Back to BFG AT, KO2

[btfarm]

These are DEFINITELY not for gravel roads. I know a guy in rural western Illinois with miles of gravel and he destroyed a set in less than 20k

 

[BIGR]

Very nice Mike. Any idea how those will go in the snow and ice. I know half worn all season tires on theses 2500HD trucks are useless in wet snow. One reason I bought an extra set of wheels and mounted Bridgestone Blizzak 965's on them, after my butt about went off in the creek years ago. I even had a moment last year with the Blizzaks in a wet snow trying to go up my old driveway where I use to live. I was easing along up the hill since I have water breaks(killed my momentum) in the driveway. I got near the top and the truck started spinning in 4 wheel drive and was stalled out. If I backed up and lost control to my left is a 80 foot drop off into the creek. I got out with my little snow scoop and removed the deep wet snow from in front of the tires. I finally made it to the top after that. On hard packed snow and ice the Blizzak 965's will back up the same grade.

I have come to the conclusion that these big heavy trucks are about useless in some situations.

 

[btfarm]

This is my 4th set on this truck and I've had 3 other sets on other 3/4 ton GM trucks. I have had nothing but success with them on snow of all types and depths.

 

[3500GMC]

The last set of bfg's (original AT KO) I bought was for the ol 84 k10. 32-11.50-15. It made that truck drive like a new one. Was a beast in the snow and off-road and very seldom had to get out and 'lock in the hubs'.. Remember those days? Lol

 

[THEFERMANATOR]

I tried them one time on a Dakota I had(31x10.50x15), and they scared me so bad in the rain I went back to Sam's Club after 3 days, and ordered a set of Michelin's. The noise wasn't to bad, the MPG dropped 2 MPG over the bald GOOD YEARS I took off, but it rained and the truck became undriveable. You couldn't look at the throttle without spinning the tires, and braking was just as scary. After a normal braking stop resulted in me going off into the median so I could get traction in the grass, I parked it until my Michelin's came in. Had a friend who had a set with about 20K miles on them, still had 40% tread or so left, ended up on his roof in his full size Bronco because he caught some ruts in the road filled with water. I haven't been bold enough to try them on anything since.

 

[btfarm]

I've never had any trouble with these in rain. Maybe being at 7k+ curb weight is why.

 

[Will L.]

yeah, 10.5" wide on a little Dakota is not much force on the tire from the flat earth pushing up on it. Yeah, that's it- That's the ticket.

 

[BIGR]

Certain half worn, all season tires on wet pavement at 30 mph or so under heavy petal will require some serious steering corrections to avoid a spin out, I have been here more than once. The back tires were spinning and the rear end started around, a little harder to control than a 4000 pound vehicle.

 

[THEFERMANATOR]

The dakota wasn't as light as you might think, it actually weighed almost as much as a full size truck. Everytime I took it across a scale I want to say it was around 5000 pounds. And 10.5" was the cross sectional width, the actual tread width was around 8 inches, about the same as a 265 tire. I'm sure extra weight helps out some, but driving with them on that Dakota will stick with me forever.

 

[btfarm]

Agree to disagree... I have way over a quarter million miles on this very tire brand and tread with various levels of wear. All were 285-75 - 16 size. Worth every dollar to me. The fact is, probably nearly 50% of the 3/4 ton trucks in rural and semi rural areas of snow belt Midwestern states have these tires on them. BFG must have done something right. At least for this area of the country.

 

[Will L.]

Wow, didn't know Dakotas were that heavy, and yeah I was thinking like my 37x12.50x16.5 where the width meant actual tread on the ground.
I think maybe WarWagon has it nailed: The road surface making the difference. Because I dealt with the heat, and most our road trips were into Az, Ut, Ca, so that also took care of cold areas and wet. There is a lot of Az that the road felt way different, so maybe more miles there would have shortened the life more. Out of the 60k I would estimate 50 of it was southern Nv.

 

[BIGR]

First of all I am not trying to stir the pot or pick a fight about these tires. A person can read and make up their mind through more research than just one website. I went to a certain website that sells tires and found some reviews on it. I will not name the website, but it is well known. I found where some people had some issues with wet roads out of the reviews I read, but however I found way more reviews where people gave HIGH praise to this tire. Positive reviews far out weighed the negative ones. One of the vehicles that was having issues was a 2008 Chevy 4x4, 2500HD, crew cab as you will see. Not sure why some have trouble on wet roads and others don't even mention it?


