TL;DR - The new wheels and tires look good, but they rub in places that are not acceptable. It's my fault, and I'm hoping to solve the problem with a couple 0.5" spacers.
Definitely no complaints in the bad-ass looks department.
Well, there's good news and there's bad news about the new 1st gen Sequioa Double 5-Spoke wheels and Kenda Klever RT tires that I recently installed. Let's quickly get down to business with my first impressions and what I'm going to do about them.
1st gen Sequioa Double 5-Spoke Wheels
Wheels can make a big difference in the driving experience with a truck. A 1st gen Tacoma was designed for narrow wheels - stock was a 7" rim - with 4.5" of backspacing in order to keep the wheels mostly under the wheel well. This wheel size also meant that narrower tires were called for, with something in the 11.5" range being about the widest that could be mounted.
Skinny tires tucked into the wheel well aren't everyone's cup of tea, and for that reason, many people move to wider - 8-8.5" - rims that can sport 12.5" tires, and 4-3.5" of backspacing, pushing the (already wider) tires even further out of the wheel wells. The SCS Stealth6 wheels that I ran for a year were this way and they looked great, but they covered everything in mud, so I got rid of them.
So, with that out of the way, my first impressions of the 1st gen Sequioa Double 5-Spoke Wheels:
Good
- They look great. Especially after (I wasted a lot of time) painting them bronze. While I've really enjoyed the simple look of my 3rd gen 4Runner 5-Star wheels, these Sequoia wheels have the style of the SCS Stealth6, which I thought looked fantastic, but with only five double spokes (which I like even better than six).
Stealth6 (left) | 4Runner 5-Star (center) | Sequoia Double 5-Spoke (right)
- The 17" size gives me more tire choice than the 16" wheels I was previous running.
- I like that they are still reasonably narrow wheels at 7.5", because that helps to keep narrow tires narrow, and reduce rubbing. (see the tire width section of What size tires fit my lifted Tacoma?)
Bad
- The 4.85" backspacing pulls the wheel/tire too far into the wheel well, and the tires rub on the coilover reservoir when making tight turns under compression. This is semi-specific to my situation, where my reservoir is mounted in the front of the wheel well, but if left unaddressed, I will eventually rip the reservoir out of its mount and likely ruin the shock/resi.
- While the 17" size does give me more tire choice, it's not as much as I'd hoped given my preference for skinny - ideally, 10" wide - tires.
- They are heavy. Each wheel weighs in at 27.5 lbs each. (The 4Runner wheels were 22 lbs each and the SCS Stealth6 were 20.3 lbs each.)
Still Unknown
- I don't know what I don't know. Duh.
Kenda Klever RT 33x10.5 R17 Tires
My new shoes.
I think it's important to recognize that all tire impressions are relative to whatever one knows or is used to. In that light, for as long as I've run 33" tires, I've been running Cooper S/T Maxx in a 255/85R16 size. Effectively 33x10, I've liked that these are a skinny tire, for several reasons:
- Skinny tires weigh less because there's simply less material.
- They are covered (more) by the wheel well, so less mud thrown onto the truck.
- They present a smaller profile, so there's less wind resistance (and noise) when traveling on the highway.
I've also liked many other aspects of the S/T Maxx
- They are a hybrid tire - more aggressive than an all-terrain (AT), but less aggressive than a mud-terrain (MT). They've never let me down from a traction perspective on wet/dry/snow pavement, dirt, mud, or rocks. I'm not a snow wheeler, so I can't really speak to snow.
- They are stout - Through five sets of five tires, I've never gotten a trail flat with the S/T Maxx. I've chewed up the firewalls and torn chunks out of the tread, but the tires have ticked along without a hitch.
- They last a long time - with regular rotation (at each ~7500-mile oil change), I get approximately 60-70,000 miles out of a set of five tires.
- The beginning tread depth is great - 18.5/32nds of an inch. Lots of traction with those deep lugs.
- Road noise isn't bad - this is subjective, but I think they are a relatively quiet tire.
- Least important - they look good.
That's not to say there aren't drawbacks:
- They are only available in E-load - stiff even at low tire pressures, they don't conform to variations in the road as nicely as a softer C-load tire would.
- They are expensive - each tire costs upwards of $350 or more.
- They don't come in narrow sizes above 33" on 16" rims.
So, given that as my starting point, my first impressions of the Kenda Klever RT:
Good
- They are a hybrid tire, and perhaps a little more aggressive than the S/T Maxx.
- Road noise isn't bad. I don't think these are any quieter than the S/T Maxx, but they aren't a lot louder, if they are louder at all.
- The rubber compound seems "softer" and "more flexible." This means that they conform to variations in the road quite nicely and provide a nicer ride than the S/T Maxx at the same tire pressures (15-19psi).
- They are less expensive than the S/T Maxx, with each tire costing around $265, or nearly $100 less.
- They are a little taller (larger diameter) than the S/T Maxx. This doesn't matter all that much because the difference is probably less than one inch, but it's still nice.
- The beginning tread depth is great - 19/32nds of an inch. Lots of traction with those deep lugs.
- They look good. Again, not all that important.
Bad
- They are heavy. Each tire weighs in at 61 lbs 13.5oz. I don't know exactly how much heavier the wheel+tire combo is than the S/T Maxx, but it is noticeable when handling the tires for rotations, loading onto the spare tire carrier, etc. This can't be good for gas mileage.
- They are wider than the S/T Maxx. Even though they aren't that much wider (0.5"), this makes for more rubbing in the wheel well, and for more mud flinging (though I've not yet experienced these tires in mud).
Still Unknown
- Traction in wet/snowy pavement, muddy/snowy trail, rocky conditions.
- Durability against trail damage. This is one that will take me a year or two to form an opinion.
- Lifetime. Again, I'll need to run the tires for at least a set or two before I can give a worthwhile opinion.
What's Next with the Wheels and Tires?
Obviously, I'm going to put a lot more miles on them! The combo looks great, and so far the tires seem to perform well, so I'll keep running them through various terrain until it's time for something new.
However, I do need to address the rubbing of the tire on the front coilover reservoir. If left unaddressed, I will eventually rip the reservoir out of its mount and likely ruin the shock/resi. To address this, I'll be adding the thinnest spacers I can, in an attempt to keep the tires under the wheel well as much as possible, while eliminating the rubbing.
Stay tuned.
Update 2024-10-09: I've added longer wheel studs and 1/2" spacers to address the rubbing.
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