Hankook MT #1...BFG MT KM2 8th place?

[01tundra]

just so people have reference, MT/R on the Goodyears doesnt mean mud terrain, it means Maximum Traction/Reinforced. they're not mud tires.

MT/R K's
MT/R's
KM2's
General Grabbers

the list goes on and on, these are not mud tires. they're rock and baja

Pssst....you may want to let BFG know that they need to correct their website....those silly people refer to the KM2's as "Mud-Terrain T/A® KM2" .

Then they have the nerve to call these other tires they have "Baja T/A's" and even claim that their "Krawlers" are specifically designed for "rock crawling".

just sayin'........

But I do agree with the MT/R classification that you refer to and will also say that there's never really been a BFG "mud terrain" that's performed stellar in the mud....but that is their intention.

 

[01tundra]

Looks like I'm going to get a good workout tonight..........

My torque convertor already sent me a card telling me how much it loves me !

 

[4x4x4doors]

I run BFG ATs on the 4x4 and have the last 5 or 6 years and am pleased with them. I haven't seen any tire yet that really works well in that red clay pigsnot they call clay but except for that I've been pleased.

My daily (little 4 cyl coupe) came with Hankooks I understand that performance in one doesn't translate to the other but the Hankook passenger tires are still looking good at 63K miles.

I'd certainly consider a Hankook on the 4x4. (Even though BFG supports the trail system with $$$$).

 

[thecriscokid]

Looks like I'm going to get a good workout tonight..........

My torque convertor already sent me a card telling me how much it loves me !


Wrestle those puppies on and let us know what you think. Why (again) did you ditch the Toyo's? I'm thinking of the Toyo's for my Tundra. Kind of looking at these now. I still have a solid month of snow tire driving to over analyze what comes next...

FWIW I didn't care for the KM'2s. Scary on packed snow trails and roads. kind of rough/hard to balance

 

[01tundra]

The only reason I sold the Toyo's was because I got a set of 37" KM2's as part of the BFG sponsorship for the 2008 Ultimate Adventure. Then I sold the KM2's because I got a set of MT/R's for the 2009 UA sponsorship. I sold the MT/R's as soon as I got home and put the 40" KM2's on it.

I'm not sure yet how they perform off road, but on road they are the quietest and smoothest tires I've ever had on this truck. They are every bit as quiet and smooth as the Toyo's, if not a little better. Since the Hankooks weigh in at 86 lbs and the Toyo's at 92.6 lbs, the Hankooks get the edge on weight also. The sidewalls on the Hankooks are thick and aggressive, they appear to be about twice as thick as the KM2's were.

As far as on my truck, they feel really good and it's now fun to drive it again. A vehicle this heavy simply needs an "E" rated tire in my opinion. Handling and braking differences are night & day, as compared to the previous 40"x14.50" KM2's............... it feels like I jumped off a Harley and got on a KTM dual sport :victory:

I just put a new set of BFG AT KO's on the '08 Tundra last week and the Hankooks feel as quiet and smooth as they do. They haven't been balanced, but I may go ahead and have this set balanced to try to get the maximum miles out of them. I can definitely say that as soon as we get my fiancé's FJ, it will be getting a set of Hankooks as well.

 

[NCtrail4R]

Truck looks great regardless of what tires are on it!

And this pick is just awesome. Spare takes up the entire bed!

[/QUOTE]

Now that you've had the Hankooks on for a while, how are they treating you? Would be great to hear a comparison to the other tires you've run!

 

[01tundra]

Thanks.

So far so good, they have delivered as advertised both on the road and in the mud, the jury is still out in rocky conditions and snow, but judging from the thickness of the sidewalls I think they will deliver in the rocks also......fingers are still crossed for possibly finding that perfect multi-use tire I've been searching for.

They are still new, so I say this with caution, but they have been really sure-footed in the rain and will plow through deep water on the road without hydroplaning. I find the wet performance to be a little bit of a surprise since there is no siping to speak of.......hopefully they won't turn crazy after they get some wear on them, only time will tell and I will be the first to tell on them if they start acting goofy ! If these fail in any application I put them through, my next set will be back to the Toyo M/T's most likely. To date, the Toyo's have been my favorite up until now, so far I give the Hankooks a slight edge for both on road performance and weight and they are definitely the first tire ever in 10 years to actually impress me in the mud (with I try to avoid like it is the black plague).

