had to keep the same tire size, seems to strange to me. I could see how 285/75r/16 might rub, but what about 31.5/75r/16? I have been all over the forums, and it seems to be alot of different results. I am not going for show, I am going for something simple and practical for driving from Ca through Baja and out to Montanna, Wyoming, Oregon coast etc..Hunting, Camping etc... Again any insight would be amazing..
Thanks .
I attached the the only photo I have so far, The old barn cat approves ..

 

meow! Nice truck

 

Thanks, csuviper..
I figured the guys at 4wheel parts where not exactly on top of things. They just have the best price. I will talk to them and see if they will try a few things after the new year.

 

265/70/17 or 265/75/16 is about as big as you can go without starting to open things up. Only place mine has ever rubbed is the plastic at the back of the wheel well with 265/70/17 BFG AT's and then only at full stuff / full lock when the tires were new. Fairly close to the UCA's also so much wider might be an issue or require spacers. Never pulled the back plastic piece in the wheel well to see how much room could be gained with a BFH. Back end has lots of clearance, front doesn't leave much room for bigger tires without some trimming and banging.

 

Hey guys so I've got 265/75/16 Cooper discover Hts on Dick Cepek wheels. I want to raise the nose up and have 2.5 inches of lift. Should I be looking at a leveling kit or a lift kit?

 

Short of doing a spacer lift (which in my opinion really sucks and causes more issues than not), you won't gain any room for bigger tires without limiting up travel. Tires tend to rub on the 1st gens when they are pretty well stuffed so if you do a spacer lift, at full compression you are not stuffed as far as without. Some folks use stiffer springs which sort of does the same thing as it limits up-travel most of the time. The big issue is with the rear of the fender opening for the front tires (should be some room there behind the plastic liner, but not sure how much. The other spot is the upper control arm which gets close with 265/70/17's on 03 factory wheels. Add wheel spacers or less backspace for clearance and you have more issues with the rear of the wheel well opening. Skinny and tall on stock wheels would be easiest to fit. I have seen a couple with 285/75/16's that looked like they fit ok, but were close.

 

A Set of Bilstein 5100's up front and an AAL from Wheelers offroad will do the trick for you. Bilstein are adjustable from stock to 2.5 inches and a 1.5 inch AAL will do the trick as far as leveling goes. You will also want to buy a differential drop kit as well because the CV boots will start to tear since you are raising the front end and that allows the cv boots to be at a normal angle and will save you money in the long run. They are cheap too, they only run between 25-35 dollars before shipping. Tires. I am running 265/70R17 which is a 31.6 inch tire and they don't rub at all, no problems with them. A buddy of mine has a set of 285/70R17 on which are a 32.7 inch tire and he says they barely rub and it's only at full turn. I have rode in his truck and never heard them rub. I myself am going to go get those as well as slap them on in the near future. Just gotta upgrade some other things first! Hope this helps!

 

I have 17x8 helo 4.5 is the back space and bfg 275/70r17 no lift and there is no rubbing. Mine is a limited stepside.