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I finally had the chance to install the 32.8” tall Toyo’s and so far am happy. In short they tires fit well, no rubbing at all and they seem to drive well. I haven’t had them off road yet but will.
Once I learned that the Pirelli scorpion’s were not true all season tires I decided to find some that I could drive up in the mountains of Tennessee. They need to be mud and snow rated and preferably have the mountain and snowflakes symbol.
The Toyo AT3 tires filled all the requirements and after a month I located four of the 305/45r22 tires.
The biggest problem of course was the fact that they were almost 33 inches tall and I did not know if they would fit.
When measured the tires were obviously taller but the cross-section did not seem to be much larger for the 305 tires. In fact the lug to lug measurements appear to be almost exact. The Perelli tires have a softer shoulder radius and so the cross-section seemed a bit broader.
Clearance of course was very tight. It was easy enough to put two small holes at the inner lip of the plastic fender liner. Using a small zip tie the fender liner can be drawn inward using part of the metal inner cooler tube as a point to pull against. At full lock on both sides the minimum clearance was just over a quarter inch. There was no clearance issues at any other point including the knuckles at the rear of the tire area.
I have driven the car about 25 miles since the install including bumps, potholes, and up the driveway curb at off angle and hard steered to the right. At no point did I hear any rubbing or feel any vibration.
This is all you can see of the cable tie are used to move the inner plastic fender liner. By using this tether point the fender liner can be moved away from the tire surface almost 1/ half inch.