Cooper ST Maxx vs BFG AT KO2

doubleroses

Adventurer
On my Tacoma I ran them as a DD. They did great in the rain and were smooth after I ran them at 32PSI. On my 4Runner I ran them strictly for off road use. I think the best way for someone to get the most out of their off road tire is to have two sets of tires. You have your DD set of tires and then a dedicated pair for when you overland and go wheeling. Those tires aren't cheap. I still have a set of steelies for a Tacoma if you're interested. When I initially got my Tacoma I had the stock set of tires and rims and then I found a set of used Duratracs that I put on some steelies. I rocked the steelies/duratracs combo all over Ouray with no problems. In fact, the same Duratracs are on my wife's DD Land Cruiser that I took to 100's in the Hills this past year.
 

bijanjames

Adventurer
Doubleroses, would you recommend the ST MAXX's for a daily driver in the front range?

I am running a 265/75r16 Maxx in Denver. My Frontier is heavy (5,200lb) and I love the overall performance of the tires. They are heavy, and have a firm ride compared to a milder AT, but you get a much more durable tire. I rotate 5 and am getting even wear at 7k miles. Very good tire in snow and I have tested them on classic CO trails. They are quite on the highway, but you definitely hear them going around slow speed corners due to lug slap.image.jpg
 

01tundra

Explorer
I've got 36,600 miles on 235/85R16 ST Maxx's on my '03 Tacoma and they are still going strong. They have a little over 8/32 of tread left and have been great all-around tires.

Good wet traction, smooth, quite, do great in the snow & ice, good off-road & good in the mud. We are getting ready to replace the Duracraps on the FJ with them as well and when I'm ready for new tires I'll be going back with the exact same thing.

I've ran many of the popular tires out there and the Cooper ST Maxx are the best all-around I've ever had. I plan to get somewhere around 45k miles out of them before replacing them.

The only negative I can come up with would be weight, but on the positive, they are a 10ply tire with a strong sidewall.......unlike any BFG's that I've run.
 
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cr500taco

Adventurer
I've got 36,600 miles on 235/85R16 ST Maxx's on my '03 Tacoma and they are still going strong. The have a little over 8/32 of tread left and have been great all-around tires.

Good wet traction, smooth, quite, do great in the snow & ice, good off-road & good in the mud. We are getting ready to replace the Duracraps on the FJ with them as well and when I'm ready for new tires I'll be going back with the exact same thing.

I've ran many of the popular tires out there and the Cooper ST Maxx are the best all-around I've ever had. I plan to get somewhere around 45k miles out of them before replacing them.

The only negative I can come up with would be weight, but on the positive, they are a 10ply tire with a strong sidewall.......unlike any BFG's that I've run.
Thanks for your input. I ordered my set ST Maxxs on Saturday. Planning on getting them put on this Saturday.
 

JduRunner

Observer
Thanks for that long thorough reply. I was thinking that with the more aggressiveness of the KO2's, they would be more in the ballpark of the ST Maxx and not the AT3 like the old KO. But, guess I was wrong. I did slme researching of AT tires and read in a few articles that the AT3 beat the KO in performance. That's what got me into researching Coopers. But, before that, I never heard of Cooper, I dont think.
The lack of 3 ply sidewall of the AT3 concerned me and that's why I started looking into thw ST Maxx.

I am getting 31x10.5x15 and my understanding is that tje ST Maxx are load C like my KO's.

Im sticking with getting the ST Maxx.

Thanks guys.





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There was someone on here that spoke with Cooper engineers regarding the sidewall construction of the AT3. The BFG uses 3 1000 denier plies where an E rated AT3 uses 2 1500 denier plies. So really in terms of total ply thickness they are the same. The ST MAXX (which I am currently running) adds an additional 1000 denier ply on top of 2 1500 denier plies. The MAXX is a heavy tire but I have been impressed with it, on my 4Runner aired down to 18psi in Moab there was plenty sidewall flexibility
 

WyoCherokee

Adventurer
I am running them (265/75/16 Maxx's 10 ply) on my 4,000lb XJ and i love em. I ran BFG At's on it before....Never again. Ever. Felt like i was on a snowboard flying down a hill anytime i was in snow or ice. Forget mud....useless. Rocks...Great. But these Maxx's.......awesome. I run em at about 25psi rear and 28 psi front for street driving and they do off road just fine. Rarelly do i air down to the teens.
 

pittsburgh

tacocat
I've got 36,600 miles on 235/85R16 ST Maxx's on my '03 Tacoma and they are still going strong. They have a little over 8/32 of tread left and have been great all-around tires.

Good wet traction, smooth, quite, do great in the snow & ice, good off-road & good in the mud. We are getting ready to replace the Duracraps on the FJ with them as well and when I'm ready for new tires I'll be going back with the exact same thing.

