How to Fit Larger Tires on Your 4th Gen Tacoma

For the longest time fitting larger a larger tire size on the Tacoma has been a challenge. The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd generations of the Tacoma all required lifts and minor trimming just to clear a 33" or similar size tire while anything more than that required more significant modifications such as a cab mount relocation and major fender trimming.

This has all changed with the introduction of the 4th Gen Tacoma. Straight off of the dealership floor the 4th Gen Tacoma can easily fit a 33" size tire with no lift and with a lift you can now run 35"s with very few issues. Depending on the offset of your wheel you can even run these tires with no trimming. 

Why Run Larger Tires?

The 4th Gen Toyota Tacoma off the dealership lot is an extremely capable truck. Depending on which trim you end up buying the Tacoma can come standard with a locking differential, sway bar disconnect, crawl control, and more. Even with a 265 size tire this truck can get you through many trails without issue. 

The stock 265 tires will be great most of the time but if you really want to reach the full capability of your truck and access for remote areas off-road you will want to start looking into a larger tire size. In the past, fitting a larger tire on the Tacoma would become a challenge with anything more than a 33" size tire and even with 33s, trimming and a cab mount chop was a common necessity to get tires to clear with their full range of motion. 

This all changes with the 4th Gen Tacoma. The all new Tacoma shares the same platform as the Toyota Tundra which means you can now clear larger tires with very little (if any) cutting. We decided to run a 35" tire on our flagship build which we are already seeing to be the popular tire choice for the 4th Gen. 

A 35" tire now gives us more clearance to get over more obstacles and since we went with a M/T we also get more grip when we do go off-road.

Areas to Address

 When clearing a larger tire size on your 4th Gen Tacoma there are a few areas you may need to address to fully clear your new tires. Luckily the modifications are minimal on the 4th Gen and depending on your wheels offset and tire size you may not need to do any modifications to clear.

Crash Plate

The first and easiest area to clear tires on the 4th Gen Tacoma is the crash plate. The crash plate is located on the backside of the wheel well close to the cab mount. There are two bolts holding this crash plate in place and once you remove it you will achieve roughly 4 more inches of clearance for your tires. 

Front Bumper

The front bumper of the 4th Gen Tacoma should clear most tire sizes but we did have to do some minor cutting on the front bumper to clear the 35s with a -10 offset. So if you plan on running a lower offset wheel on your truck you may have to do something similar to a viper cut to clear anything like a 35" tire. 

Final Thoughts

Running a larger tire on your 4th Gen Tacoma is a great way to improve ground clearance while you're off-road. We're happy Toyota has made this new truck with upgrading to larger tires in mind. We don't think they intended for us to take their truck and do this but it is nice that we don't have to do things like a cab mount chop or cab mount relocation to fully clear larger anything more than a 32" tire. 

If you are looking for mods for your 4th Gen Tacoma, make sure to stop by our website where you can find everything from wheels and armor to roof racks and lighting for your truck!