BFGoodrich All Terrain T/A KO2

First time contributor, long time reader. I'm probably going to ruffle some feathers here but I want to share my experience nevertheless. I have a 2005 Tacoma TRD Off Road that I love and use as a DD and for the past few years I have been wrestling to find the right tire for my application. I live in VT and drive about 15k a year, 85% on pavement and the rest off the beaten path. Most of the time I'm commuting to and from work with a lot of towing in the summer (maybe 60 days a summer with a small boat). The 15% of the time I'm not on pavement I'm back at my dad's place in central VT (where I grew up) 1.5 miles off the electrical grid up on a mountain. For the past few years I ran Michelin LTX MS/2 tires and loved them besides when I would take them back to my dads (which often involves some class 4s, monkeying around and generally beating the hell out of tires). I ended up flatting the P-metric Michelins several times back at my dads place and consequentially when it came time to get new tires I decided to swing to the opposite end of the spectrum and go with the tough 10 ply KO2s. I chose the 265/75/16s and held my breath with anxiety over anticipation for the MPG drop. Surprisingly, I didn't really notice any decrease in gas mileage (if anything maybe 1 MPG) but I definitely felt a big hit on the throttle response (as to be expected with an additional 15 lbs per tire). Accelerating was no longer fun (granted this truck isn't the sportiest to begin with) and braking I felt like I had to be slightly more cautious (lots of angular momentum of the heavy tires was definitely noticeable in the brake peddle). Additionally, I noticed that the tires would almost always spin on wet boat ramps and even loose gravel boat ramps (ironic considering I see a lot of people contemplating getting these tires because they say they want traction at the slippery boat ramp). Slipping at the boat ramp, or on wet pavement was something I had absolutely never experienced with the Michelins (I can see the KO2s working well if your launching in a total swamp). Next, there was the road noise. This wasn't terrible by any means but after a while it began to get to me and combined with the nasty throttle response the truck just became less pleasant to drive and I found myself less enthused to drive anywhere. One of the largest surprises from the KO2s was their poor performance in standing water. These things hydroplane fairly easily which was somewhat shocking given their wide open tread design. Again, this was an area where the Michelins hands down outperformed the KO2. While the snow performance doesn't really matter to me (I run studded Hakkapeliitta 8 tires in the winter) the KO2s were definitely good in deep snow and fairly good on hard-pack (again I'm comparing them to hakkas which I realize isn't exactly fair). I never had a chance to try them on ice but I suspect they are not the best for this. After putting about 6k on the tires I decided it was time to switch back to something that performed better in the majority of the driving I do as I was beginning to dislike driving my Tacoma (some days I almost wanted to slash my own tires but of course I couldn't because they were too tough). After much contemplating and research I purchased some Michelin Defenders (the new LTX MS/2) and sold the KO2s. In switching back to the Michelins I considered lots of other more AT oriented tires but the vast majority of sales people I talked to in the area convinced me otherwise saying the AT tires actually perform worse off-road in most situations compared to the Michelins and the biggest difference is the looks (the AT tires are simply designed to look aggressive). Don't get me wrong, every part of me wanted to love these tires but I just couldn't find a way to make them work. I could live with the road noise, poor throttle response and slipping at the boat ramp but the borderline dangerous characteristics put me over the edge (poor braking, tendency to hydroplane and poor wet pavement performance). All of this struck me because the KO2s receive such high praise and have such a strong following (probably one of the highest rated tires- including on road performance). After giving this a lot of thought and talking to many tire salesmen I suspect most people who run the KO2s would never run a much tamer looking tire like the LTX/MS2 and therefore the reviews are all somewhat biased (most of the people running KO2s have only run or considered AT tires, or maybe they came form a MT). At the end of the day these things were pretty miserable for the 85% on road driving I do, despite the fact that they look pretty cool (if you think agro tires look cool). For better or worse I suspect a lot of people buy these tires based mostly on looks and I think if people were more focused on performance/safety (for the majority of driveling conditions) they would get a different tire (again I liked the looks but couldn't get over the poor road performance). Finally, I should give credit where it is due- these things were great off-road. I took them on many class 4s and generally beat the hell out of them as best I could and they always impressed and inspired confidence. Nevertheless I have also taken the Defenders/ LTX MS/2 off-road plenty and they perform reasonably well besides the occasional flat (they might look really tame but unfortunately looks doesn't equate to performance). Anyways I hope people considering the KO2 find this lengthy review helpful. Overall I think I would consider this tire if I spent at least 65% of my time off pavement (and I hope I live in a place where I can make that happen in the future).

 

You're not the only one. I hated my BFG K/O's, but that was my experience. There was zero traction on the hard packed snow. Move to a Duratrac on my YJ and never looked back. Night and day difference.

