So I finally ditched my KO2s today, and I'm pretty happy so far... after an ~8 mile drive home
.
When I was at the dealer getting them installed today, I spent some time talking to Southeast Toyota's tire "rep" about this tire and many of the others that I considered. A few interesting notes from him:
- He said that he's had good experiences with the Hankook tires, and has never seen a complaint with their AT tires
- Mentioned seeing and hearing lots of complaints about balancing the Falken Wildpeaks over the years and said it would be "mid-pack" for him, in my position
- Agreed that the KO2 is a great tire if you spend a considerable amount of time off paved roads, but is more than I needed
- I told him I came down to Geolandar and Terra Grappler G2, and he said he'd give a slight nod to the Geolandar because of road noise and wet traction.
- He did mention that the TG G2 is basically a cut rate KO2 with a P-rated option, and that's not a bad thing, but for my needs, the Geolandar would probably serve me better
So, they don't look as aggressive as KO2s but they also don't look as basic as a passenger tire. A nice in-between, IMO.
The difference in ride quality and noise was immediately noticeable. I do still think of the KO2 as a great tire... it's just more than I needed. Being back to the smoothness of a P-Rated tire with these Yokos feels like my old LS 430 in comparison to the KO2 though. Also a little quieter, but I never felt like the KO2s were "too loud." Last but not least, losing ~5lbs per corner, the truck does feel a little quicker on its feet, which is exactly what I wanted.
I have a road trip coming up later this week, so I can report back with more opinions later. Thank you to
@
Thai
and
@
MAST4R
for helping me in this search. Happy with where I ended up so far.