Going from 18" wheel to 17" wheel in 2020 Crew Max, Possible? Good idea?

I am considering going from an 18" to 17" wheel on my stock 2020 Tundra when my stock tires are done, and have some questions.

I am not a big rock crawler but want to be able to get to as many places as I can on my Tundra. Lifting it isn't highest on my list of upgrades: Sliders will be next, then possibly either a cab platform for solar panels, highlift whatever, or a compressor (which I have found I could use more often than I first thought, if only to blow the desert dust off everything), then fridge/battery/solar...

Basically, I am happy with the stance now but feel that more sidewall could be beneficial on trips to the desert or various lakes etc, plus mountain work where an 18" could have a better chance at being dinged up.

Am I wasting my time even considering this?

Is 17" that much better?

And, in talking with someone the other day, they said due to the upgraded brakes, a 17" may not fit.

Can any of you more experienced off-road offer any advice?

Thanks,
Dean

 

17s fit just fine unless you got aftermarket Brembo brakes or something. If you have the stock calipers then 17s will fit.
As for offroading, the more tire the better. When aired down the footprint increases in size, which increases traction. The ride quality gets better.
"Wasting your time?" I don't think so. There are more tires available in 17s compared to 18s.

 

I have 17's with 35x12.5 tires. The sidewall is huge. You can basically hit any curb and not worry about road rash on your wheel. Idk what size tire you are going with though.

Stock brakes fit with 17"

 

17" vs 18". if you are hardcore off roader maybe but really only 5% difference sidewall between 18" and 17" for a 35" tire.
stock brakes will fit but whenever tires get mounted make sure the weights are positioned properly or else they will be hitting the caliper.
17" do have more tires choices though. Also cost because you will need new 17" rims for the Tundra
if you still run 275, 17" or 18" wont make much difference as far as comfort off road. You need to go up to 295 minimum. my 0.02

 

Agreed, I am running 17's as well on 35's, will never go back to anything else except going up to 37's when these tires go out which will be years down the road.

 

Little chocolate donuts, that's what my 3 year old calls them.

I had 17's on my 4runner (FJ steelies) they looked good with the 255/80 17's

If I was going above a 285, I would stick with the 18's

 

Based on your described usage, you probably wont see any meaningful difference between a 17in and 18in wheels. As you upgrade to larger than stock tires, the extra 1/2in of sidewall really starts to matter less and less. I would base your decision on tire cost and selection/availability. I suspect it won't be terribly different either way, so might as well save the money on wheels and put it towards better tires. This only applies with stock brakes, but I do not think there are any BBKs for the Tundra that would work with an 18 wheel either.

For refence, I previously ran 305/70/16 and currently run 285/75/16 on my 100 series. This gives me over an inch of extra sidewall compared to stock size tires, but I never really noticed a difference off-road. Once you get past 6.5-7in or so of sidewall height you don't gain much unless you are really going hard in the rocks.

 

I was thinking of going as big as I can on a stock suspension with no steel work. I'm looking at k02's and think that is the 295's which comes out to a little over 33". I don't necessarily need to go wider than stock though. do you have a lift with those 35's?

And do you have a lift as well? How big?

 

Take a look here. Lots of good info on 17s.

https://www.tundras.com/threads/anyone-running-17-rims-on-your-3rd-gen.23617/page-19#post-2080128

 

I just put on 17” methods with 285/70s and had no issues (running TRD Pro Fox suspension)

 

Personally, I prefer the look of smaller wheels and more sidewall on 4x4 trucks, but that’s just me. Aside from the looks and the advantage on off-road trails, one of the main reasons I went with 17s (Icon Rebounds) is because tires were $400 cheaper than those for 18’s at the time (about two or three years ago). My thought was that the savings and sale of my 18’s would pay for the Icons, and then I’d see the savings on my second set (which I’m on now).

 

Pics for reference:

 

Like others have said personal preference i would sit down get a spreadsheet price out tires you are loioking at same goes for wheels. I would also take down the weights of each set up. I just put new tires on my 4runner which is 17 and the prices seemed to be around the same for 18s as well. Not sure if rona is the reason for the expensive rubber.

 

17” is the defacto off-road wheel size these days. I bet tire prices and availability are better than 18” too.

 

Same boat as OP. I really wanna go from my trd off road 18s down to some 17s. They look so much better. Other than aesthetics and slightly more sidewall, how else can I convince myself they’re worth the money? Lol. I can probably sell my 18s for $200-300, yeah?

 

I switched from 18” stock to 17” icon rebounds. Definitely love the larger sidewall look. Added protection helps as well. You can also go in a lot of directions for tire size.
Often times tires are cheaper than with an 18” wheel.
I also have the toytech eibach 3” lift.