Now Im running the Falkens on the Tacoma, and they seem ok. Much better in the winter than the K/O's.

 

I'm in the same boat, I ran them for 20k, then gave them to my dad to put on his 2500 HD since load-range E is actually crucial when we're towing our offroad vehicles. The on-road traction wasn't great, but the offroad performance was fantastic.

I'm going to be considering Firestone Destination ATs next time (P-rated) or potentially go with the LTX MS2s in a low load-range. The fact is that we don't have the power to handle heavy Load Range E tires without noticing it in these trucks. When you're spinning 900 ft-lbs of torque on a duramax, that weight is completely meaningless to an engine like that.

I'm actually using the stock rugged trail tires again... then going to a used set of KOs to burn that tread away, so I don't expect to be into a new tire for another 30k miles, but when I do, I'll be very happy to go back to a more street oriented tire.

 

I've always assumed that a fair amount of AT complaints for all tires come from people expecting a road car ride from them. There's a reason Toyota and everyone else puts P-rated tires on most of their trucks from the factory and that's because ATs ride and handle worse. I don't care if it's a General or Goodyear or BFG, there's physics that dictate that.

So it's just too subjective. I'm the other way, I hate car tires and how squishy they feel on my truck. To handle the loads and beating thick sidewalls and substantial construction mean they can't be as compliant.

That's not to say there aren't legitimate complaints about the BFG KO2s, but a lot of times it seems to me it's that they aren't car tires.

 

I agree, AT tires are not ever going to perform on-road like a road going tire in general, especially if we're talking about the KO2s. I've had lighter weight, lighter duty AT tires though that are a lot better than the KO2s on-road, with compromised off-road performance. The issue here is that the AT is treated as an off-road tire, and quite frankly once you compromise that on-road capability I believe it should be considered an MT or OR tire. All-Terrains really need to be competent in both areas, on and off the road. I really enjoyed a set of Bridgestone Dueler APT IIIs that I had on a Chevy Blazer. Good enough off-road in sand and trails to be capable, but it still performed great on the snow and ice. I really think we've lost the balance that makes lightweight, lower load-range rated AT tires good.

 

I've had KO, KM, KO2 in lots of different sizes over the years and I believe the current KO2 is actually the best of both. They KMs (old tread) I've had were *really* bad in rain and wet pavement, truly dangerous unless they were siped. The BFG A/T has always been a pretty aggressive tire, though. BFG targets the A/T as an off road tire with the Rugged Trail and Rugged Terrain being more like the LTX Michelins I'd think.

I really think the question is what you (meaning the consumer) thinks is the 'all" part of all terrain. To me rocks, dirt roads, sand/dusty trails, deep snow, snow packed roads, rain, dry pavement are all options and for a light duty 'wheeler (not really a dedicated rock crawler anymore) the KO2 meets my needs. I tolerate the road performance because I don't care to rally my truck and don't even usually do the 75 MPG speed limit. OTOH the KM2 is too aggressive for me since I do commute with it, take it skiing and use it for household tasks. Any more aggressive than the KO2 and it would be too much road noise for me. I don't find them unacceptably loud but, yeah, they are near the limit for a daily user.

The BFG A/T and M/T have taken my bad driving without much drama. I had a sidewall bulge on one (a 30x9.50x15, KO so load range C), which was a failure from trying to put a root through it that claimed a couple of Duratracs that day. It's a trade-off, those heavy sidewalls are great off road but you have to deal with the on road compromises.

 

Ya, mine were the original K/O's , but that experience turned me off from the BFG A/T's. The Duratracs perform so much better. I'm sure it has to do with the difference in the amount of sipes

 

Did I just read that folks put "E" rated KO2's on their Tacoma, and didn't like the performance?

Why would someone put such a heavy rated tire on a Tacoma, you'll never be able to carry anything anywhere near that intended load capacity?

 

Because they only come in a handful of sizes in c load, and they don't make standard load ko2s. And Erated are fine on a tacoma. People need to stop expecting that offroad oriented tires will perform like road tires, or that their truck will handle like a BMW. Too many people reading motor trend and consumer reports in here.

 

I find the ko2s are nice on road and awesome off. You shouldn't be surprised if you accelerate slower or stop slower, they're heavier tires... As far as hydroplaning you're driving too fast for the conditions. Slow down and you'll be fine.

These tires are leaps and bounds better than the originals, so those comparing other tires to the original kos are not even relevant. The original kos we're garbage unless you live in the southwest. These are a damn good tire all around.

