thanks for the input. I am referring to off road use. so, it would be best to go with a 9" wheel? In the future I plan on going up to 33x12x15 and those recommend 8.5" to 11" width wheel.
Probably yes. I've never owned a Taco, but 9s are likely a bit wider than most Tacos run with 12" cross section tires. Be careful selecting offset and backspace so that you don't mess up clearance with suspension components or body parts at full lock and full stuff. Too little backspace will put a strain on your steering and suspension. Best advice is usually to keep the new rim centerline within 1/4"+/- of where the stock rim centerline is. I'm running 35-12.50s on 8" on my Dodge and they are fine on those rims. Ran the same size tires on 7.5" with no problems. 12" tires on 9" rims may prevent you from using tire chains.
that makes sense about the tire harder to slip off a narrower wheel when aired down. there seems to be only a few tires available in 33x10.5x15. I am running 31' BFG's right now and BFG's are one of the few that are available in 33x10.5x15. But, I am going to try out Cooper Tires for my next set. if I like them over the BFG's, I am going g to stick with them. but, unfortunately, they are not available in 33x10.5x15. So, I will be stuck with having to get 33x12.5x15. I may be getting set of 31"s for daily driving and and another set of 31's that's more aggressive for off road use when going on trips. So, I will need to get a second set of wheels. the 15x8 will be good, because than I can use them for both the 31"s and 33"s. Just not ready to get 33"s, yet because, I'll probably need to regear and it seems that I need to get wider fenders to run the 12.5 wide tires.
that's why I posted here. to get feedback from people who actually use their vehicles they way I plan to, because they know.
Lots of this is backed up by reputable magazines and their road/tester-reviewers, some of whom are actual engineers and some of whom actually know how to write. I am not referring to your typical offroad/4WD publication, but to others such as Car & Driver, Road & Track, Motor Trend, AutoWeek, etc. The truck and offroad rags seem to be particularly sloppy in their test practices and writing/editing. The info about steering response, coefficient of friction, lateral acceleration, suspension and steering loads is covered in numerous books on race preparation for various types of vehicles. When I was more serious about this stuff (a long time ago), I used to go to the Millikan Library at Cal Tech to find the articles and papers that were not on the local news stands. The material is out there, is well documented, and can be found if you dig. Most tire company employees don't know much.
that is pretty neat. I played with it, but it only gave me metric size options.
yup, I found one. gives me a better idea on the metric sizes, so I can compare to what I have.
