Ready to move on from KO2's...but to what?

[honda250xtitan]

I've got a 2018 SR5 4WD and I put BFG KO2's (E range) on it the day after I bought it. I've now got nearly 45K on the vehicle and it will soon be time to get new tires.

I ran KO2's or BFG MT's on my previous 4WD's with no problems. But with this set of tires, I've frequently experienced steering wheel shimmy/shaking. At times, repeated balancing and road force testing/force matching would not clear it up.

But, it seems that people who run other tires have had similar balance problems on their 4Runner, so perhaps the KO2's are not to blame? hwell:

I've never had a flat while four-wheeling with BFG's, which counts for a lot in my mind. OTOH, I never had a flat with the P-rated General Grabbers that came on my first 4WD (an Xterra)! (I upgraded to KO2's after they wore out.) It's hard to plunk down $ for another set of these KO2's after what I went through with this set.

So, I'm open to suggestions. I want to stay with the stock 265/70 R17 size. I don't have a lift or other mods. Most of my 'wheeling is in a desert environment: dry, lots of rocks, sometimes steep terrain. I do drop my tire pressure at times. I do prefer something M+S rated, just in case.

Cooper at3 XLT. we just went from ko2's to the coopers. love them.

 

[5thToy]

Cooper at3 XLT. we just went from ko2's to the coopers. love them.

The OP said he wants to stay with stock size. The smallest AT3 XLT in 17 inch are 285s.

I do like that tire though. I have had the AT3 4S which are very good. Would have gone with XLTs if they were available in 265 or 275.

 

[Nkbk4run]

Just got some wild peaks and can’t get them to balance..

had Firestone at/2 on my 4 th gen and loved them. Even the new owner says how quiet they are. Tire rack has excellent reviews also. Anyone else run the firestones??

 

[sroodtuo]

Goodyear Ultraterrain looks like a good option. Doesn’t seem to be much Goodyear love on this forum but I’ve never had any issues with GY products.

 

[Mudballz]

Most off road biased tires on the 4Runner are very sensitive to tire pressures my falken liked higher pressures 38-42 is I deal on road off road went below 30

 

[StuB]

E-load range in stock size is part of the problem. But a bigger part is that the steering rack design on the 4th & 5th gen T4Rs is super sensitive to balance issues no matter the tire brand. And I'll toss out that every time I've strayed from BFG All Terrains, I've been unhappy and have gone back - Goodyear, Yokohama and Cooper...

 

[SidKo]

Glad to see this posting. I am approaching that same scenario - Coming up to 4 years and 45K on these sets of KO2.

They have been great except for wet environments. I find it lacking when stopping in wet pavement.

As for my use, I have the snow in the Catskills of NY and the beaches of Long Island. This year was pretty intense with the snow, especially in the country side. When I drive on the beaches, I air down to about 18 psi. I have yet to find myself in a stuck situation.

As others have mentioned, the Toyo Open Country AT3's has caught my attention.

 

[Hammer0313]

BFG KO2 (C) :hug:

Im running the E right now and they were a little fussy; had to balance 1 time after install and they said to keep them at 35-40 PSI and that Helped Big Time.

 

[702_SR5]

...The steering rack design on the 4th & 5th gen T4Rs is super sensitive to balance issues no matter the tire brand. ...

Is there a fix for that?!

 

[702_SR5]

BFG KO2 (C) :hug:

Im running the E right now and they were a little fussy; had to balance 1 time after install and they said to keep them at 35-40 PSI and that Helped Big Time.

I normally run 37-40 on the pavement. 37 is of course the OEM spec for the stock tires. I don't recall getting a special pressure recommendation any of the shops I've been to during my ordeal.

 

[DEUS-MACH1NA]

Glad to see this posting. I am approaching that same scenario - Coming up to 4 years and 45K on these sets of KO2.

They have been great except for wet environments. I find it lacking when stopping in wet pavement.

As for my use, I have the snow in the Catskills of NY and the beaches of Long Island. This year was pretty intense with the snow, especially in the country side. When I drive on the beaches, I air down to about 18 psi. I have yet to find myself in a stuck situation.

As others have mentioned, the Toyo Open Country AT3's has caught my attention.

I ran KO2's on another 4R and could not get them to hook in the rain and occasional snow here in the PNW; fun breaking the rear loose with ease, but got too squirrelly and unpredictable.

Running Wildpeaks on my 5th gen and they grip and stop well in the rain, snow, forest roads and sand dunes.

 

[SilverTEP]

Coming from KO2s 275 / Es, I'm extremely happy with Toyo AT3 285 / C. They give you a lot of confidence in the rain as oppose to KO2s. KO2s are solid in everything else, AT3s keep up, tiny bit worse in snow if not aired down.

AT3s are also made in SL load

 

[Tuco S.]

I normally run 37-40 on the pavement. 37 is of course the OEM spec for the stock tires. I don't recall getting a special pressure recommendation any of the shops I've been to during my ordeal.

