Are there any SUCCESS stories with KO2’s balancing? (Window shopping for now)

[pveezy]

When P-rated tires are mounted on a truck or SUV, the load capacity of the tire is reduced by a factor of 1.1 (roughly 10%) per FMVSS.

So what you're aiming for with an LT tire, is an inflation pressure which gives similar load capacity of the de-rated P-rated tire. That would cover the vehicle up to it's GVWR.

Ok, that makes total sense. So even though a 113S P tire on paper has a higher load rating than a 112S LT tire, when you mount it on a truck or SUV the load rating for the P tire gets cut back to where it’s actually less.

Do you know what the target PSI should be on a C rated tire on a 4Runner? I know the door sticker goes out the window when you change from P to LT.

 

[pveezy]

My Toyota dealer installed my stock size KO2 load range c. My previous set was 275 KO2 load range E. They were to stiff riding and when they wore out I replaced them with stock size C KO2. Much happier now with the power and ride.

Good to know. How would you compare the C KO2s to a P rated tire as far as on road ride/handling?

 

[Glenn Goodlett]

My latest set of KO2s are E rated in the stock size. They took a lot of weight to balance but seem fine.

 

[Old Tanker]

...Do you know what the target PSI should be on a C rated tire on a 4Runner? I know the door sticker goes out the window when you change from P to LT.

Replacement Tire Pressure Calculator - TirePressure.com

 

[03_4x4Runner]

Good to know. How would you compare the C KO2s to a P rated tire as far as on road ride/handling?

My stock P rated tires were the 20" Limited tires so not a fair comparison. Nothing will be as smooth and quiet as an original tire. I would say my C rated KO2 tires ride more plush than the 20"s but the E rated tires were more harsh. It all depends on the air pressure in the KO2's. All the tires handled pretty good to me but I am not an aggressive driver. At 36 psi the c rated tires ride smoother than the stock 20's at 32 psi. At 36 psi in the E rated tire they were harsh. The added height and weight of the 275/70/17 KO2 E rated tires hurt the power and mpg. You notice this the most when you take them off and put on a stock size C rated KO2. It just feels peppier and more fun.

 

[BorotHex]

You notice this the most when you take them off and put on a stock size C rated KO2. It just feels peppier and more fun.

That’s what I would expect, and I appreciate your feedback confirming it. C load K02 is plenty of tire for me and I want to keep as much comfort as I can.

Do you run the stock C at 32 psig?

 

[Chrisw023]

I have ran ko2's on 3 different vehicles all in load range E including my 4runner now in 275/70/17 all balanced fine and drove smooth, yes they did take a lot of wheel weights for most of them. chalk test on my xterra and 4runner seems to be 38-40psi as the "sweet" spot on road.

 

[03_4x4Runner]

That’s what I would expect, and I appreciate your feedback confirming it. C load K02 is plenty of tire for me and I want to keep as much comfort as I can.

Do you run the stock C at 32 psig?

I generally run 36. 32 may be ok for city use or bumpy roads but seemed a little squirrelly on interstate roads at higher speed. The only tire I ran at 32 was the stock 20" tires.

 

[nambo]

Just got some 285 kO2’s C rated mounted — no issues balancing. My KO2’s in stock size I never got right, granted the shop I went to was the absolute worst.

 

[Pedro367]

265/70r17 C load on my 4R. Initially mounted on my OR wheels in January and were smooth as glass. Mounted in July on 17x8 TRD replicas and again smooth as glass. Myself, friends, family, etc. have run numerous sets of KO2s and never had issues. Have had great luck with them and they are my go to tire to buy or recommend.

Lot's of people on here comment on Falken AT3Ws having balancing issues as well yet everyone still buys them. Bad apples happen from the manufacturer sometimes and tech's screw up. That's what warranties are for.

 

[osugsxr]

265/70r17 C load on my 4R. Initially mounted on my OR wheels in January and were smooth as glass. Mounted in July on 17x8 TRD replicas and again smooth as glass. Myself, friends, family, etc. have run numerous sets of KO2s and never had issues. Have had great luck with them and they are my go to tire to buy or recommend.