I decided to have them balance to avoid cupping, even though they were smooth as silk with no weight after I hand mounted them. I believe the worst tire had to have 6 or 8 oz of weight. I have caught myself speeding on the interstate and have had to start watching the speedo again because they are so quiet and smooth.

Here's a long-winded follow up thread I posted over on TS -


"We had to get up a pretty nasty, muddy hill this past weekend while we were in our '08 Tundra (with brand new BFG A/T's on it). I thought for sure we would walk right up it, but I couldn't hardly even get the truck to the move at the bottom of the hill. After making about six failed attempts we started talking about driving an hour home to get the white Tundra, but knowing it as well as I do from past experiences, I told Andrea that I'm pretty sure that it won't make it any farther, unless the Hankooks really were as good as the reviews in the mud.

So we rolled the dice and drove all the way home to get the '01 out. I rolled up on the hill and after looking at it, decided to not even bother airing down since I knew after the first try I'd just be airing back up and going home denied. So with 30 psig in the tires, I decide to ease up to the hill and test the waters before giving it a full-on assault . As I started up the hill the truck was barely spinning the tires, so I decided to try a steady throttle up the hill. When I got out at the top of the hill I was surprised to see that the tread had fully cleaned itself out, something that I haven't seen with any of the multiple tires that have been on my truck over the years.

I can tell you that after running multiple sizes of Micheline A/T's, Bridgestone Revos, BFG A/T's, Goodyear MTR's, Goodyear MT/R w/ Kevlar, BFG M/T's, BFG KM's, BFG KM2's, & Toyo M/T's that the Hankooks are the best all-around tire I've ran to date. They are as smooth and barely more noise than the BFG A/T's I just put on the '08, and keep in mind that they are considerably larger tires. I wish we would have put them on the '08 also now."

-and-

"The Hankooks are every bit as aggressive as the Toyo M/T's, if not a little more (plus they're less expensive, a little lighter, and better on the road). If you could see (and feel) the difference in the sidewalls between the Hankooks and the 40" BFG KM2's I was running you would understand what I'm talking about. The 37" Hankooks are only 1 lb lighter than the 40" KM2's......that's all sidewall ."

 

[FellowTraveler]

MTR cupping question?

I agree with the assessment of the KM2. It's not very good in mud or snow. From my experiance they don't clean out in our caliche clay. They did balance well, and a wearing OK at 10K. I don't trust the sidewalls. They are a much lighter constructed tire than the MT/R. I air down to 22 PSi with the KM2's to get a similar sidewall bulge I had on the MT/R's at 16 PSI.

I had a set of the GoodYear MT/R Kevlars on the truck, and I rate them very high on the traction end of things. I had the opportunity to run the same roads in similar conditions with both KM2's and the MT/R's, and the MT/R's blew away the KM2's. I didn't need either front or rear locker with the MT/R's. It's unfortunate that my Power Wagon didn't like them. They cupped very quickly. I had them mounted black wall out, and perhaps that effected the wear.

I'll be looking at the new General Grabber next time.

Not meant to jack topic, if a problem sorry!

I'm guessing I need a lesson in "tire cupping", thanks in advance.

The term "cupping", has confused me for some time in that what I read in different articles does not seem to apply to my issues with the 285/75/16 (e) MTR's. I had went through two (2) sets of MTR's using them under all conditions and at suggested tire pressures the outside/inside lugs would right away wear excessively with one edge of each lug wearing so much the tires when viewed from the side looked like a saw blade.

No one not even the tire dealer had an answer why? Some suggested front suspension/steering wear, but I have run Moog problem solver parts, poly bushings and HD shocks the suspension is tight I'm thinking it's not a suspension wear issue, but an issue with breaking actually causing the excessive wear when stopping such a big heavy MPV.

The Silent Armor "K" does not do this.

 

[BEVAN]

Good Stuff 01Tundra, I believe I have just decided to replace my Truxus mtr's with the Hankooks...I WAS set on the KM2's but am glad I read this.

I freaking love expo !

 

[bobcat charlie]

I'm now at 21K miles and 3 rotations of my 315/70/17 Hankook MTs Load range E and can't be happier. No obvious tread wear. Smooth ride. A little road humm but I'm already hard of hearing so no problem. Ride quality is good. Wet road traction is good. Off road traction on Sierra fire roads is excellent! Not great in up hill sandy surface...don't know what would have been good (I think my BFG ATs were better in sand). Only did one trip into the snow and didn't really challege the tires but expect they will work well in real snow. I do like these tires!

