Do You Need To Regear With 33 Inch Tires For The Tacoma?

Do you own a Tacoma?

Do you own a Tacoma with 33-inch tires? Are you debating whether or not to regear those 33-inch tires?

If these are situations you currently find yourself in, look no further for answers!

Do you Need to Regear With 33 Inch Tires for the Tacoma?

You do need to regear with 33-inch tires for the Tacoma. Making the gear changes on the vehicle’s tires, while it is not necessary, would be in the vehicle’s and your own best interest. Regearing with 33-inch tires has many benefits to its overall performance on the road.

To learn about these benefits and some of the warnings when considering to regear with 33-inch tires on a Tacoma.

Benefits of Regearing With 33-Inch Tires

If you were to choose not to regear your 33-inch tires, while the amount of power and force would be less, it would not be an exceptional difference than if you did. 

The majority of where the difference would be felt would be during acceleration on freeways or inclining at higher elevations.

That being said, choosing to regear would provide the tires and vehicle more capability and freedom as to where it can go and perform well without any major issues. 

You can regear most tires that come already installed on the Tacoma, but the 33-inch tires are the most regularly requested to have regeared.

The gears that come on the Tacoma vary from generation to generation.

When you purchase a 2nd generation Tacoma, which has a 4.0L, they are typically produced and sold with stock gears that have 3:73. 

On a 3rd generation, with the engine being 2.7, the typical ratio coming out of production is 3:909.

The 2nd generation is the most common to have the tires regeared, as that is the model that benefits from it the most. 

While it is not recommended for all models of the Tacoma, the company does have the option for you to regear to a 5:29 ratio, upon request.

Because the regearing process does not add any weight to restrict the vehicle when adding larger tires, it is a good upgrade to consider if you are concerned about the vehicle not having proficient enough acceleration and inclining potential.

This is a great option to have available if you take your Tacoma off-roading frequently or into rougher terrains than just on the main roads. 

The regearing will allow the tires more stability and durability.

Warnings When Regearing With 33-Inch Tires

Regearing has many benefits and has been proven to be an effective enhancement to the vehicle’s performance, as well as the driver’s and passenger’s driving and riding experiences. 

However, as with most improvements that are optional and up to the owner’s discretion to make, there are aspects of regearing your 33-inch tires that all Tacoma owners who are considering the process, should be aware of.

The majority of the time, if you are driving on main roads regearing isn’t necessary and wouldn’t create much of a difference or an improved experience from your original tires and gears. 

While people do go off-roading with 33-inch tires, it is more common and recommended that 34-inch or 35-inch tires are used for those vehicles.

If you have those size tires on your vehicle, it is more of a necessity to get them regeared, but where not all 33 -inch tires are guaranteed to be on rougher terrain, there is not such a strong recommendation to get them regeared.

If you do move forward with regearing your tires, another point you should be aware of is the cost associated with the process.

Typically, the pricing for the gears alone comes in at an average of $1000. 

The cost for labor varies between the source of where you choose to have them installed, but an average baseline is $1000+.

While it is an option to add an air locker, it is another additional $1000+.

In adding that all up it can come to an expensive total of $3000+. 

This total is all dependent on who you go to install the gears, but it is not a cheap process in any sense.

Doing so could actually result in doing damage to the wheel wells, rather than not moving forward with the regearing of tires. 

This is obviously a personal call and can be done according to the owner’s desires, but professional recommendations are always available if you are considering one way or the other.

How Regearing Your Tires Affects the Rest of Your Vehicle

The need to regear your tires comes from the installation of larger tires than the vehicle originally came with. 

When you place larger tires on your vehicle, you cannot leave the original gears on, most of the time simply because they will not fit the original gears, but also because the heavier, more sizable the tire, the more sturdy the gears need to be to hold the tire in place due to the force being put on the tire and its gears.

As you increase the size of the tire and gears on the vehicle, they will affect your vehicle in several different ways. 

Be aware that the varying tire and gear sizes affect your vehicle in their own ways, these are just general points of affection.

One way is adding height to the base of the cab, as well as the width of the tire’s tread, allowing the stability that is desired.

Another way is an additional grip of the tire to the road.

This is helpful in multiple situations, including heavy snow and ice, worn down roads, and assisting in avoiding hydroplaning.

One other way is having more of an awareness of the level of air in your tires. 

While most vehicles nowadays have a system in the dashboard that will tell you automatically if or when and which tires are low on air and how urgent it is to fill the low tires; it is a comfort to know that you can diagnose your tires yourself and make that call yourself without relying on technology that can often misdirect and give skewed information.