Lot's of people on here comment on Falken AT3Ws having balancing issues as well yet everyone still buys them. Bad apples happen from the manufacturer sometimes and tech's screw up. That's what warranties are for.

purchased the same from costco and waiting for them to be shipped to the store. Total was $940 OTD installed, I dont do much off roading , like the aggressive look of the tires and they'll last past 50k with rotations. People either love or hate the tires it seems

 

[Hammer0313]

I believe the issue of balancing is when people get overrated load index LT tires. I'm going to guess the KO2’s in 275/55R20 rated at 115/112will be fine , just as 265/70/17 in 112/109s would be fine for a 17" rim.

I drove my self crazy doing tire research for almost a year and am still learning. I ended up with Duratracs since i see some snow and they seem to fit my needs best.

Good luck!

I think this is definitely the issue, I went with stock tire sine KO’2 but in load range E and they have been a little fussy with balancing. Only reason I went with the E rated tires is because that’s all they had in stock coming out of the plandemic. And I was getting ready to go out west to play in the dirt so time was short. Overall I really like the tires and is past march out west I was impressed with how they performed off-road. Got hit with 3 snow storms back to back to back and they saved my bacon more than once. Only weakness the tire has is mud performance.

 

[Rayrayy]

Never heard of KO2s balancing issues, in fact that's what everyone prefers. However my Genral Tires Grabber have been a pain in the ass this is my 5th time balancing them.

 

[pveezy]

Replacement Tire Pressure Calculator - TirePressure.com

Thanks, that’s a great site.

It’s crazy how many people don’t know that the PSI specs on the door of the vehicle only apply to the stock spec tires… even tire shops always seem to want to air down LT tires to the P specs on the door.

At my work we all have half tons with Goodyear Duratrac or BFG KO2s in E spec. The stock tires for the trucks are all Ps when they get delivered so that’s what the sticker in the door speaks to. I think I am the only one that actually runs my Es anywhere close to the recommended PSI for those tires. Everyone else complains about the ride in my truck (and it does ride like total crap, don’t try drinking a coffee on a bumpy road) but their’s are all way under inflated for the E load tires.

 

[Pedro367]

Thanks, that’s a great site.

It’s crazy how many people don’t know that the PSI specs on the door of the vehicle only apply to the stock spec tires… even tire shops always seem to want to air down LT tires to the P specs on the door.

At my work we all have half tons with Goodyear Duratrac or BFG KO2s in E spec. The stock tires for the trucks are all Ps when they get delivered so that’s what the sticker in the door speaks to. I think I am the only one that actually runs my Es anywhere close to the recommended PSI for those tires. Everyone else complains about the ride in my truck (and it does ride like total crap, don’t try drinking a coffee on a bumpy road) but their’s are all way under inflated for the E load tires.

A shop has to put the the OE recommended "what's on the door jamb" tire pressure in regardless of load range or tire. It's their liability and it's the reason it's always on your receipt/print out. It's not their job to figure out what pressure works best and what the tire says isn't what's best for every application, so they cover their butt by doing the recommended.

Running Es low on a vehicle that doesn't require Es is not an issue. Pretty much everybody does it because they have to. Until recently, most larger "truck sized" tires only came in D or E. Is every lifted Jeep, 4R, etc. going to run 50+ PSI? No way. That's misery.

 

[pveezy]

A shop has to put the the OE recommended "what's on the door jamb" tire pressure in regardless of load range or tire. It's their liability and it's the reason it's always on your receipt/print out. It's not their job to figure out what pressure works best and what the tire says isn't what's best for every application, so they cover their butt by doing the recommended.

Running Es low on a vehicle that doesn't require Es is not an issue. Pretty much everybody does it because they have to. Until recently, most larger "truck sized" tires only came in D or E. Is every lifted Jeep, 4R, etc. going to run 50+ PSI? No way. That's misery.