I've ran many of the popular tires out there and the Cooper ST Maxx are the best all-around I've ever had. I plan to get somewhere around 45k miles out of them before replacing them.

The only negative I can come up with would be weight, but on the positive, they are a 10ply tire with a strong sidewall.......unlike any BFG's that I've run.

Do you have any pics of your truck with the 235's? I am leaning towards this size in either the KO2 or the ST MAXX.
 

p nut

butter
I am running them (265/75/16 Maxx's 10 ply) on my 4,000lb XJ and i love em. I ran BFG At's on it before....Never again. Ever. Felt like i was on a snowboard flying down a hill anytime i was in snow or ice. Forget mud....useless. Rocks...Great. But these Maxx's.......awesome. I run em at about 25psi rear and 28 psi front for street driving and they do off road just fine. Rarelly do i air down to the teens.

How worn were the KO's? In my experience, past 50% wear point, they become almost useless. Not a whole lot of grip. The first 50%, though, they are rock solid on snow. KO2's seem to be performing just as well. They've been solid for me this winter.
 

PowerWagner

Explorer
Always check your tires

There's been a number of threads about the Cooper ST Maxx and I've posted on a few of them how much I liked the tire over the BFG ATs and the BFG Mud Terrains based on how they wore (chunking) and performed while off-roading on my pig big. I run the 315 x 70x 17 and they had about 9K miles on them. That said, I went out to meet some friends in Parker, AZ to run a few trails and enjoy the weekend. I drove my usual 80 mph for about 350 miles from southern Cal, arrived and called it a night. The next morning I did a walk around the vehicle as I do each time before I go off-roading. I'm sure glad I didn't forget as I noticed in three of the four tires severe cracking of the rubber about a quarter inch from where the tire meets the rim. The cracking was pretty deep and I became alarmed after the long trip at high speed in a giant truck. Don't know how it happened but didn't notice before the drive. I bowed out of the morning run and ran up to Havasu to have the tires inspected. We un-mounted them and did the ole' pull up from the inside of the tire and lift. Sure enough, those cracks were very deep. Not sure what may have caused them but they didn't have any Coopers in stock and I wasn't going to lose the weekend to bad tires. I made a decision to buy a new set and the only ones they had four of were the new K02's. Put em on and drove back to Parker. My wife, who was with me, immediately noticed how much smoother and quitter these tires were and I tended to agree but of course they aren't as aggressive. They also handled better on pavement. I was a little worried about them because I chunked up the original BFG AT's that came with the truck and I knew I'd be wheeling in steep and very rocky terrain where I thought this may happen again. I'll tell you the new AT's did a great job with zero chunking. I even had to strap tow an early 70's FJ about 12 miles through loose and steep terrain with many sharp turns. Tires performed very well. Any way, thought I'd share a seat of the pants story that just happened as its an applicable comparison.

PS - Check your tires!!
 

p nut

butter
There's been a number of threads about the Cooper ST Maxx and I've posted on a few of them how much I liked the tire over the BFG ATs and the BFG Mud Terrains based on how they wore (chunking) and performed while off-roading on my pig big. I run the 315 x 70x 17 and they had about 9K miles on them. That said, I went out to meet some friends in Parker, AZ to run a few trails and enjoy the weekend. I drove my usual 80 mph for about 350 miles from southern Cal, arrived and called it a night. The next morning I did a walk around the vehicle as I do each time before I go off-roading. I'm sure glad I didn't forget as I noticed in three of the four tires severe cracking of the rubber about a quarter inch from where the tire meets the rim. The cracking was pretty deep and I became alarmed after the long trip at high speed in a giant truck. Don't know how it happened but didn't notice before the drive. I bowed out of the morning run and ran up to Havasu to have the tires inspected. We un-mounted them and did the ole' pull up from the inside of the tire and lift. Sure enough, those cracks were very deep. Not sure what may have caused them but they didn't have any Coopers in stock and I wasn't going to lose the weekend to bad tires. I made a decision to buy a new set and the only ones they had four of were the new K02's. Put em on and drove back to Parker. My wife, who was with me, immediately noticed how much smoother and quitter these tires were and I tended to agree but of course they aren't as aggressive. They also handled better on pavement. I was a little worried about them because I chunked up the original BFG AT's that came with the truck and I knew I'd be wheeling in steep and very rocky terrain where I thought this may happen again. I'll tell you the new AT's did a great job with zero chunking. I even had to strap tow an early 70's FJ about 12 miles through loose and steep terrain with many sharp turns. Tires performed very well. Any way, thought I'd share a seat of the pants story that just happened as its an applicable comparison.

PS - Check your tires!!

