25K miles on KO2 before I gave up

[pittsburgh]

I jumped ship from KO2's this year and switched to the Falken Wildpeak AT3.

BFG KO2's were great on everything but wet pavement for starting out. In light rain merging on to highway my Taco would fishtail with just a little extra throttle, starting out on hills or stop signs I would just sit and spin if I tapped the gas too hard, it was embarassing. One hill on my commute I would put the truck in 4wd if the red light stopped me close to the top. So far the Falkens have solved this problem and ride much smoother.

 

[SDDiver5]

boy oh boy I can relate to this on a serious level. My lessons, and you can check all 8 pages of my build regarding my tires, if you don't buy them brand new you're wasting your time. I found some takeoffs from a 2019 Raptor with the sexy raptor wheels that had under 5k miles and could not get them balanced to save my life. Had to drop 1600 big ones on a brand new set and problem solved. I will likely switch to another brand once these tires are done. Hopefully have 50k+ miles before that happens!

 

[Umbrarian]

KOs have not been a top tire in 15 years or more.

So many better choices out there.

 

[86scotty]

A little while back, I had bought a spare set of KM from a dude not too far from here (he's a ExPo member too!) and had them setting in my garage until the other day. They are now showing proudly on the Wrangler and I can't wait to get some miles on them!

So that's my janky review.

Well, you're welcome sir. Glad they went to good use.

Being a fan of KO2's for awhile now I had them on several vans, even a Vanagon Westy, then my JKUR (which is what I replaced what I sold you with) and now my Tundra. I guess I've bought 6 or 8 sets in the last 10 years. Anyway, a buddy of mine is running KO2's on his JL. We went to lunch today in the pouring rain and he nearly missed a turn. When he realized he was passing his turn he threw it hard left (in the rain) and we drifted like Pastrana. It was not pleasant or intended. He's got about 25k on the KO2's (more than any set I've had) and says he won't buy them again. He says loss of control in the rain is more frequent as the miles go up. That's too low of mileage IMO for a tire to be that unpredictable. I don't believe I'll buy another set.

I have had phenomenal luck with Toyo Open Country AT's.
I've heard great things about Falken Wildpeaks.
I also loved the durability and performance of two sets of Wrangler Duratracs I've had but they get hella noisy with age so they are out for me.

 

[04Ram2500Hemi]

I’m just under 10,000 miles on my Raptor and I’ve been pretty happy with the KO2’s. My brother runs the KO2’s on his Chevy Colorado Z71 and swears by them.

 

[NORDFORD]

I had Toyo open country at2 on my 15 Silverado. I don’t get the hype. Absolutely the worst tire I’ve run. I drive 35k/yr and usually replace tires around 55k miles. Bridgestone, Firestone, BFG, Michelin, Goodyear, Continental, Falken, ******** Cepek, I’ve tried em all. Toyos were by FAR the worst. After 25k miles, almost no wet traction. 4WD a must in any snowy, slick or muddy situation..,

 

[Mighty Dodge Ram]

See, that's funny. I put 25K miles on the tires and there is somewhere around 1/2 tread life left on them.

No such luck here...maybe 3 or 4 32nds at 25k miles when I reshod the truck. I really liked the tires for their performance but I can’t afford new shoes every 20 months. ?

 

[Mighty Dodge Ram]

I had Toyo open country at2 on my 15 Silverado. I don’t get the hype. Absolutely the worst tire I’ve run. I drive 35k/yr and usually replace tires around 55k miles. Bridgestone, Firestone, BFG, Michelin, Goodyear, Continental, Falken, ******** Cepek, I’ve tried em all. Toyos were by FAR the worst. After 25k miles, almost no wet traction. 4WD a must in any snowy, slick or muddy situation..,

Goes to show how we can have different experiences with tires. My AT2s have 36k miles on them and about 6/32nds of tread remaining...if only I didn’t have to shout above the howling. ? I’ll probably start looking at around 40k, I’m not necessarily brand loyal with tires. Two of the best tires I’ve run in the past...Pro Comp AT and Bridgestone Desert Duelers, both in LR-D. Not very ExPo. How did you like the Michelin’s? I just put some Defender LTX (p metric) on our Suburban and I’ve “heard” that those tires in the LT/M&S version work well. I might be interested in a more road friendly tire; good performance in snow a must.

 

[Todd780]

I also loved the durability and performance of two sets of Wrangler Duratracs I've had but they get hella noisy with age so they are out for me.

Agree with this. Got lots miles out of my 1st set of Duratracs. Which I why I bought a 2nd set to replace them. But yes, def get loud as they wear.

 

[Gear]

Just an FYI - I had 315/75r17 load range C on my 2018 Jeep Wrangler. Got 28,000 miles out of them. Was frustrated with the poor tread life. The kicker - I learned that they have a 50,000 mile warranty. Got my second set for $425 installed. Might be worth investigating.

 

[Superduty]

It seems there will never be any consensus on tires. Clear evidence in this thread (and any other tire thread on a forum). One person will say a tire is the best ever and then next person says it is the worst tire ever.

Doesn't matter which tire. At the end of the day, figure out which works best for you and your truck. I currently like the KO2s, but I haven't tried Toyo or Falken.

 

[Grassland]

I've not been super happy with either of my sets of KO2s especially for the price. I'm not mad, but not happy
LT235/80R17 and LT34x10.5R17 on same truck.

The 235 chunked tread in 90% fleet duty. Poor wet pavement and asphalt performance. Mediocrity in winter but that's fair being it's an all terrain with 3 peak rating. On road handling was way better than my OEM P235/75R17 Hankook garbage. No flats tho in the KO2 while the hannys had about 3 or more.
Gravel road performs was better too. Less side to side, but they do throw rocks.
And to be fair I ran them over inflated so they wore quicker than they would have .
Noise was good for such an aggressive AT.
Went up to 34x10.5 in load D
Don't have the chunking issues and that's with nearly 2 years in fleet duty. Look great. Good two track and gravel performance like before. reasonable quiet on highway. But suck so bad on wet pavement. And not good in cold winter weather. Still no flats and pulled an S1 electrical staple out of the tire without a leak.

For what I paid for them and that they wear too quick for how poor the winter performance is, I'll try something else next time around and run a dedicated winter tire.
They look great, are quiet for an aggressive tire, and have been good off pavement but they don't amaze me

 

[roving1]

Inherited 3 sets of KO2's. They were all awful. Excessive chunking and terrible cold wet road and snow performance. Seriously scary after about 2 years old the compound is garbage. Hugely inconsistent wear from vehicle to vehicle and size to size. Last 2 sets I got rid of at 60-70% tread because I did not want to keep them a second longer.

Most people never actually A/B test them with other brands they just upgrade from all seasons and then buy them for the rest of their life lol.