Where it becomes an issue depends on the load out of your vehicle. For an example an E-rated tire only has enough carrying capacity to equal an OEM 4Runner SL P-spec tire if it is run at 45 PSI or higher (thanks to that site for doing the math). If you run any lower than that you are actually reducing the capacity of the tires lower than what Toyota engineers designed the vehicle for and reducing your overall GVWR. So, things like your payload rating, tow rating, etc in the manual all go in the trash can.

Running that way at highway speeds with any kind of load generates more heat and can increase chances of failure.

I am not an engineer that designs vehicles and tires so I won’t run lower than what the manufacturers of vehicles and tires say I should. I’d rather spill coffee on myself than risk a blowout by going against what someone way smarter than me decided is required for a vehicle.

 

[Old Tanker]

...Running Es low on a vehicle that doesn't require Es is not an issue. Pretty much everybody does it because they have to. Until recently, most larger "truck sized" tires only came in D or E. Is every lifted Jeep, 4R, etc. going to run 50+ PSI? No way. That's misery.

Agreed.

For every tire, there is a curve matching street pressure to tire load. Max safe pressure is only appropriate at max safe load. The 4R data plate reflects P tires at stock weight. Go heavier, and the correct pressure is higher. Swap to Es, and the correct pressure is even higher, but not as high as the max weight printed on the tire.

Tire manufacturers could do a better job sharing their pressure to weight graphs, and drivers could do a better job getting their axles weighed at the nearest truck stop. Barring that, get some chalk and experiment in a level parking lot.

 

[Pedro367]

Where it becomes an issue depends on the load out of your vehicle. For an example an E-rated tire only has enough carrying capacity to equal an OEM 4Runner SL P-spec tire if it is run at 45 PSI or higher (thanks to that site for doing the math). If you run any lower than that you are actually reducing the capacity of the tires lower than what Toyota engineers designed the vehicle for and reducing your overall GVWR.

Running that way at highway speeds with any kind of load generates more heat and can increase chances of failure.

I am not an engineer that designs vehicles and tires so I won’t run lower than what the manufacturers of vehicles and tires say I should. I’d rather spill coffee on myself than risk a blowout by going against what someone way smarter than me decided is required for a vehicle.

And you are free to risk burning your balls all you want. Just don't expect anybody else to. You have a 100X greater risk picking up a nail or slashing a tire on a piece of road debris than your E tire blowing because you ran it at 30PSI and yet you take that risk every day without a thought. It's a non-issue regardless of what the engineers calculator tells you.

 

[pveezy]

And you are free to risk burning your balls all you want. Just don't expect anybody else to. You have a 100X greater risk picking up a nail or slashing a tire on a piece of road debris than your E tire blowing because you ran it at 30PSI and yet you take that risk every day without a thought. It's a non-issue regardless of what the engineers calculator tells you.

Well, I mean you are entitled to your opinion, but its not worth much when it comes to vehicle safety and engineering unless you have a P.Eng on your business card . I’ll always heed to the brains because I’ve seen vehicles suffer catastrophic tire failure in my previous career and that is what kills and paralyzes people. Have you ever scaled your truck under a typical load to know what you actually need to work with?

I don’t so much care about picking up a nail or road debris, because a puncture/deflation and a failure/blowout are totally separate beasts. Paying for a new tire and at worst a tow is no big deal. I don’t want an uncontrolled failure in a vehicle with a high centre of gravity (or any vehicle for that matter, but especially not a truck/SUV). Rougher ride isn’t much of a price to pay to know you’re at least staying within the GVWR that the vehicle was designed for.

 

[TB_T4R]

I've had C-Load 265/70/17 K02s for 27,000mi with no issues whatsoever.

Had them mounted and balanced at Big Brand Tire and didn't give them any special instructions. It went great and I've rotated them myself 3 times since, still without any issues.

I think the amount of complaints you hear about the K02 balancing is purely based on the sample size. The K02s are by far the most common AT tire and has millions of users. If only 0.1% of customers had balancing issues, there would still be thousands people complaining. You will find complaints about balancing any AT tire, I just think you hear less complaints of other manufacturers because they sell significantly less tires.