How old were the ST Maxx? Dates on the tires? Glad you were able to spot that before it was too late. I haven't run ST Maxx, but my local tire guys have said Cooper's QC has some issues, as they've seen more of them come back compared to others.
.
ps - where are the pictures of the PW on the trails????!!
 

PowerWagner

Explorer
How old were the ST Maxx? Dates on the tires? Glad you were able to spot that before it was too late. I haven't run ST Maxx, but my local tire guys have said Cooper's QC has some issues, as they've seen more of them come back compared to others.
.
ps - where are the pictures of the PW on the trails????!!

I haven't checked and honestly didn't think about it - good call. No pics from me - waiting for buddies to send me there's. The only ones I'm really interested in is towing the Toyota :)
Are you familiar with the area? Pussed out on taking the by-pass down to the "Launch Pad" on "Presidents Choice" and trying to run up the far left ledge...
 

cr500taco

Adventurer
There's been a number of threads about the Cooper ST Maxx and I've posted on a few of them how much I liked the tire over the BFG ATs and the BFG Mud Terrains based on how they wore (chunking) and performed while off-roading on my pig big. I run the 315 x 70x 17 and they had about 9K miles on them. That said, I went out to meet some friends in Parker, AZ to run a few trails and enjoy the weekend. I drove my usual 80 mph for about 350 miles from southern Cal, arrived and called it a night. The next morning I did a walk around the vehicle as I do each time before I go off-roading. I'm sure glad I didn't forget as I noticed in three of the four tires severe cracking of the rubber about a quarter inch from where the tire meets the rim. The cracking was pretty deep and I became alarmed after the long trip at high speed in a giant truck. Don't know how it happened but didn't notice before the drive. I bowed out of the morning run and ran up to Havasu to have the tires inspected. We un-mounted them and did the ole' pull up from the inside of the tire and lift. Sure enough, those cracks were very deep. Not sure what may have caused them but they didn't have any Coopers in stock and I wasn't going to lose the weekend to bad tires. I made a decision to buy a new set and the only ones they had four of were the new K02's. Put em on and drove back to Parker. My wife, who was with me, immediately noticed how much smoother and quitter these tires were and I tended to agree but of course they aren't as aggressive. They also handled better on pavement. I was a little worried about them because I chunked up the original BFG AT's that came with the truck and I knew I'd be wheeling in steep and very rocky terrain where I thought this may happen again. I'll tell you the new AT's did a great job with zero chunking. I even had to strap tow an early 70's FJ about 12 miles through loose and steep terrain with many sharp turns. Tires performed very well. Any way, thought I'd share a seat of the pants story that just happened as its an applicable comparison.

PS - Check your tires!!
That's not the first time that I have read about that issue. But, i was hoping that it was fixed. Maybe not.

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01tundra

Explorer
Do you have any pics of your truck with the 235's? I am leaning towards this size in either the KO2 or the ST MAXX.


235-85-16_zps4832ffd9.jpg
 

pittsburgh

tacocat
There's been a number of threads about the Cooper ST Maxx and I've posted on a few of them how much I liked the tire over the BFG ATs and the BFG Mud Terrains based on how they wore (chunking) and performed while off-roading on my pig big. I run the 315 x 70x 17 and they had about 9K miles on them. That said, I went out to meet some friends in Parker, AZ to run a few trails and enjoy the weekend. I drove my usual 80 mph for about 350 miles from southern Cal, arrived and called it a night. The next morning I did a walk around the vehicle as I do each time before I go off-roading. I'm sure glad I didn't forget as I noticed in three of the four tires severe cracking of the rubber about a quarter inch from where the tire meets the rim. The cracking was pretty deep and I became alarmed after the long trip at high speed in a giant truck. Don't know how it happened but didn't notice before the drive. I bowed out of the morning run and ran up to Havasu to have the tires inspected. We un-mounted them and did the ole' pull up from the inside of the tire and lift. Sure enough, those cracks were very deep. Not sure what may have caused them but they didn't have any Coopers in stock and I wasn't going to lose the weekend to bad tires. I made a decision to buy a new set and the only ones they had four of were the new K02's. Put em on and drove back to Parker. My wife, who was with me, immediately noticed how much smoother and quitter these tires were and I tended to agree but of course they aren't as aggressive. They also handled better on pavement. I was a little worried about them because I chunked up the original BFG AT's that came with the truck and I knew I'd be wheeling in steep and very rocky terrain where I thought this may happen again. I'll tell you the new AT's did a great job with zero chunking. I even had to strap tow an early 70's FJ about 12 miles through loose and steep terrain with many sharp turns. Tires performed very well. Any way, thought I'd share a seat of the pants story that just happened as its an applicable comparison.

PS - Check your tires!!

You have swayed me towards the BFGs


I like that! hopefully my 2nd gen will look good with that size.
 

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