Best All Terrain Tire - KO2 vs ST Maxx vs ???

For you guys getting the 255's (skinny tire) can I see some pics? What's the pros and cons of a skinny tire?

 

For me the pro is being able to use the stock OR wheels and not have to trip, cut, smash etc for clearance.

 

Pro-Cheaper than 285, less rub, cheaper, lighter, better in mud
cons- don't have "big tire" bragging rights even though its a 33"

 

Far right GMC has 285 nittos on 8.5's for comparison

 

What kind of MPG hit did you take and what about ride quality?

 

stock badyears- 17 hwy
265/75-16 st Maxx- 15hwy
255/80-17 st Maxx- 17hwy


These are all corrected for tire size

I hate the way mushy 4 ply tires ride. Feels great with the coopers on it

 

Load range E?

 

yes, both my sets of cooper are E

 

How much lift did you need to clear the 255's? Any trimming? I'm running an icon stage 2. Probably about 1.5 inches of lift on the front after letting them settle.

 

Interested in this as well. Looking at the cooper STT MAXX in 255/80/17.

 

I took off the mud flaps, front is currently leveled 3/4". But it's barely street able at this stage. Only 1/4" of clearance at back of tire.

Will be lifting it 2-3" this weekend

 

You won't be able to off road with no lift and these tires without severe rub

 

Would you please let us know how much lift you end up going with? I want to do as minimal as possible to keep angles appropriate. Assuming some UCA's will have to be in place for these tires?

 

Sure will. I'm going with an untested combination on a 3rd gen access cab. So no hard numbers out there yet

 

Did you end up getting new UCA's for your set up with the 255/80/17's?

 

Truck currently has stock arms. But will be getting light racing this weekend along with the lift

 

Do you have any pictures? What lift or other mods did you need to make these tires work? Really interested in these tires after hours upon hours or research. Does it mess with gearing and all of that? I'm planning on a Toytec boss lift trying to keep things as close to stock specs as possible with angles and all that.

 

I've been on the same search for the best A/T tire as a lot of you guys, so thought I'd share.
Have Duratracs now with 68,500 km (42,500 mi). They will probably go another 10,000. The Duratracs were great for traction in all conditions and looked good but constantly needed balancing. I might consider buying them again but only with a lifetime balancing deal. For that reason I'm going with BFG ko2s next round. Choosing the ko2s mostly because it seems to be one of the more aggressive A/Ts with the severe winter (snowflake) rating. The Duratracs did get plenty noisy for my liking as well. Hoping for better from the ko2s.

 

Don't have any pics of the new tires on the rig yet, but I'll try to take some tomorrow for ya.

I'm running SAW 2.5 Ext. Travel coilovers up front, with LR UCA's. The LR UCA's are great; allow for quite a bit of alignment adjustment, and it utilizes a heavy-duty sealed ball-joint that is significantly stronger than stock, plus is allows for more travel and with the sealed design, no squeaks or constant greasing like uni-balls. Front could stand to be cranked up a bit more to level it, but it's fairly close. Removed the mud flaps and cut a good chunk of the plastic inner fender liner above where the mud flaps moount. Still rubs while compressed during turning off-road, but not during my daily trek. Have yet to really sit down and figure out where it's rubbing so I can address it.

In back I have OME Nitrocharger Sport shocks and Dakar leaf packs with the D43XL extra leaf (I haul/tow quite a bit, plus the rack, canopy, rear bumper and rock sliders), plus stock length greasable shackles. In the rear, the Dakar leaves brought the axle too far forward, so I bought some the of Sky Off-Road Design axle relocation plates to move it all back an inch. Now it works perfect and doesn't rub anywhere, even under full stuff.

Also running 1.25" wheel spacers on all corners. Tundra wheels don't offer much backspacing, and I wanted the tires to sit flush with the flares.

As for gearing, it more readily downshifts going up steep grades, but besides that I couldn't tell much of a difference. Ideally, once I can save enough coin, I may re-gear from the 4.10's to 4.56's. But given the high-cost, I'm honestly not so sure it'd be enough of an improvement to justify the coin.

I'll try to snap some pics for you tomorrow. Feel free to let me know if you have any other questions!

*Edit: JUST NOW realized this wasn't in a general discussion forum, but the 3rd Gen. Tire info is still applicable... but ignore the truck stuff.

 

I've had both. Only reason I didn't get st maxx this time around is they didn't offer the size I wanted.

These are very comparable tires, I'd get whichever one you can get cheaper. I too had really bad experiences with the original ko in the snow. I can't speak for the ko2 in snow but everywhere else has been great, even rain.. Likewise with the st maxx. If you really wanna nit pick I'd give the cooper an edge simply for its reputation for standing up in the outback.. The ko2 is still new. Can't go wrong either way.