Ko2's or ?

[Cree]

He’s from Arizona. Last tire thread one of the Texas guys recommended a very similar set of AT tires as being great.

It’s interesting the preferences in different areas.
Here in NW folks run the various AT tires on SUV’s and trucks. They are good for the occasional snow and ice we get.
I’ve run most of the tires mentioned and like the Hancook dynapro and Cooper Discoverer for on road use.
But off-road here those tires quickly plug up with mud and clay and become slicks.

One must consider your use when evaluating opinions.

KO2’s are hard on fuel mileage, pick up rocks, and aren’t great in mud. But they are great in snow, decent on ice, and good or better for everything else.
Not my favorite though. I think the compound is too hard in them, and I agree on the roundness issues. They feel like a bias ply tire.

I much prefer the Duratrac’s by a fair margin. Better road manners and they clean out better in mud and wet snow.

But if you pound lots of hot pavement at 80mph you probably want a higher mileage rated AT tire.

By contrast, I think the compound is very soft. I'd be interested to know what load rating you guys have. I haven't had them in mud, but they are monster's in the snow and great for every day use. I haven't seen any drop in mileage vs my old Hankook's after I correct for size.

 

[phil777]

+1 for the Falken Wildpeak AT3, Just got a set put on FJ cruiser alloy rims. Can't really speak to the longevity but they seem to be very good value and look good as well.

 

[Bdnewyork]

I'm running Firestone Destination X/T in size LT255/75/17, load range C, blackwall. A true 32" tire (32.1 x 10"), just 40 lbs, 3-peak mountain snowflake, 15/32 tread depth - on SCS Stealth 6 - 17x8.5.

They balanced up (road force) extremely well.

Been running these since mid-December and Love them. Did one 40 mile run in 4-6" slushy un-plowed snow and was amazed at the tenacious grip. Low noise, suitably aggressive tread pattern.

I considered many tires, all the usual suspects and a few unusual. So far, I'm very pleased with the choice I made.

 

[SilverBullet8404]

For the price, KO2s are great, but while I've been DDing mine, they wear quickly. If you have the money, go Falken Wildpeaks.

 

[mountainthings]

I've been running the Falkens and they're amazing on snow and ice. Drove down an iced up road, then hopped out of the truck and realized it was a skating rink pretty much. They do seem to be wearing fast, and it doesn't even get that hot here. Have about 20K KM / 13K miles on them now and they look almost half done. But they've also seen a lot of forest road and abuse in that time.

 

[thezentree]

I bought the Load C's they made specifically for the Raptor's, so I'm wondering if there's a difference there being that it's an OEM spec.

Oh yeah, that could be. I wish 285/75R16s were available in C range ....in any brand.

Guess I need 35s haha

 

[MAST4R]

For Alaska, probably the Wildpeak AT3W in LT.

Here in AZ, I moved on from P Wildpeaks to Micky Thompson ATZ P3. They would be better in mud but not sure about snow.

+1 on KO2 as the most over-rated AT tire by large margin. Over-rated does not mean junk. The KO2 is a a strong tire but that's about its only strength over most (except ATZ P3 and its sibling the Cooper MAXX).

I keep my P metric Wildpeaks for any more trips to Montana, or the Canadian Rockies. I use the ATZ P3 here in AZ and will also use them in UT and CO though I have not had any issues with P metric tires over thousands of miles in Southern Utah. AZ/Baja/the Sonoran Desert is on another level when it comes to tires.

 

[bodean123]

Duratracs on both our Tacoma and 4Runner. Always been happy with them, great in snow and ice, kind of loud, can need to be rebalance as they wear. Tires threads are like oil threads I find. Everyone recommends what they are currently using. Narrow it down to a couple choices and go with the cheapest you can find locally.

 

[MAST4R]

Duratracs on both our Tacoma and 4Runner. Always been happy with them, great in snow and ice, kind of loud, can need to be rebalance as they wear. Tires threads are like oil threads I find. Everyone recommends what they are currently using. Narrow it down to a couple choices and go with the cheapest you can find locally.

Not me, never recommended Geolander ATS or KO2s and never a fan of Conti AT.

Have recommended Toyo AT II (I suppose III is better), Wildpeak, ATZ P3 but for different reasons/uses.

 

[Dieselchessy]

Duratracs on both our Tacoma and 4Runner. Always been happy with them, great in snow and ice, kind of loud, can need to be rebalance as they wear. Tires threads are like oil threads I find. Everyone recommends what they are currently using. Narrow it down to a couple choices and go with the cheapest you can find locally.

