Different wheels and a bullbar on a 2011 Hilux

[brickpaver]

I have just made a second unsuccessful attempt to fit a genuine Toyota bullbar to my 2011 Hilux.

Last year I purchased a good s/h bullbar with all the fittings and fitted it to my Hilux and while it looked nice and neat afterwards, It did appear to look a bit too low in the front of the vehicle,..almost too front heavy,...so I took it off and sold it again (for a nice profit).  A reputable towbar and bullbar retailer told me afterwards that I must have had the 4WD version,..inferring that there was a different and slightly different bar for my SR 2WD and that I should hunt up one of those.  He of course quoted me the price to supply and fit a brand new one (genuine) but the price of that frightened the pants off me.

Today I went to look at another genuine bullbar which while it was the exact same design, it was supposedly a bit smaller so therefore SHOULD hopefully be what I’m looking for,.....unfortunately it wasn’t smaller, it was in fact the same size as the previous one so it wasn’t going to be any better.

Now my question is,...would I achieve a better result if I had bigger wheels, say 16” or17” in place of my current 15” standard wheels or should I look around for a different type of bullbar that suits the vehicle.

I intend doing a few more trips across the Nullarbor to Kalgoorlie, Perth and back over the next few years and apart from the advantage of having a decent bullbar, it would also give me somewhere to hang my pair of very bright  9” Cibie Spotlights, in place of the comparatively  ‘average’ 7” Hellas that I’m currently using.

Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers,.................Lance S.

 

 

[campbeam]

I would be more inclined to consider fitting a nudge bar instead of a bull bar. It certainly should not make your vehicle too front heavy and give you somewhere to fit your 9" spotlights.

After doing a fair bit of internet searching, my current thinking /emphasis is upon fitting the best quality known brand tyres suitable for your vehicle and driving needs. I also have an "enhanced" hip-pocket nerve so I am inclined to stay with  the more readily available standard size tyre and wheel packages e.g 205/60/15, 215/60/16.

If you are going to fit larger wheels and tyres, just be aware of any potential speedometer error. 

https://tiresize.com/comparison/

 

[GC_AUS]

Lance,

2 cents…..

 

Careful about changing wheels for a few reasons,-

1. Will change gearing & affect economy (worse) - speedo out & higher loads on gearbox = shorter lifespan

2. Legalities in different states - some will pull you over & check the wheel size etc

3. Insurance may be void with incorrect wheels (check size allowance for your vehicle)

4. Potential scrubbing of guards or steering components etc

 

I hear your point that some genuine Toyota bars are a bit "frumpy" - have a look around at other Lux's & see which ones you like the look of - ARB, TJM, Opposite Lock etc all make good quality bars,- just check to make sure it is an air bag suitable bar with appropriate brackets etc.

 

Careful with alloy bars - they don’t really do much to save the car if you nudge one of those big bad grasshoppers. They are good to hang the lights off & they are light but alloy bars bend very quickly straight back onto the bonnet or into the corners in an off centre impact.  Remember one grasshopper & you have saved the cost of the bar.

rgds G.

[CONROD]

This looks neat on a 2wd, but as others have said you will lose more than you gain by sticking oversize wheels on just to make the bull bar look more in proportion

[brickpaver]

Conrod, the bullbar in your photo looks just like I visualise a good bullbar should look like,....unlike the ‘genuine’ bars that I’m referring to that appear to have a much lower front section when sitting on a standard size cab.  I’ll try and find a photo that I have of the one that I fitted and then removed again.

I forgot to mention before that my speedo is already out of whack by 7 or 8% so I am constantly using my GPS speed read to make sure I don’t tempt a speeding fine by overcompensating. I live out in the sticks a bit so when my speedo reads 100kph,..my actual speed (via the GPS) hovers around 93kph or if I’m up on the limit of 110kph (GPS)..my speedo reading will be nudging 119 to 120kph.

Im not sure which way this would go and understanding that a change of wheel size (say from 15” up to 16”) would alter the speedo reading somewhat,.... would that alteration bring the speedo back closer to a true reading or would it go the other way.

T.I.A......Cheers.

Edited October 16, 2018 by brickpaver
To include photo.

[Hiro]

If your speedo is currently reading over (which it is, and is also completely legal by the way), then going to a bigger rolling diameter will fix this (just make sure to not go too big and make the speedo read under.

[brickpaver]

4 hours ago, Hiro said:

If your speedo is currently reading over (which it is, and is also completely legal by the way), then going to a bigger rolling diameter will fix this (just make sure to not go too big and make the speedo read under.

Thanks Hiro, my gut feeling was that the next size up might go some way to correcting the speedo. Now if someone who has done it can perhaps tell me that 16” wheels will in fact fix it without causing any side issues, I will start looking for a set of 16”s straight away,....probably a set of mags.

Would I be correct in assuming that the SR5, in sitting higher off the ground than the SR, has a different suspension setup and 16” wheels, in which case, would SR5 mag wheels fit straight on to my SR.

    Cheers.

[Hiro]

12 hours ago, brickpaver said:

Thanks Hiro, my gut feeling was that the next size up might go some way to correcting the speedo. Now if someone who has done it can perhaps tell me that 16” wheels will in fact fix it without causing any side issues, I will start looking for a set of 16”s straight away,....probably a set of mags.

Would I be correct in assuming that the SR5, in sitting higher off the ground than the SR, has a different suspension setup and 16” wheels, in which case, would SR5 mag wheels fit straight on to my SR.

    Cheers.

Remember it isn't wheel-size that determines the change to the speedo, it is the total diameter of the wheel/tyre combo (normally when you upsize your wheels you go smaller on tyre sidewall so that the overall diameter is the same).

[CONROD]

Yeah mate that bar makes the front end look like a Big wart hanging off then end of your nose, Definitely suited to a 4x4

I put a set of Toyota Kluger 16x7 alloys on my SR Dual Cab with 235x60R 16 (100 Load rating) tyres, only paid $100 ea for the rims brand new ,boxed up with nuts, etc from Toyota spares dept (exceed rear axle Load rating )when I bought the ute brand new.

All legal exceeded Load rating requirements, rode well, No hanging out of the guards, and all original Toyota, also brought the speedo back to specs as per GPS

 

Edited October 19, 2018 by CONROD