 

I've never had any issues with hydroplaning with either the KO or KO2s. You're right, drive reasonably and they perform great. Not sure why you feel that the original KOs were only good in the southwest. I live in the northwet and they performed just fine for me. Actually achieved 70k miles on the first set, and over 50k with my second set. I would have easily achieved much higher miles than 50k on them if I actually rotated them, and not left the rears inflated to carry my 700lb ATV in the back. Forgot all about it and wore the center crown down too early. The fronts still had tons of tread left on them, but they were roughly 7 years old and showing some age in the rubber itself. Replaced with KO2s.

 

I've had various C, D and E rated BFGs over the decades on 3 different Toyota trucks and I can't really tell that much of a difference. There aren't many sizes that allow direct comparison, I think there's a C and E version of the 265/70R17 but no other comes to mind at the moment.

It's the same problem with tread patterns. I really wanted a 255/85R16 but BFG only makes that in M/T so I ended up with 235/85R16. I'll probably go with the KM2 next time, I dunno. Nice thing about E-rated tires are the sidewalls are going to be about as burly as you're going to find short of implement and tractor tires.

 

I hear ya, but once you're burned you never go back. There are so many better alternatives out there now to chose from.

 

Original kos lasted forever because they were an extremely hard tread compound. Good for longevity, pretty bad for anything by else. They hydroplaned pretty easily due to poor water evacuation channels, and in the cold the hard tread compound turned them into hockey pucks so they were terrible in the winter. Unless you lived somewhere it didn't rain, snow or get cold they were a pretty crappy tire choice.

 

I didn't see the issues you are describing for wet weather and I live in NWet Oregon, where we get 6-9 months straight of fall/winter/spring rain every year.
Never once had issues with hydroplaning.

Winters are pretty mild here, no sub zero temps ever recorded here so we won't have the hockey puck issue. We do get snow, and ice on occasion but still found that the tires performed really good in my opinion. Traction was the nearly the same even when the tires got down towards needing replaced.

This is my experience driving the same vehicle now for 20 years with 217k miles on the clock. In that time it has had the factory Goodyear tires, two sets of original BFG KOs and now sporting new BFG KO2s. Never had any of the issues you list, on any of the tires, on any surface, in any temperature.

Does the vehicle they are mounted on play into this? My rig described above is a 1997 ExtraCab V6 4x4 Taco. Did you have these tires mounted on a Taco, or was this on your FJ Cruiser?

On a side note, I also have run a set and a half of original BFG KOs on my 1997 F350 PSD CCLB 4x4 and never had any issues with them either. Granted it only gets driven about 3k miles a year as it is my truck camper hauling rig, and more recently used by my daughter when her car craps out or she needs to drive in the snow to get to work.

 

Had them on my 1st gen taco. Compared to the Michelin MS2, Goodyear wranglers and general at2s I had they were garbage

 

How many miles did you get out of each of those tires, I'm just curious as I've only had the factory installed Goodyear Wranglers, the two sets of KOs and now the KO2s.
The Goodyears were great on the road, and even in the sand. Managed 83k miles out of them. I don't really remember how they did in the winter as that was nearly 20 years ago and we don't get tons of snow or ice, and if we do it's only for a day or so at a time.

The Michelin MS2 are more of a street tire so I can certainly see how you may feel that they have better road manners than KOs. How'd they do in the snow, rain, ice, off road?

 

BFGs were relatively new( unkown mileage when I got the truck). Put maybe 5-10k on them and got rid of them. Thought they were terrible.

Michelin MS2 had about 40k miles on them before I traded them for a set of Goodyear Wrangler authorities ( at tire that is a mix of duratracs and an MT). MS2 had a ton of tread left, but I wanted a more aggressive tire for wheeling.

Goodyear Authorities got about 50k out of before they got really loud, and I gashed the shit out of the side walls down to the carcass under the outer shell.

Then I got the General AT2s since I was commuting about 40-60 k a year and wanted a little bit less aggressive tire than the Goodyears. Maybe had 20k on them before I sold the first gen.

FJ came with Goodyear Wrangler highway tires, put maybe 20k on them and switched to the BFG KO2s. Now I've got about 50k miles on the BFGs(5 tire rotation).

 

For the KO2s in E range, and perhaps for C range too, you really need to experiment and find the right PSI that fits your needs to really appreciate these tires. A lot of folks run them with way too high PSI. When mine were installed they had them at 48! I found a good spot at 36 PSI where fuel economy isn't any change from my stock 265/65 17s and that allows for a pretty good ride quality. They are not noisy at all and give a lot of bite on logging roads even without airing down.

But with everything, it's personal preference, experience, and tolerance that makes us decide what we like and don't like.

 

I can't remember if I chimed in here or not. 285/75/16s. I wish they made a 34" for 16s that was only 12" wide... Still I might try to stuff 34.5s in there when time for new tires.