So I spent the past few weeks beating my head against the wall trying to figure out what the largest widest tire I could fit on my '04 TDI without having to do some major work. Finally from a couple of rough dimensional extremes mentioned on here I bit the bullet and ordered the 20" OZ's and 295/45R20 BFG G-Force tires. Everything else I seemed to look at and like the design of specifically the Nitto 420s kept jumping from 29" all the way up to over 31"s and just didn't seem to be as wide as I was looking for for serious cornering. I knew the 30" area was what I was really looking for and mid 11"s on width. One member said he was running 12" wide on his Reg, but that seemed to be getting into the full size range and I've seen what a 12" wide tire does to Ball Joints. So as you guys said the tires I chose which measure out to 30.5"x11.5" kissed the intercooler vent. So I took off the access plastic to take a peak inside. It's clear to see that there is a hard boot that the vent goes up against. But from the picture below you can see it doesn't sit flush in it as it is supposed to. There is nothing to pull the wheel plastic forward, just a bunch of different pieces of plastic attached to each other. On the large trucks I never cut the plastic out. Most of the time the plastic is soft enough to get some good clearances. On some models like Ford SuperDuties I can get inches. On the Reg I was only able to get about 1/2" to 3/4" of and Inch but that was all that was necessary to clear. The fix is only about $5-$10 in parts and will allow you to push the envelope with out any major modification or hit to your wallet. It is recommended though to have the dealer recalibrate the system for the larger tires though at the next service appointment, but it won't hurt anything in the mean time as long as you don't go to the drag strip or have to hammer the brakes. Here's the pics:
My reason's for going to the larger rubber were not just aesthetic. I like to be able to cruise around 70-80 on the freeway which puts the RPM's a little high in the low to mid 2K range. Since higher gears aren't an option running a slightly taller tire should get it where I want it for street driving and it did. Now I can easily keep it in the 1500 to 2K range while cruising around. The Nittos are going back on whenever I go to the ranch or snow.
BEFORE:
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AFTER:
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THE FIX:
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BEFORE:
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AFTER:
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Upper BJ Clearance:
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Arm Clearance:
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My reason's for going to the larger rubber were not just aesthetic. I like to be able to cruise around 70-80 on the freeway which puts the RPM's a little high in the low to mid 2K range. Since higher gears aren't an option running a slightly taller tire should get it where I want it for street driving and it did. Now I can easily keep it in the 1500 to 2K range while cruising around. The Nittos are going back on whenever I go to the ranch or snow.
BEFORE:
AFTER:
THE FIX:
BEFORE:
AFTER:
Upper BJ Clearance:
Arm Clearance:
