Hydroplaning KM2s

[Desert Dan]

This is BS


"The BFG rep told the Discount Tire manager that KM2s were not intended for highway use, just offroad."

 

[RttH]

I ran km's and they were very slippery in snow, and rain. I now have km2's and have had better luck. They were surprisingly good last winter and even today in a major down pour I had zero performance problems. I run a heavy long wheel based vehicle and maybe that helps? I am at 20k miles on them and rotate them with every oil change. So far this has been my favorite tire, (33x10.5x15) sorry you are having a different experience.

 

[78Bronco]

I have run 265/75/16 km's and 35x15.5x15 km's on my dakota.
If you are driveing your vehicle like it had stock tires, they are scary and will break loose in rain.
Remember you're driveing an light solid axle vehicle with a short wheelbase, going around twisty bends with wide mud tires in the rain.....well that's not the smartest thing to do; IMHO it's not the tire's fault it's yours. Then again i'am the one to talk, I'am driving a truck with a fiberglass bed with no spare tire or rear weight at all. I cant even do more then 1/3 throttle when it rains without breaking the back loose; so how do I cope? I drive the Mitsubishi montero when I can.
After all, they are they are mud tires with little syphing and have flat patches of rubber hitting the road; point is drive accordingly.
Bashing a specific brand of tire because you didn't match the load capacity/tire width with with your vehicle is not BFG's problem.

X2

A light short wheel base rig with a high-ish COG paired with a MUD tire designed for offroad performance will not suit your driving conditions 100% of the time. If driving in rain is a major concern than you need a tire designed with this in mind. I live in a rain forest and never had any issues with MT's in the rain but the KM2 is a different breed all together. Looking at the tread pattern it is easy to tell there could be issues with water distribution at speed. Sell the tires and move on.

 

[Hilldweller]

This is BS

"The BFG rep told the Discount Tire manager that KM2s were not intended for highway use, just offroad."

That was my exact response.
How could they build a tire, market the heck out of it, and claim that you shouldn't drive it to work?

I spoke with the BFG people last year at the big 4WheelParts show in Atlanta last summer specifically about this tire in this size on this vehicle. I told them how and where I drive, that I was already running MTR/kevlars and how they performed. I told them that I was hoping for similar performance but in a lighter tire for improved gas mileage. They agreed that it would be the perfect tire for me.

Sell the tires and move on.

Tomorrow.


A little contrary to Martyn's tire buying philosophy, I believe that you need to buy a tire based upon where it might save your skin in the worst-case scenario. My "stucks" around here are in muddy patches. Nasty, clay-based or silt-based basins of Satanically-inspired sticky mud.
I can winch out of mud but it's rarely an attractive option...

The KM2s are great in mud; they clean out like flexible icecube trays.

It's 2010. The MTR/Ks have set a standard for all-around performance; the other tire companies have to match that to compete.

 

[Donsfast]

I have had great luck with BFGs and hate to run anything else, I cant knock Goodyear MTs as I know many people running them and they do like them as well. Like previously mentioned by others tires are like shoes and we all wear something different.

 

[Redline]

Very good point, and my experience is the same. Just about any tire will do for me, on/off road, but when it gets sloppy/muddy/wet, an MT goes much further, more easily than a tire with less void and better highway manners.

A little contrary to Martyn's tire buying philosophy, I believe that you need to buy a tire based upon where it might save your skin in the worst-case scenario. My "stucks" around here are in muddy patches. Nasty, clay-based or silt-based basins of Satanically-inspired sticky mud.
I can winch out of mud but it's rarely an attractive option...

The KM2s are great in mud; they clean out like flexible icecube trays.

 

[Martyn]

Reading the posts I believe we all have a good idea of the % usage of our tires. What varies is the selection of the tire based on the percentage usage.

If you choose to run MT tires year round when you only encounter mud 15% of the time, then 85% of the time the tire is less than adequate for the conditions.

So long as you understand this and drive accordingly it shouldn't be a real issue. As Redline said having more than one set of tires seems to be the ideal solution.

 

[DaveInDenver]

Reading the posts I believe we all have a good idea of the % usage of our tires. What varies is the selection of the tire based on the percentage usage.

If you choose to run MT tires year round when you only encounter mud 15% of the time, then 85% of the time the tire is less than adequate for the conditions.

So long as you understand this and drive accordingly it shouldn't be a real issue. As Redline said having more than one set of tires seems to be the ideal solution.

Ideal only if you have the finances and space for that. Not to mention if you are driving to the trails then you are still dealing with a compromise. I mean, if it's raining enough that muddy trails are going to be a problem then probably the chance of hydroplaning on pavement is higher, too.

 

[Martyn]

Ideal only if you have the finances and space for that. Not to mention if you are driving to the trails then you are still dealing with a compromise. I mean, if it's raining enough that muddy trails are going to be a problem then probably the chance of hydroplaning on pavement is higher, too.

I'd agree with that, so it takes us back to tire choice being a series of compromises based on usage, and as you say $$.

 

[DaveInDenver]

I'd agree with that, so it takes us back to tire choice being a series of compromises based on usage, and as you say $$.

Yup, always compromises.

FWIW the way I typically deal with this has been tire chains. With these MTs I have not needed them as much (albeit with the pavement idiosyncrasies) but with my more typical AT setup in mud and busting snowfields chained up ATs work as well or better than barefoot MTs. So there are multiple ways to approach the problem of changing requirements of our tires besides just winching if your tires are not up to a particular task. The argument against chains is a question of percentages, though. My needs are quite a bit smaller than I would imagine a person in Georgia in terms of mud. A hundred yard mud hole on a 10 mile trail is easier to handle with chains than if your whole drive would require them. Thus I'm not suggesting that it's necessarily a preferable option. But they do meet my needs well, in that they work like the dickens when I need them and otherwise I have a better tire for packed snow, wet or dry roads, etc. Deep sand is really the only place I find ATs + chains have a gaping hole compared to MTs.

 

[bronconut]

Could running a "E" rated tire on a light Jeep be part of the problem? Just throwing it out there for discussion.

 

[off-roader]

I second the suggestion that this may have a lot to do with the jeep being so light.

I've been running 35x12.5x15 KM2's for just over a year now on my built Montero without any hydroplaning issues except on snow but IMHO that should be expected.

I do try drive much more carefully on road after a 'fresh' rain simply because in N. Cal where I am, the bigger problem is the road grime/oils make the roads slicker than snot after a first rain and that's usually when the crazy's are out.

 

[01tundra]

Must have a lot to do with vehicle weight because I hit several inches of water on the interstate coming into Atlanta a while back and it never once hydroplaned. I have yet to have these tires hydroplane, but my truck weighs around 6,800 lbs also.

 

[tdesanto]

I've always been curious to know if alignment can play a factor in hydroplaning.

Anyone know if, when the toe is off especially in the front and more on one side than the other, that could help cause the tires to become separated from the surface during heavy rains?

 

[RusM]

I think a far more likely cause of the troubles Bill had with these tires might be that the set of four tires he has are bad in some manner. Especially his experience is so different than everyone else's. From the people I know in my area that have had both the KM2 and MTR/K, the MTR/K is marginally better in their opinion, but not enough better to justify getting rid of your current tires for new ones.