I didn’t recommended what I’m currently using or even what I’ll use next.

I’m currently on my winter BFG T/A KO tires and will soon pull them off and install my summer Goodyear Wrangler Kevlar AT’s.
After that I’ll probably replace my winter/hunting tires with Duratracs but them Wildpeaks look interesting. I’ve run silica tires before and they did good on hard packed snow. But the website seems to say the LT sizes don’t have the silica.

 

[airdreams1]

He’s from Arizona. Last tire thread one of the Texas guys recommended a very similar set of AT tires as being great.

It’s interesting the preferences in different areas.
Here in NW folks run the various AT tires on SUV’s and trucks. They are good for the occasional snow and ice we get.
I’ve run most of the tires mentioned and like the Hancook dynapro and Cooper Discoverer for on road use.
But off-road here those tires quickly plug up with mud and clay and become slicks.

One must consider your use when evaluating opinions.

KO2’s are hard on fuel mileage, pick up rocks, and aren’t great in mud. But they are great in snow, decent on ice, and good or better for everything else.
Not my favorite though. I think the compound is too hard in them, and I agree on the roundness issues. They feel like a bias ply tire.

I much prefer the Duratrac’s by a fair margin. Better road manners and they clean out better in mud and wet snow.

But if you pound lots of hot pavement at 80mph you probably want a higher mileage rated AT tire.

my buddy in WA swears by the KO2 MT... sais it preforms excellent in mud. *

 

[Dieselchessy]

my buddy in WA swears by the KO2 MT... sais it preforms excellent in mud. *

"KO2 MT" ? Maybe KM2 or KM3 is what he runs? Everyone has their own opinion, so maybe he does like the KO2 for mud.

 

[Timc03]

I have the firestone MT tires. I love the pattern of them. Pretty quiet for a MT as well. Great grip. About $230 a tire!

 

[thegipper]

I've had the Falken Wildpeak AT3W for about a year and half now. Excellent is snow (on road and off road), excellent on the trails and drive very nice on dry pavement (very little noise). For the money, they are pretty hard to beat. I haven't driven them in much mud so no opinions there.

They have awesome side wall protection too.

 

[SpecialJ]

#1 most overrated tire in existence is the KO2......


I don’t buy into hype. No GOBI here either.

I have had Falken Wildpeaks for about two years. Wear is great. Snow, ice, rain and floods they do good. Off-road loose rock, sand, mud they do fine.

They are a little noisy but it’s an AT it’s going to be a little noisy. They “can” be difficult to balance but it depends on if it’s a lazy tech doing the job.

Others to consider....
General Grabber ATX
COOPER AT3

All great tires.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Oof, I'm so glad I joined this forum, just bought KO2s for the CO winters and general driving and I was under the impression they were the way to go based on what I heard. I'm glad there are lots of better options, just wishing I read this 4 months ago...

 

[thezentree]

Oof, I'm so glad I joined this forum, just bought KO2s for the CO winters and general driving and I was under the impression they were the way to go based on what I heard. I'm glad there are lots of better options, just wishing I read this 4 months ago...

They're not bad (if you get a set that will balance), they're just way overpriced for what you get.

It's not worth having buyer's remorse over it. :thumb:

 

[RooRunner]

Ditto, SpecialJ. I'm grateful for this forum. Just joined up myself.

Kind words by thezentree. You bought great tires. Next time round you can try something different...or stay with the BFGs if they've treated you well.

I've been on the Toyo Open Country AT2 for a bit over a year and no complaints. Got stuck in the snow/ice once but I think that might've just been lack of talent and a nasty rut. Probably more of the first

Have some Volk TE37XT wheels on order and going to 285s shortly...hence me finding this thread. Love this forum. Lots of knowledge here.

-=terry

 

[monkishtypist]

I have been super happy performance wise with the General Grabber ATX's with the three peak mountain snowflake, especially in icy conditions. But they aren't kidding about the 'grabber' part; those things chuck gravel like shrapnel...

GrabberTM A/TX | General Tire

 

[RooRunner]

Thanks MonkishTypist. GOing to check those out too!!

TGIF folks.

#covid19isdefeated


-=terry

 

[toverturf]

I just had the new Toyo Open Country A/T III mounted on mine today. Not a lot of info out on them yet since they've only been out for 2 months but from the few things i've read they looked nice so I decided to go with them.