Tire:
BFGoodrich All-Terrain T/A KO2On-/Off-Road All-Terrain
Vehicle:
2007 Toyota FJ Cruiser
3.5

• Miles Driven on Tires:
  4,000
  Location:
  CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, OH
• Driving Condition:
  Combined Highway/City
  Driving Style:
  Average

• 2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

Initial Review:
4,000 Miles on Tires
November 06, 2017
overall disappointing. i have purchased previous generation bfgoodrich tires of the same model with good performance. this new generation is a let down. so tired of seeing and feeling traction control light come on and kick in all the time when the roads are wet. no cornering confidence on wet roads vehicle slides at every turn. im afraid to see what happens when i soon have to drive them on ice and snow.


Tire:
BFGoodrich All-Terrain T/A KO2On-/Off-Road All-Terrain
Vehicle:
2016 Toyota Tacoma 4wd 2.25 In. Modified Leveling Kit
4.5

• Miles Driven on Tires:
  33,000
  Location:
  BOWLING GREEN, KY
• Driving Condition:
  Combined Off Road/Highway
  Driving Style:
  Average

• 3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:http://www.thetruckstop.us/forum/#

Initial Review:
33,000 Miles on Tires
November 02, 2017
I really like these tires. The only issue that I have is when starting from a stop on wet pavement they can slip quite a bit. I haven't had any noticeable trouble when cornering at speed with them though in wet pavement.
Off road they do amazing, just make sure you air down. I had gotten so used to them being so grippy in the mud and dirt that I started to forget to air down, during the dry summer It wasn't necessary. When i did get stuck in the mud / deep water I had to do it after the first fall rain and it was way worse. Once I aired down I drove right out. I have never gotten stuck at 15-18 psi. They just sling the mud off.
I have seen quite a bit of chunking and some tearing on the treads after doing some really hard driving through graveled and rocky roads, but I don't think that it's hindering the tires in anyway.
I've got about 33k on the tires and and have about 1cm (3/8inches) of tread still left on them from the original 1.2cm (15/32 inches).


Tire:
BFGoodrich All-Terrain T/A KO2On-/Off-Road All-Terrain
Vehicle:
2008 Chevrolet Silverado 2500 HD 4wd Crew Cab
Not Rated

• Miles Driven on Tires:
  13,000
  Location:
  NILES, MI
• Driving Condition:
  Combined Highway/City
  Driving Style:
  Easy Going

• 1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

Initial Review:
13,000 Miles on Tires
October 31, 2017
Trust the negative reviews on these tires. Don¿t make the mistake I did and think they are as good as the old style and ignore the negative reviews.

I have had many of the original version of this tire. These tires are not the same. I have 13,000 miles on my 2500HD and 15,000 miles on my wife¿s 2015 Suburban. Both sets are down to 7/32nd. These tire wear fast and easy. I have had 4 sets of the old versions on my other 3/4 ton trucks and they easily went 40-50k with tread to spear. I will be lucky to get 25,000 miles out of these. Also the wet traction is terrible with both truck, you can lose the rear end like your on ice with just a wet road. I do not recommend these tires.


Tire:
BFGoodrich All-Terrain T/A KO2On-/Off-Road All-Terrain
Vehicle:
2015 Ford F350 4wd Single Rear Wheel Regular Cab
3.5

• Miles Driven on Tires:
  27,000
  Location:
  MALDEN, MA
• Driving Condition:
  Combined Off Road/Highway
  Driving Style:
  Spirited

• 3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

Initial Review:
27,000 Miles on Tires
September 30, 2017
I hope this review puts better perspective for the business owner looking to run this tire year round. These tires on the front of a plow truck--expect the outter tread row closest to the rim face to wear down to the indicators within 25,000 miles. On the rear axle they wear as expected, nothing fantastic though. Even when new leaving a set of lights if there's any dampness or actively raining, the rear wheels break traction--you almost have to crawl start. In snow/mud conditions it performs as expected, again better than most other tires, but not a miracle tire. In the dry it performs well, on a heavy truck there's sidewall flex in cornering--on a hot day taking an off ramp with the windows down you can hear the traction and the tread pattern flexing under load transfer. It's only an okay tire, but probably one of the best cost effective options out there for heavy duty pickup trucks that also need to work in snowy conditions. And one last thought, these tires do not balance well--they can be balanced, but they're never perfect.

 

[btfarm]

A point of reference I should make is that since I have always had these on 6 1/2" PYO rims, I run them at around 45 psi in order to get full ground contact instead of the 60 plus you would run on 8" rims. That, in itself, will make a considerable difference in traction. I have always read the tread of tires and frequently rotated to get the best life out of them going all the way back to the days before radial construction and likely before most of you gents were born...