 

[Fargo]

I put Hankooks on my car a few years ago and I really liked them. I've been tempted to try them on my Jeep as well. Now this thread really has my thinking about them again.

 

[VanIsle_Greg]

I have had a set of these for the past 9 months or so...sadly they have seen mostly daily driver use, but have also seen some trail and a bunch of snow. I have a 2000 Cherokee with a set of 31"x10.5x15 and I must say, they are a stellar tire.

Excellent dry traction, not too loud either? I think my Toyo Open Country AT's were louder? In the rain they are very good and actually surprised me at the level of traction they offer.

In the snow they performed well, not as good as a dedicated snow tire, but very well considering the size of the tread blocks. I drove around almost all of the time in 2WD, and only hit 4HI when is got greasy... they were fun.

Offroad has been limited to a few light trail runs, some minor mud and rock, typical Vancouver Island back country roads. They were great and never lost traction...even at 32 PSI.

They balanced easily, they ride smooth, are not too loud and overall exceed all of my expectations. I will definitely buy Hankook again. The quality is superb and I see little to no wear after 10,000 KM.

Two thumbs up!

 

[Fireman78]

When you spend 1600 bucks on a set of tires, you can believe the quality and performance is a main concern. Just put on my second set of KM2's. Very, very happy with them. I have aired down to 18psi many times, never ever had a flat or a sidewall issue, never lost a bead. Got about 40K miles out of them before replacing. They wore well and took me everywhere.

 

[01tundra]

I have been a die hard BFG KM2 fan since they came out, and KM's before that, and M/T's before that. I have owned about 15 different sets of BFG M/T's over the years and have had three sets on my Tundra over the past few years. Up until a few months ago, I was adamant that the KM2's were the best all-around tire choice out there. My only major complaint was how easy it is to cut side walls, I have personally killed four KM2's and have seen numerous sidewall failures on various vehicles, some could be expected, some totally unjust.

I can say with 120% confidence that even if the Hankook sidewall strength ends up being equal to the KM2's, they are hands down better in every aspect for me on my vehicle. Now I'm also willing to bet that the Hankooks sidewalls are substantially tougher than the KM2's.

That's not to say that the KM2's are junk tires, but I think they are way over priced and the sidewalls suck......and yes I have had this discussion with the man that designed the KM2's on several occasions .

On a lighter vehicle, the KM2's would be fine, but I think you would be mildly surprised by the Hankook (both on & off road). The Toyo M/T's were my all around favorite tire out there, but I simply can not get past the weight of them. The Hankooks are better on the road than both the KM2's and Toyo's on my truck. On a lighter vehicle I imagine the Hankooks would ride rougher than the KM2's due to the E-rating though.

So bottom line is that you have to find a tire that matches well to your intended use and your specific vehicle. The KM2's, Toyo's, Hankooks, Coopers, etc are all good tires for certain vehicles. It's just like with the MT/R's w/ Kevlar.....I can say that they were the worst tires that I ever rode on, in every department, and I will never own another set of Goodyears, but there's plenty of people that will report just the opposite.

I'm glad to hear that others are having good results with Hankooks.....I was worried that I was losing my mind. I'll say that when I first started reading the rave reviews about them from the FJ crowd I was slightly more than skeptical, but my initial skepticism has thankfully been proven incorrect.

 

[marshal]

I agree with the assessment of the KM2. It's not very good in mud or snow. From my experiance they don't clean out in our caliche clay. They did balance well, and a wearing OK at 10K. I don't trust the sidewalls. They are a much lighter constructed tire than the MT/R. I air down to 22 PSi with the KM2's to get a similar sidewall bulge I had on the MT/R's at 16 PSI.

I had a set of the GoodYear MT/R Kevlars on the truck, and I rate them very high on the traction end of things. I had the opportunity to run the same roads in similar conditions with both KM2's and the MT/R's, and the MT/R's blew away the KM2's. I didn't need either front or rear locker with the MT/R's. It's unfortunate that my Power Wagon didn't like them. They cupped very quickly. I had them mounted black wall out, and perhaps that effected the wear.

I'll be looking at the new General Grabber next time.

it did effect the wear on the MT/R's being mounted blackwall out. there is a reason the sidwall says "this side outboard"

give them another Go when they're mounted properly. and i can give you a bit of advise from the Jeep world. black shoe dye will make the white letters black permanently