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SCS Stealth6 Out, 3rd Gen 4Runner 5-Spoke Wheels In

TL;DR - To solve the problem with mud being flung everywhere with my SCS wheels that stuck out past the fender flares, I installed some new-to-me 1999 4Runner wheels on the truck, which sit under the fender flare. This solved the mud issue, but introduced a slight incompatibility with my new ADS front suspension - the tires rub on the shock reservoirs at full lock.

The 3rd Gen 4Runner wheels are already a welcome change to the truck from a functional perspective. Only 7½ inches wide and with 4.625 inches backspacing - a mere 1/8" more than the stock 2000 Tacoma aluminum alloy wheels - they pull the tires inboard just over an inch on each side of the truck as compared to the SCS Stealth6 wheels, which were 8 inches wide and had 3.5 inches backspacing. That inch means that the entire tread - and most of the sidewall - is completely under the wheel well and fender flares; flying mud no longer makes it onto the sides and top of the truck.

For the most part. And from that perspective, they are a huge win. I have even less mud on the truck than Igor does at this point.

Igor on the left, the Tacoma on the right.

However, perfection is hard to obtain, and they are not without their problems. Two have presented themselves so far; one I'd like to solve reasonably quickly.

  1. The first problem is that being an inch closer to the frame means that when I fully turn (lock) the steering wheel to the driver side, the front inside corner of the passenger side tire gets reasonably close to the frame (and vise versa when turning to the passenger side). It's not close enough to rub on the frame at all - there's probably a good 2" to spare - but the remote resis for my recently installed ADS coilovers are attached to the frame in that exact location and sit 2.75" off the frame...so the tires rub on them a bit at full lock.

    I'll need to relocate the resis to a different location so that doesn't happen anymore.

  2. The second (minor) issue is that I like the look of the SCS Stealth6 wheels more than these 4Runner wheels. I think it's mostly a color thing, so I'm going to let that go for a bit and see if the silver bling grows on me.

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