Additionally, I am also running the KO2 version for the 1st time so, who knows... I may find out everything I thought I knew was wrong... I hope not, not at this price...

 

[MrMarty51]

A point of reference I should make is that since I have always had these on 6 1/2" PYO rims, I run them at around 45 psi in order to get full ground contact instead of the 60 plus you would run on 8" rims. That, in itself, will make a considerable difference in traction. I have always read the tread of tires and frequently rotated to get the best life out of them going all the way back to the days before radial construction and likely before most of you gents were born...

Additionally, I am also running the KO2 version for the 1st time so, who knows... I may find out everything I thought I knew was wrong... I hope not, not at this price...

That got Me to thinking. I know when I first started becoming concerned about tires, all there was seemed to be the bias ply tires. I did an innernet search and quickly found this article. I know Michelin was probably the main lead in radial tire construction, and so, read on. LOL
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radial_tire

 

[BIGR]

A point of reference I should make is that since I have always had these on 6 1/2" PYO rims, I run them at around 45 psi in order to get full ground contact instead of the 60 plus you would run on 8" rims. That, in itself, will make a considerable difference in traction. I have always read the tread of tires and frequently rotated to get the best life out of them going all the way back to the days before radial construction and likely before most of you gents were born...

Additionally, I am also running the KO2 version for the 1st time so, who knows... I may find out everything I thought I knew was wrong... I hope not, not at this price...

Also Mike, I would venture to say that your are a pretty danged good driver, that's been through some challenging conditions and weather. You know when to decrease speeds to avoid hydroplaning on a treacherous highway. You know what it takes to maneuver in snow and mud. And don't get me wrong I am not saying that the other guys that had issues are bad drivers either.

This day and age plus the way I see some people driving on a slick highway it does not surprise me a bit, that they have issues. The could have the best rain tire on their vehicle and drive like a maniac on a flooded highway and still loose control. Lets face it some of the drivers we have these days couldn't pass a severe driving skills test. Other words they drive above their ability or skill level, PERIOD. You and I learned how to drive on the farm, in the mud and snow. At times we played around in it, maybe we hit those curves on that dirt road a little sideways, playing around when we were younger. I don't claim to be a pro in any driving conditions but I have been on a wet skid pad more than once and had to regain control of the vehicle or put opposite steering input into it if the driving instructor kept the rear wheel locked down. Drove several other courses, did off road recoveries at 75 MPH or more, you name it. I know when its raining cats and dogs it might be high time to decrease speed so that hydroplaning does not happen or I can regain control if it does spin out. My theory is, there is nothing to prove to anyone. Hauling A$$ at an unsafe speed in rain or snow on a highway does not prove a thing about ones experience. If you are a pro and can do it and get by with it, go for it big boy, just don't loose control and hit my family or I in the process.

All that being said I hope the tires do work out for you Mike. In the future I wouldn't mind getting a more aggressive tire for off road for one of my two trucks. You will be the experiment as they would say.

 

[Big T]

I will vouch for the snow capability of the BFG AT KOs. I had the truck in several major snowfalls up at Big Bear Lake. One in particular where cars were getting stuck everywhere. Unbeknownst to me, the thermo 4wd actuator failed. Nearly got stuck, but made it and it was largely the BFG AT KOs. I always carry chains, but I think that I have used them twice. Otherwise, made it through some tough conditions where most everyone was running chains.

Still say they don't last and they are way too expensive, particularly for not having a tread wear warranty.

 

[BIGR]

Thinking about putting my Bridgestone W965's on my 2500HD for the rest of the winter. I have one more trip to Deer camp I might wait til after JAN. 1, if there is not a big forecast for snow. Got to bring the camper back so I don't want no issues during my 242 mile trip back home. My Michelin LTX MS2 tires are about worn out so they are useless in much of a snow. I would rather have the Michelins on since its a lot of interstate driving if I can get by with it.

Gonna get some Bridgestone Blizzak DMV-2 tires on my daily driver S-10 and see how that works out. I want to try and drive it this winter and if I tear it up so be it, I saved my 2500HD.

 

[tanman_2006]

Got pics of the worn tires?

I have 50k on these, my truck weighs 11-12k and is off road as often as on. I run 60psi rear and 80 psi front rotated every 10k with oil change.

 

[btfarm]

Those look about how mine did Tanner. I'm surprised you run different pressures front to rear. Ought to buck like a mule in 4wd.

 

[tanman_2006]

No, it howls running 60 psi all around and it chews front tires up if they aren't at 80. If I run the rears at 80 I will make the centers bald.

My truck is special when it comes running in 4x4.