32 psi front and rear is what should be on the sticker in your driver side door. LT tires get +10 psi compared to the oem P-metric tires, according to this: Tire Pressure Calculator

I did a chalk test on my E loads at 42, and this estimate was pretty accurate.

 

[702_SR5]

... Are you sure that the shop that is using the Road Force Balancer knows How to use it properly ? I'm not trying to be a smart ass with this question, but Toyota Wheels are the hardest to balance because of the large center hub diameter, & there are special inserts for RF balancing machines to fit the Toyota wheels perfectly.

At one point, I took the vehicle to my local dealer, explained what was going on, and asked them to fix it. What they did was rebalance and road force the wheels. Then (without telling me), moved them to the positions on the vehicle where the problems would be least noticeable. I realized this because I had numbered the rims and I saw they had been shifted around.

When the wheels were moved back to the spots they were in, there was practically no improvement in the ride quality.

I've stood next to the technician in different Discount Tire shops and watched them do the road forcing and force matching when needed. To me, the wheel appeared to be on the machine solidly. I'm not sure exactly what this adapter is that I've heard about, but I would expect them to have whatever was needed.

 

[Kamalani Mahie]

I normally run 37-40 on the pavement. 37 is of course the OEM spec for the stock tires. I don't recall getting a special pressure recommendation any of the shops I've been to during my ordeal.

[MENTION=341787]Tuco S.[/MENTION] is correct. 32 psi is the recommended pressure for stock tires on the 5th gen 4runner. The recommended pressure for every vehicle is listed on the sticker on the B pillar inside the driver door. I am currently running my BFG KO2s in load range C at 37-38 psi on the street.

 

[702_SR5]

[MENTION=341787]Tuco S.[/MENTION] is correct. 32 psi is the recommended pressure for stock tires on the 5th gen 4runner. The recommended pressure for every vehicle is listed on the sticker on the B pillar inside the driver door. I am currently running my BFG KO2s in load range C at 37-38 psi on the street.

OK, my mistake, I should have walked out to the garage and double-checked before posting.

Still, as stated, I am running the KO2 E's at 37-40 psi. Are you suggesting I run them higher or lower than that?

 

[Locust]

I am primarily in the Reno and Winnemucca area in Nevada and have the stock Nitto Terra Grapplers that came on my TRD Pro. I have about 27k miles and they have lost significant capability in the sand/rock. I've driven in some "interesting" snow and ice situations around the Sierra Nevada range and I've never been stuck, but I am looking to switch to K02's just from a durability standpoint.

 

[Titan_Bow]

I've literally put hundreds of thousands of miles on BFG AT's, with many of those miles on forest service roads and non-pavement out here in Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska, Montana, both E and C rated tires, and knock on wood, I've never had a flat. I took my wife's Subaru on a hunting trip this year and on the second day of driving county dirt roads in eastern Colorado, I had a flat tire, with Falken Wildpeaks... I know, I know, its not an apples to apples, but my point is, BFGs have never let me down. I've never experienced poor traction with them in snow or rain either. I hear that a lot, and maybe its just that where I live, we just dont get that much rain, and when it does rain, its usually short events that are over quick. But I drive a lot in the snow, and BFGs have always felt solid and had confident grip.

 

[wcslv]

When the time comes, I’ll be going to Mickey Thompson ATZ P3. I had them on my Duramax and they were unstoppable. Goodyear tires I always had problems balancing them. So I quit using them. Mickey Thompson and BFG no problem.

 

[Kamalani Mahie]

OK, my mistake, I should have walked out to the garage and double-checked before posting.

Still, as stated, I am running the KO2 E's at 37-40 psi. Are you suggesting I run them higher or lower than that?

Hey man no worries. It really depends on your weight. The chalk test is best to determine what psi is best for your setup. I had load range E Falkens for a long time on an F150 and ran them at 40 psi all the time and they wore completely evenly and lasted forever. I actually had the rears a little less about 38 psi since I didn't have weight in the bed constantly. But if I put a heavy load back there I'd air them up a couple psi just to handle the weight a bit better.

With the 4runner being an SUV, and I have a decent amount of constant weight (sliders, skids, roof rack, roadshower, sleeping platform), I run all my load range C tires pretty evenly all around at 37-38 psi. That's where I found the tire wear to be the most even and get the best contact patch with the ground. Below that, the outside tread was wearing quicker than the inside. My tire wear is a bit uneven at the moment but it's getting better now that I've done the chalk test and adjusted the pressure.

Normally you run a load range E tire at a bit higher pressure than a C...normally because if you have a load range E tire you're generally trying to have it bear more weight. BUT everything depends on your weight. A same size load range C tire and load range E tire at the same pressure will be rated to bear the same weight. E tires can only bear more weight because they're rated for a higher maximum pressure. You might already know this.