Lifts and big tires..

An honest question here because I sincerely don’t understand.

Are the owners buying bigger tires and installing lifts doing it for appearance sake or do these modifications actually serve a purpose? This is the biggest truck I’ve ever owned and I can’t imagine it being taller.

 

If you’re even thinking of taking the truck off roading? Yes. Mall crawling? No. Unless you’re into hopping curbs.

 

My truck serves no purpose, it’s a street queen. It only goes off-road at the deer lease and for a cowboy exit off the highway. It drinks fuel, looks good and yeah, that’s about it. BUT, there are plenty of folks who actually go off-road, tow, camp and many other things. You know real truck stuff. It’s your truck, build it or don’t build it.

 

Most do it for looks. It does add capability though, whether utilized or not. Additional off road clearance, better approach, departure and break over angles, and more grip with more aggressive tread patterns. It’s also adds worse fuel economy, worse acceleration and braking, can negatively affect handling and make it worse as a tow vehicle.

 

Depends on the owner if it's just for looks, but if you're truly questioning if a lift and bigger tires serve a purpose you've got your work cut out for you in the research department.

 

There’s tons of pros and cons to lifting a truck but yes there is more reason to lift a truck then just look cool.

 

I went with E rated tires (295/70r18) because I hunt and camp in remote locations for long periods of time. Getting stranded isn’t an option and the last thing I want to do is hoof it 15+ miles to get help. Bonus is that they look pretty cool too!

 

It adds to approach, break over, and departure angles. Cost of mpg and overall street performance.

You can also fine tune some stuff with higher quality parts, you really dont see any of that at stock heights.

If you dont want to mess with it don’t. Plenty of people taking stock LC300s through rough trails stock.

 

Let's be honest, most just like the look. Very few actually need the extra 1" of clearance they gain for off-roading.


(and that's fine)

 

That was my thought also and I agree, it’s their truck to do with as they want.

 

Agree with everyone else. Personally my truck will probably see the trails once or twice a month for weekend adventures. However I drive my truck everyday and everytime I walk out to look at it. Bigger tires and lift just makes me happy. Is the smaller tire and stock truck just as beautiful? Sure. But sometimes it makes sense to do what makes you happy.

 

Classy

 

This visual makes soo much sense.

Best explanation ever!

 

Those cost more than a lift, wheels, and tires. Then you have maintenance costs, it gets worse after.

 

A little sarcasm here, but you could also ask the question: "Do people who buy full size trucks actually need "full size" trucks? Because I would venture a guess that 70% of full size truck owners could get by with a Maverick, Ridgeline, or any SUV because they don't actually need a full-size truck for that annual trip to Home Depot." haha

If you ever go off-road then you'll know this Tundra has 2 major deficiencies (missing tow hooks aside):

1. Terrible approach angle
2. Terrible OE tires

You need to upgrade with a lift and tires to fix both of those issues.

As for people's motivations, that's only for the individual owner to say. I hit the trails at least once, ideally twice, a month. There are trails, mountains, and BLM land a plenty where I live. Hitting the trails is one of my favorite hobbies. Even if it's just getting out on some beaten down fire access road in the Spring Mountains. So, for me, I tend to always lift my trucks...even though it's also my daily driver and I know I'll lose 2-3 mpgs because of my decision.

It's kinda the same thing for gun owners. Do we need that $2k AR or Springfield M1A Scout 308 (Sweet rifle BTW!) for the once or twice a month we hit the gun range out of pure necessity? No. Does it make that once or twice a month more enjoyable? Hell yeah.

Rant over.

 

I’ve always lifted my trucks and usually went 35s with 6” lift at minimum. Work in the office and field so there’s many times the extra clearance helped. Now that I have a 3” lift and 33s not planned bought used that way. Been debating on going bigger. So far the 3” lift and 33.5 has been efficient enough and only bottomed out a few times but haven’t taken on as large of an obstacle. Street driving the 33.5 works better. Acceleration wise. Dirty deeds ran some dyno numbers and you’re losing 20 wheel horsepower just going to 34.5 vs 33.5. Unless you re gear.

some benefits of a large lift for street queens: traffic. Large lift allows you to see over everyone. Secondly you can jump over any highway grass patches and dividers if you suddenly run into a dead stop. This alone has probably saved me a week’s time and time is money. Lastly, I’m not a proponent of stuffing the largest size tire I can fit as some do on here.

 

More sidewall = higher ground clearance.
I put 285/75R18 LTs on my truck. Skinny 35s, as I call them. I added the TRD Fox kit to help those tires fit. The kit adds 2” of lift up front and adds longer suspension travel. I think I did the bare minimum for intermediate trail riding. My family backpacks and does dispersed camping, and I hunt, so I wanted more off-road capability for the truck. People have told me they think it looks cool, too. I agree, but that wasn’t the impetus for the modifications.

I must say, I think a lift/level does more damage to a truck’s fuel economy than bigger tires. Raising the body of the truck up, especially up front so that you lose the factory rake seems almost like putting a giant sail on the roof. It totally changes your wind drag. I swapped my factory tires (25lb lighter per corner) back on but kept the TRD Fox Kit and CB +2s, and I haven’t hardly got any mpg back at all. Still at 14 combined.

 

Dont these come with the Dunlop AT, Bridgestone Dueller, or Michelin AT? Really good tires. Check out some LC300 reviews they come with the same tires.


And just build you a nice 700 in .308 . Bone stock 700P .308 works great for me. Kinda like the OP I dont care about all that fancy stuff.

 

The SR5 TRD OR package comes with an 18" Michelin LTX Trail. Wonderful road tires. Smooth & quiet. No complaints in that department.

They didn't do so hot off road...plus their Passenger tires and I was worried I was going to puncture a sidewall with a jagged rock.

 

Did it come with a complimentary Salt Life decal?






I kid, I kid....

I didn't know I needed it until I bought it and find that I absolutely need it even though it spends 95% of it's time in the safe. And 3% of the time, I'm just staring at it and smiling. But yeah, I do need it.

 

No way haha. Salt Life

 

I can verify that Bridgestone duelers are POS when it comes to sidewalk Integrity see below pic on my wife’s 6 mo old Escalade less than 5k miles on the tires

 

That’s an impact break, which is from the tire getting pinched between the wheel and curb/pothole or whatever. Not Bridgestones fault

 

So tires on an SUV can’t take simple road wear. It’s not like the rim is dented. Tire still holds pressure. It’s also extremely close to the bead. If you look close there’s a tear almost on the bead. I will never buy Bridgestone. BFG All day. Especially on a truck.

 

Are those 22’s?

 

Yeah

 

90% of people do it because they have tiny penors.
10% of us go off roading and it's very beneficial. I bought mine to pull a FWC Grandby around "overlanding"
The bro-dozer trucks with wheels that stick out 2-4" past the fender on 20" rims are in the 90%.

Higher percentages of say, 4runner owners, actually go off roading. Tundras owners are more likely to be d-bags. The trucks themselves are terrible off road to begin with but having the biggest truck on the road is some kind of status symbol to low-IQ folks.

 

I cannot believe how many of these I see and a lot of them are on 20s with low profile tires

 

With a Salt Life sticker on the rear glass?